Some people ask, “What is a clinical social worker?”

A social worker who holds a master’s or doctoral degree in social work from an accredited school of social work in addition to at least two years of post-master’s supervised experience in a clinical setting. The social worker must be licensed, certified, or registered at the clinical level in the jurisdiction of practice. A clinical social worker provides direct services, including interventions focused on interpersonal interactions, intrapsychic dynamics, and life management issues. Clinical social work services are based on bio-psychosocial perspectives. Services consist of assessment, diagnosis, treatment (including psychotherapy and counseling), client-centered advocacy, consultation, evaluation, and prevention of mental illness, emotional, or behavioral disturbances.

That all sounds technical, however, the best way to understand what I do is to view it as a process of relational connections in a private, confidential office where you can work on personal issues you are experiencing.

All of us have a need for support and counseling at some point in our lives. There’s nothing shameful about asking for help. Early on in life, our lives are etched and sculpted. It’s important to learn new ways of identifying strategies for your life. You want to feel better; want to have better working relationships with your family, friends, and colleagues. Sometimes all we need is just an outside source to talk to. One of my favorite quotes is from Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”