What does a psychiatric social worker do?
A psychiatric social worker specializes in providing mental health treatments and other services to patients and their families, referring them to other agencies and programs as needed. They conduct assessments and interviews to determine the condition of patients, devise specific treatment and care plans, update and maintain patient records, conduct regular counseling sessions, and monitor the progress of every patient to ensure their health and welfare. They may also provide interventions, train junior psychiatric social workers, and conduct reviews and evaluations on existing care plans.
Psychiatric social worker responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real psychiatric social worker resumes:
- Screen, identify, diagnose using DSM nomenclature, treat and manage mental health and/or substance abuse problems.
- Provide clinical supervision and oversight to MSW intern who provide assessments and treatment.
- Participate in weekly hospital social services meetings, weekly individual supervision, and facilitate change strategies for patients.
- Guide, mentore, and tutor both BSW and MSW students in internship programs.
- Assist individual in developing and practicing the skills define on their psychiatric rehabilitation plans.
- Follow patients throughout hospitalization, working closely with attending psychiatrist; involve in family, individual and group treatment.
- Used rehabilitation skills to help integrate participants into independently operating in the living, learning, social and working environment.
- Work with a complex interdisciplinary team facilitating treatment for patients on medical floors including oncology, dialysis, cardiac and maternity.
- Participate in interdisciplinary team (IDT) meeting to establish, review and revise the patient plan of care.
- Collaborate with other professionals during IDT (interdisciplinary team).
- Complete relevant MDS assessments and thorough documentation.
- Analyze psychological / psycho-social evaluations, IEP's, and medical histories within a referral packet to determine eligibility.
Psychiatric social worker skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Psychiatric Social Workers are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and Crisis Intervention. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Emotional skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Psychiatric Social Workers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 23%
Utilize effectively a variety of therapeutic and diagnostic skills adhering to the social work code of ethics and confidentiality guidelines.
- Patients, 16%
Facilitated adjustment of extended care patients to their environment and physical limitations Skills Used Counseling skills and clinical knowledge base were demonstrated
- Crisis Intervention, 7%
Provided emergency services/crisis intervention/case management/counseling to elderly persons and developmentally and/or physically disabled individuals.
- Rehabilitation, 5%
Facilitated twice-weekly interdisciplinary team meetings that also included Psychiatrist, nursing, mental health and rehabilitation staff.
- Discharge Planning, 5%
Coordinated discharge planning and aftercare services for consumers requiring an extensive knowledge of community services and ongoing networking with provider agencies.
- Mental Health, 4%
Facilitated group therapy sessions utilizing therapeutic techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help patients cope with their mental health needs.
Common skills that a psychiatric social worker uses to do their job include "social work," "patients," and "crisis intervention." You can find details on the most important psychiatric social worker responsibilities below.
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a psychiatric social worker to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives." Additionally, a psychiatric social worker resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "establish and maintain good rapport and working relationships to foster intra- and inter-departmental communications for the delivery of quality patient care. "
Interpersonal skills. psychiatric social workers are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to psychiatric social worker responsibilities, because "social workers must be able to work with different groups of people." A psychiatric social worker resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "skilled in providing cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety, depression and trauma, supportive therapy, and interpersonal therapy for adolescents. "
Organizational skills. A big part of what psychiatric social workers do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to psychiatric social worker responsibilities because "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical psychiatric social worker tasks: "organized and conducted joint investigations with law enforcement in strict accordance with government regulations and organizational procedures and policies. "
Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for psychiatric social worker responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of psychiatric social workers all the time, as "social workers must analyze their clients’ complex situations and develop practical solutions." An excerpt from a real psychiatric social worker resume shows how this skill is central to what a psychiatric social worker does: "utilized crisis intervention and solution focused brief therapy with emphasis on referral to community agency. "
The three companies that hire the most psychiatric social workers are:
- Delaware State Government
7 psychiatric social workers jobs
- Kaiser Permanente7 psychiatric social workers jobs
- County Of Los Angeles Public Library7 psychiatric social workers jobs
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Compare different psychiatric social workers
Psychiatric social worker vs. Family therapist
A Family Therapist works with couples and families to help ameliorate marital and family issues. They can work in hospitals, treatment programs, government agencies, health organizations, and private practices.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between psychiatric social workers and family therapist. For instance, psychiatric social worker responsibilities require skills such as "group therapy sessions," "patient care," "psychiatry," and "msw." Whereas a family therapist is skilled in "group therapy," "child abuse," "foster care," and "fft." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Family therapists tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $50,267. In contrast, psychiatric social workers make the biggest average salary, $60,450, in the government industry.On average, family therapists reach similar levels of education than psychiatric social workers. Family therapists are 3.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Psychiatric social worker vs. Family counselor
A Family Counselor treats married couples or family members in order to help them overcome mental or emotional problems. They provide effective treatment measures to help the family members resolve their issues.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real psychiatric social worker resumes. While psychiatric social worker responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "rehabilitation," "group therapy sessions," and "patient care," family counselors use skills like "poc," "family support," "dod," and "group supervision."
Family counselors earn a lower average salary than psychiatric social workers. But family counselors earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $40,967. Additionally, psychiatric social workers earn the highest salaries in the government with average pay of $60,450 annually.family counselors earn lower levels of education than psychiatric social workers in general. They're 18.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for psychiatric social workers in the next 3-5 years?
Virginia Schwindt
MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University
Psychiatric social worker vs. Mental health professional
The duties of a mental health professional will revolve around observing the behavior of patients. They are responsible for knowing their medical history, conducting consultations and assessments, diagnosing conditions, devising particular treatments and prescribing medication, and providing emotional support to patients. Furthermore, a mental health professional must coordinate with families and other mental health experts to monitor patients' behavior and develop care plans to help them in their road to recovery.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a psychiatric social worker is likely to be skilled in "mental illness," "patient care," "psychiatry," and "msw," while a typical mental health professional is skilled in "cpr," "excellent interpersonal," "clinical documentation," and "taking care."
Mental health professionals make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $49,393. On the other hand, psychiatric social workers are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $60,450.When it comes to education, mental health professionals tend to earn lower degree levels compared to psychiatric social workers. In fact, they're 17.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Psychiatric social worker vs. Mental health counselor
A mental health counselor is responsible for helping patients deal with their emotional and mental disorders by developing treatment plans and conducting regular counseling to track the patient's progress and condition. Mental health counselors encourage active communication from their patients, provide coping strategies for triggering situations, seek advice from other health care professionals, and guide patients on doing other activities that would help them relax. A mental health counselor must have excellent knowledge of the mental health disciplines to assist patients in their healthy lifestyle development.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between psychiatric social workers and mental health counselors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a psychiatric social worker might have more use for skills like "mental illness," "social services," "psychiatry," and "msw." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of mental health counselors require skills like "cpr," "therapeutic environment," "vital signs," and "compassion. "
Mental health counselors enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $52,181. For comparison, psychiatric social workers earn the highest salary in the government industry.mental health counselors reach lower levels of education compared to psychiatric social workers, in general. The difference is that they're 20.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of psychiatric social worker
Updated January 8, 2025
