Social Work | Imamother

amother

Tangerine

Sun, Dec 16 2018, 9:53 pm

amother wrote:

I’m not the op but I’m in a similar situation and I hear your warnings loud and clear. If the field is as flooded as you all make it out to be, then what other field would you suggest someone having those qualities get into?
I believe that doing what comes natural to you makes work-life a whole lot easier.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

First of all, I was in the field but have since gone back to school and changed careers because of the lack of financial opportunities. Working as a masters level therapist at a clinic had me qualified for medicaid - and the financial hardship was real. While I didn't go into this field to make big bucks, I didn't anticipate such a low salary, despite years of experience.

I think that qualities such as kindness, empathy, sensitivity, understanding of struggles and personalities can be helpful in any industry.

1ofbillions

Sun, Dec 16 2018, 10:28 pm

sub wrote:

If she is eligible for fafsa then city college is cheaper. Might take longer but is fully covered and in some cases recieves money to help pay for books etc. of course this only for BA.
Would she be interested in radiology?

I’m not sure if she’d be eligible for FAFSA. She’s 19, single, and is making 35k annually at her current job. Does anyone know if it’s possible that she’d be eligible? Does my parents’ income matter when it comes to this?

Thank you so much to everyone for your input on this! It is so helpful and appreciated.

amother

Mint

Sun, Dec 16 2018, 10:59 pm

amother wrote:

On Medicaid working as a Masters level therapist? That’s tough! What did you go back to school for?

nia73

Sun, Dec 16 2018, 11:20 pm

1ofbillions wrote:

$35 is just about what she will make with a BS in social work as a case manager. She really is doing better than most at 19 Byh.

sub

Sun, Dec 16 2018, 11:28 pm

1ofbillions wrote:

It depends if she lives at home and files individual taxes. I haven’t filed fafsa in years but the site walks you through it. Fafsa.gov

Mommyg8

Sun, Dec 16 2018, 11:50 pm

1ofbillions wrote:

It seems like she would not be eligible, but I could be wrong:

https://www.fastweb.com/financ.....ge-24

amother

Seashell

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 6:24 am

Just want to present the other side of the coin here:

I am a social worker. I specialized in a family therapy model that I fell in love with. I was recruited by a clinic (did not go there looking for work, they came to me) so I was in a position to negotiate a very nice salary. I also have a very small private practice on the side. All together I make about 125k a year. My hours are really flexible, I work in a fantastic work environment, and I love the work I do.

For someone with a real aptitude for counseling, this can be a very fulfilling career. I know what people are going to say: this is not a salary a large family can live on comfortably (in the tristate area) which is true. But it is still a very nice amount of money doing work that I love and that I find very meaningful.

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Dec 18 2018, 10:33 pm

amother wrote:

I'm confused, most therapists (LCSW/LMHC) that I know of have opened private practices and are charging on average $200 a session and are fully booked, the math just doesn't add up for me.
It's like most professions, if you're good at it and persevere(and with g-d's help) you can succeed and make it, but just like any other field there are those who just don't make it.

Have you checked their books? Are you aware that the summer months and Yomim Tovim are extremely slow? Are you aware of the exorbitant fees and courses that are required to keep up a specialized license ? A social worker will only get paid when the client shows up. Cancelations are quite common. I personally am not a social worker yet have many close relatives that are. One in particular is top in his field. People travel a distance to meet with him and he is often asked to lecture. With his $200 an hour fee , he needs to live frugally to make ends meet and his wife is working full time. The only real money in social work is if one opens an agency where one can profit from the clinicians that work under his/ her supervision. I do want to reiterate that it is a very fulfilling occupation. If the money is not essential, I would say go for it. Best of luck!

amother

Mint

Wed, Dec 19 2018, 1:17 am

amother wrote:

Becoming a mental health nurse practitioner is an interesting idea. Get a ban and make a decent salary doing mental health nursing and then get your master's and you can prescribe diagnose and do counseling under a doctor. For sure making over 6 figures. Field is in high demand from what I understand.

Is a bachelors enough to become a mental health nurse practitioner?

amother

Mistyrose

Wed, Dec 19 2018, 10:48 am

amother wrote:

Thank you so much for posting this suggestion. Do you know anyone I could contact to find more precise information on going this route?

momomany

Wed, Dec 19 2018, 7:29 pm

responding to previous poster:
The route to becoming amental health nurse practitioner is 1st obtaining your degree as a registered nurse on a bachelor's level /BSN. Then you can go to graduate school at the master's level to become a mental health nurse practitioner. I'm sure there are many schools offer it. If you want to a go to the "" "Jewish" route and you are in thr New York area, Reb. Bulka seminary in flatbush offers a women's only nursing program through Adelphi University and I believe but I am not 100% sure also a mental health NP when you are eligible

momomany

Wed, Dec 19 2018, 10:07 pm

amother wrote:

Thank you so much. Do you know of any other Jewish school in the NY area that has the BSN degree? From a bit of research, it seems that a general BA would require special courses to transfer it to nursing, which takes 2 years. Do you know if this is accurate?

touro college and NYU offer a bsn. so does LIU I think. there are many. google it. afaik touro follows a jewish calendar, however classes are not women only. the benefit of touro over adelphi if you live in brooklyn is that the college is local and hospital clinicals are in local facilites

check out this link
http://thenewseminary.org/

amother

Seagreen

Thu, Dec 20 2018, 1:51 am

I work as a nurse and I do not envy the hospital social workers!

Case 1: woman with schizophrenia + 2 young children has a psychotic fit and physically attacks a nurse taking care of her child. Security is called and woman is forced into care but 1-2 days later after being medicated she is out and back in the ward. Guess who has to be present the whole time this woman is visiting her child? Social worker.

Case 2: a very difficult couple comes to my ward, the woman is hospitalized in a different ward so I don't know their full story, they just came to mine for a small procedure, takes a few hours but the while time they are yelling and sulking and demanding to be treated differently than all our other patients. I'm so happy to see them go and that I had minimal interaction with them. I see on the computer that during their stay they had met with a social worker several times.

I had imagined social workers helping meek, needy people, but sometimes they are called just because the rest of us don't know how to deal with psychotics and as$holes. I admire social workers and am very grateful for them. I would not want their job.

levlongnprosper

Thu, Dec 20 2018, 9:09 am

cnc wrote:

Because it takes much longer.

Psychology is a four year bachelors (unless you're strategic and do it in three) followed by a four year graduate program. When you're done, you're fully licensed to provide therapy in an independent practice and you have a PhD.

To be able to provide therapy for social work, you need a 3-4year BA and 2 year MSW or a 4 year BSW and 1 year MSW then pay for licensure then work another 3+ years to qualify for the independent license that allows you to provide therapy on private practice.

Either way it adds up to 8 years. Would she rather go to a clinical psychology PhD program where the school pays HER for studying or do an expensive masters thats followed by often underpaid and overworked lower level positions in order to reach the same point?

If, and only if, the end goal is private practice, social work is not the best path.

levlongnprosper

Thu, Dec 20 2018, 9:17 am

More important is what she wants to do.

If she wants to do therapy, a PhD in clinical psychology is going to be cheaper and possibly even faster.

Social work is not an easy field for women who want to have children AND need to contribute to the family finances. There are too many social workers for too few positions, and the hours for full time jobs are not accommodating to families most of the time. On top of that they're demanding and emotionally taxing-- emotional energy that she then won't have left for her own family.

If money isn't a concern, you can find flexible part time work without benefits and usually at a low rate until you qualify for the LCSW and cb go into private practice.

Also don't go to a frum school. They have terrible reputations even for jobs with frum agencies. I've been told to my face that they only work with people from mainstream schools (which I went to).

If she still wants to go into social work. The best pay comes from hospitals and universities. The best hours are from universities and government. All three of those areas are hard to break into but once you're in, you're in, so she should make sure to ask for or seek out placements there.

If I could do it over, I'd have asked for field placements in hospitals. There are part time, full time flex, and full time positions with solid benefits and pay out there and some amazing NY state civil service social work jobs in hospitals.

amother

Silver

Thu, Dec 20 2018, 11:40 am

amother wrote:

Not everyone who gets a social work degree will be able to find (or afford to take) a job that gives them hours and supervision towards their LCSW. Those jobs are hard to balance if you have children, and even if you graduate high school and start college at 16 or 17, you're not finishing your MSW until you're in your 20s. The lucky ones have to have three years of qualifying work before they can sit for the exam. Not everyone can pass the exam. And then when you set up private practice there are costs: rent, phone lines, liability insurance, supervision (again for liability reasons), if you take insurance you're not getting paid for all the time you spend submitting and processing the claims, you're also not getting paid for and documentation, plus there's regular continuing education you have to pay for as well as licensing fees every couple of years. Also there's not much financial aid besides loans for an MSW, so often many end up with student loans or taking low paying positions that will pay for them to get the degree part time, pushing your private practice timeline back yet again. You might be stuck paying for health insurance out of pocket too if you can't get on your husbands insurance. Also remember that therapists are human. Very few people can bill 40 hours a week without burning out or sacrificing their ability to connect with their family and friends. It's emotionally exhausting work, though it can be so rewarding it it's right for you!

Yes there are some who leverage their time and resources and often supplement their work with book writing or public speaking or teaching and are able to bring in three figure incomes. But they're the exception not the rule. There are other helping professions where you can reach that salary threshold or have more immediate flexibility.