About a year ago, I met someone who was aspiring to be a Life Coach. This person was taking an online course of self-paced, computer-based trainings that aimed to educate them to help others in their day-to-day life with current obstacles, while also maybe helping them with their current relationships, professional endeavors, and perhaps helping them to get “un-stuck” in other areas they were focused on. For this profession, there is no mental health or clinical training required. There is no requirement to follow privacy law, meet or maintain requirements for certification of licensure, and there is no official ethics code they are mandated to follow. One can pay a life-coach to help them navigate a significant life-change one might be trying to make. Okay, cool. I get it and I respect it — especially for quick, time/money-limited, solution-focused assistance. I like it and understand the demand for some people seeking those types of services.
As this person started to get to know me through interaction and discussion, they began to assume I worked as a psychologist. Because in many outsiders’ minds, a mental health professional MUST MEAN or is mutually exclusive of the profession of “psychologist”, right? As humans, we create schemas, or “cognitive shortcuts” to make sense of vast amounts of information in a rapid way. Schema development can be helpful, but sometimes unhelpful too. They can lead us down the road of explicit biases and stereotypes in other areas of our life. In hind-sight, this schema started to become more evident as we (this person and I) moved through major aspects of our frequent conversations; me sharing that I worked in mental health; and that I also assessed people for mental health disorders, diagnosed them, treated them for said diagnoses, while also assisting them in resuming baseline or improved levels of functioning across all domains of their life…things like work, school, family, interpersonal and existential crises, psychotic breaks, etc…(just to name a few). All of this true, as a large bulk of the work I was doing occurred in a treatment setting, through both individual and group psychotherapy. And so through this acquired knowledge, over time, this person would periodically reach out to me and ask me questions, seek insight, ask for friendly advice, and bounce off their own personal experiences and current life obstacles. I just assumed they valued my feedback, knowing I was educated and could also informally talk to me “as a friend” and not a therapist. I wasn’t treating this person…but maybe serving as their own personal life coach. It wasn’t really clear. Whatever it was, I didn’t question it.
Then one day, after several months, this person finally asked me “wait, so what is your actual background? Like, what did you go to school for?”
“Well, I completed my undergrad in Cultural Anthropology. I went to grad school for Social Work. I work as a licensed social worker in the clinical realm. Right now I work with people/veterans suffering from mental illness, substance use, trauma, homelessness, unemployment, and those with other major psychosocial deficits and medical issues who seek treatment.”
This person’s response, and I quote: “You’re a social worker??? I thought you were something cooler than that.”
At that time, I couldn’t exactly pinpoint the internal emotional response that I experienced, other than feel like “bish…f*ck you.” I admit, the thought was not kind, not friendly, and fraught with a dose of counter-transference so great before I then realized that this person a.) had zero clue what a social worker actually does and b.) probably developed their own schemas, over time, regarding the difference between mental health professionals and what they are credentialed to practice. At first, I took it personally, and for several reasons. I had busted my ass to get into one of the best graduate social work schools in the nation, worked endlessly to juggle a family, go to class five nights a week, conduct research, take feedback and critique from my academic professors, field liaisons, colleagues, and peers, while also completing learning objectives required for graduation. I completed my first several semesters of grad school while also wrapping up a 20-year career in the military, simultaneously working through the fused trappings of that lifestyle, while transitioning in my own way on a personal and existential level. My final year of graduate work included a concurrent internship working with veterans in many areas of mental health, while still completing the academic rigors of both school and field supervision to meet the 1000-hour minimum practicum required to graduate. Oh, and I did it through the start of a pandemic. I had one of the best, most intelligent field supervisors who pushed me to my limits. I endured mental ass-whoopings on the daily, cried in my car regularly after feedback days, and rarely saw or spent time with my kids or husband. I, like many other MSW graduates, stayed up late learning the most current, evidence-based modalities of treatment, wrote papers, prepared for case presentations, was “appropriately shredded” as an intern by other seasoned social workers and psychologist/psychiatrists in my workplace, all while also being pushed through personal growing pains of my own life and past experiences in order to grow and thrive in a field that required me to be able to take patients and clients “as far as I myself, could go.” After all of this, to hear someone say “I thought you did something cooler” was a kick in the proverbial nuts. Truly. Yet I had to let it roll like water off a duck’s back, because that’s what a good social worker strives to do, sometimes painfully. So instead, I shared some insight and education with this person about what Social Workers actually do, and can do, and how the field is vast in terms of sector work and licensure. Did you know social workers also work in areas like schools, hospitals, at the bedside, in Hospice, and in the home? Yes, they do. That some also work in policy sectors, which include lobbying at local, state, and federal government level agencies, and advocating for the underprivileged and underrepresented populations around the world, sometimes in dangerous or potentially unsafe situations? They do that stuff too. Did you know that some also work in private practice agencies, non-profit agencies, or sometimes have to go in and remove children from homes due to abuse or neglect? Because they also do this. Social workers do more than what society actually realizes or maybe even is educated on. In fact, if you seek or go to therapy, if you look at the title of your therapist, who you probably admire and respect, chances are that you’ll likely find the letters “LSW, LISW, LCSW, LMSW etc” following their name. Hey. Guess what? Your therapist is a SOCIAL WORKER.
I go on this rant not to stomp my feet or to kick and scream and demand respect for our field. I stand on this soapbox to paint a picture of all the things social workers do — even when they aren’t deemed cool or pleasant. But we do them. Because somewhere, somehow, along the way in our life, we decided helping people is what we were put on this earth to do. The reward is in the help. It’s not always glamorous, nor does it often feel “prestigious” either. But we are passionate. We also experience burnout, low pay, failure, bureaucratic roadblocks…like many other professions. We also lose clients to relapse, overdose, jail, termination, health complications, or because they simply no longer want or require our services. Some of them even hate us because of the mandated role we are placed in as it pertains to their circumstances. We view the world and it’s experiences differently and aim to meet people “where they are” in life. I know none of it sounds cool. But I’ll tell you what, my job is fucking cool and I wouldn’t change my professional path for anything.
Many people don’t know that March is National Social Work Month. And this year’s theme for 2021 is “Social Workers are Essential.” Because they are. And I am willing to bet that if you ever had to seek out any type of agency for personal or family support in your life, a social worker, somewhere, somehow, was involved. I’d put money on it. Whether it’s public assistance, employment assistance, housing, social safety nets….all these things we have our hands in. As this month draws to a close, I implore you to take some time to learn about the many amazing contributions of our profession, and how we aim (and are trained) to help people address personal and systemic barriers to optimal living, across all life spans, all communities, and in a conceptualized, evidence-informed way. If you find an opportunity to talk to a social worker, ask them what field they work in. Maybe thank them for what they do, if you feel inclined. Educate yourself — you never know when you might need a social worker during a challenging time in your own life.
To social workers everywhere…the seasoned ones, new graduates, interns, students…in all realms: I salute you. Happy Social Work Month 2021. You matter. And you are fucking cool as hell.
