How much weight is given to the opinions of social workers however? For example, if a social worker and a psychiatrist had differing opinions concerning a diagnosis, would the psychiatrists opinion automatically contain more influence since his training is so much more extensive, or are social workers also deemed as being effective diagnosticians in their own right?
To all of the social workers out there, please do not think I mean this question to sound offensive. I'm quite aware of the fact that social workers are quite bright and capable people, however, I wasn't quite sure of how effective their role is when it comes to the behavioral health field.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Answer by jared jensen misha
i dont know as well here,,. i got a good person named dale shes good...
shes helpful and shes got good office her home... and well shes got good view from her sliding glass door....
i thinks drs well put you on wrong medications alot..
Answer by TheImport
A responsible social worker would not diagnosed a client indiscriminately. That is a duty that falls upon a licensed professional within the medical or psychological field. That means that someone may have a degree in Social Work, but needs to further their training and education, and pass the appropriate licensing exam, in order to actually earn the professional qualifications to diagnose.
When explaining my own qualifications to a client or family member, I usually make use of the following analogy: Psychiatrists will help you determine which medication treatment options are best for you. Psychologists and Therapists will help you learn skills to process through your feelings and cope with symptoms. Social Workers will help you with pretty much everything else.
Answer by Bill
As a Psychologist I work closely with Psychiatrists actually depending on the presentation of the client/patient your first contact would be with a Psychologist like myself at that point on initial consultation with the client we may refer to a Psychiatrist. The only difference between us is that as you probably know the Psychiatrist has the ability to treat symptoms with medication. All cognitive and counseling is carried out alongside a Psychologist and we work in tandem.
I only state this to give you a full picture of how mental health practice is generally prescribed.
A Psychiatrist is generally (not always) found in a hospital situation where they treat the client and stabilize discharge to the care of a Psychologist or the other way round.
Social services play a valuable part in the process. Depending on the clients circumstances, It maybe that the Social worker is already active within a situation such as family breakdown, or other long term mental health conditions, such as disability.
Here's an example of typical referral process for a client going through an acute mental health issue.
Family may initially contact Local Social Services department they will come and assess the situation and then report back to a team of workers in that field. (Say the client is an adult with family issues caused by depression)
He or She will work together with the "Adult" team and devise a programme of support and then will come back to see client and their family regularly and reporting back on progress each time.
It maybe as a result of conversations with Social worker or already initiated that client goes to GP and a course of Counseling is recommended this is usually an initial 6 weekly 1 hour session in frequency.
During conversations with counselor it maybe be deemed appropriate for client to be treated with medication so a referral is made to a Psychiatrist who acts upon the Psychologists recommendation.
There follows a multi-service meeting which involves Social Services (that persons worker) and the Psychiatrist liaising with Psychologist and GP and treatment is given after a discussion is held as to the best way forward.
No one has any advantage opinion wise and treatment is given when a consensus of opinion is reached.
We all play a different role in the clients treatment.
Often the Social worker is the person that plays the hardest role of client support and family support often remaining with the client and the family long after any treatments medically or cognitively have been concluded.
Should that client need hospitalization for treatment "Sectioning" for example (old term) a referral order is made from GP Duty Social worker and is then admitted under the care of a Psychiatrist.
This is long winded but I hope it has answered you question if you want to know more drop me a mail.
To sum up
Psychologist Psychiatrist and Socal worker are all equal in input to clients treatment.
A Social worker is especially valuable when the work with clients and their families involves social living such as independent living, confidence building, social awareness. They in my opinion are often not given the respect they are due because they are often the quietest of the services in that they proactively work with client themselves but also with their family achieving change for the better on both sides. I often think they should be issued with UN Blue helmets as they are the peace brokers and keepers in situations.
Long gone are the days when social services used to remove parties from families in fact it is the opposite only on total breakdown do they work with both sides to move the client on to the next step of independence.
Orignal From: The role social workers play in the mental health field?
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