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Career Exploration

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

Also called: Case Manager, Mental Health Therapist, Social Worker, Therapist

What they do:

Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs. Activities may include individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, case management, client advocacy, prevention, and education.

On the job, you would:
  • Counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse.
  • Collaborate with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs.
  • Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress with respect to treatment goals.
On the job, you'll need:

Health

  • therapy and counseling
  • medicine and dentistry

Math and Science

  • psychology
  • sociology and anthropology

Arts and Humanities

  • English language
  • philosophy and religion

Business

  • customer service

Basic Skills

  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • talking to others

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Social

  • understanding people's reactions
  • changing what is done based on other people's actions

Verbal

  • listen and understand what people say
  • communicate by speaking

Ideas and Logic

  • notice when problems happen
  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information

Social

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

  • Concern for Others
  • Integrity
  • Self Control
  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Dependability

Electronic mail software

  • Email software
  • Microsoft Outlook

Presentation software

  • Information presentation software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Medical software

  • Client records software
  • Medical procedure coding software

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $51,240

Education

Master's degree or bachelor's degree is usually needed.