How to Become a Psychiatric Social Worker: A Comprehensive Guide

People living with mental health challenges often face significant barriers to getting effective support and treatment. A psychiatric social worker can help them overcome these barriers and improve their quality of life. These specialists work as part of a team that may include psychiatrists, nurses, and other healthcare providers. By helping their clients get the support they need, psychiatric social workers play an important role in contributing to their mental well-being.¹

This article will examine the skills and credentials you need for a career in psychiatric social work and the types of jobs you can obtain.

A simple definition of psychiatric social work is that these caring professionals work in various environments to help people overcome, or live healthier lives, with mental health issues. Their responsibilities include conducting a comprehensive assessment of each patient’s situation to help identify issues that are contributing to the patient’s struggles.

Psychiatric social workers can also provide counseling for individuals, families, or groups to help them develop effective strategies for coping and thriving with mental illness or other mental health challenges. A psychiatric social worker often acts as an advocate, helping patients secure the community resources they need to function and overcome the obstacles they face.²

People with mental health challenges live and work in many different environments, so psychiatric social workers work in various settings, including hospitals, clinics, prisons, and private practice. Regardless of where they work, psychiatric social workers make a positive impact on their community by supporting the needs of vulnerable people at difficult times.²

To become a practicing psychiatric social worker, you’ll need a combination of educational and clinical experience, along with a license. To start, you need a bachelor’s degree in social work or a comparable field such as psychology or sociology. Your undergraduate education will give you a strong foundation in human behavior, psychology, research methods, and crisis intervention techniques.³

However, to become a licensed social worker, you’ll need a master’s degree in social work (MSW), which typically takes two years to complete. An MSW includes coursework in human behavior; social work practice with individuals, groups and communities; social welfare policies; and clinical assessment and diagnosis.³

After you complete your master’s degree, you’ll need to engage in supervised clinical experience, often through an internship. Most states require between 2,000 and 4,000 hours of supervised clinical work. Licensed social workers or other mental health professionals will work with you to complete these hours so you can qualify to sit for the licensing exam. You can fulfill your supervised hours at psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics, counseling centers, assisted living facilities and outpatient community clinics, among other settings.³

To succeed as a psychiatric social worker, you’ll need a combination of hard and soft skills to support patients and navigate the healthcare system and institutions within which you’ll work. Hard skills include specialized proficiencies such as conducting psychosocial assessments and suicide risk assessments, performing crisis interventions and developing treatment plans. You also need to be able to do discharge planning to help patients transition out of hospital care.

You’ll have to work with other clinical healthcare providers as part of each patient's treatment team, providing social work services for assessment and intervention. Psychiatric social workers evaluate their patients and make recommendations for treatment plans, clinical services and evidence-based therapeutic interventions.⁴

You also need soft skills such as empathy and patience. As part of working with people dealing with difficult challenges and behavioral issues, you’ll need to be resilient. Communication and collaboration skills will help you work with patients, families and other clinicians.⁴

Licensing for psychiatric social workers is handled at the state level. Requirements vary by state, but most include education requirements, supervised clinical experience and continuing education. You’ll need to renew your license on a regular basis, likely every two years. Many states have different levels of licensure based on educational attainment and clinical hours.⁵

As a psychiatric social worker, you can choose several different career paths in this rewarding profession. Your path can vary based on the people you’ll work with and the environment in which you’ll work. Potential roles include inpatient social workers. In this type of medical social work, you’ll assist patients hospitalized with severe social or behavioral problems, such as schizophrenia, addiction, or psychosis.⁶

You could also work in emergency services and crisis intervention. Here, you’d provide short-term care and arrange immediate treatment and services for patients undergoing an active crisis. You’ll frequently be working with people who are a danger to themselves or others.⁶

When people with mental health issues don’t need to be hospitalized and aren’t in an active crisis, they can work with outpatient social workers. In outpatient community settings, you can work with patients who are at risk for hospitalization or were recently released from psychiatric facilities to arrange further care or conduct therapy. In any of these scenarios, you may work with patients who are being treated with psychopharmacotherapy.⁶

After you’ve worked directly with patients for a while, you may want to advance to a supervisory role. As a clinical supervisor, you’ll oversee therapists and help them support their patients. Your responsibilities will include hiring and training social workers, meeting with your staff to discuss treatment plans and policies, the patient's progress, and making sure counselors and social workers follow documentation requirements. To qualify for advanced roles, you’ll need experience and possibly a doctorate in social work.⁷

As a psychiatric social worker, you can make a positive difference for patients suffering from a range of mental health challenges and work in a variety of settings. If you want to help vulnerable people in your community, an online Master of Social Work from Yeshiva University Wurzweiler School of Social Work can equip you with the skills you need to thrive. The robust curriculum covers topics such as the historical context for social work policies, scientific methods for practice, and ethical dilemmas in social work.

You’ll learn from established experts and receive individualized attention as you complete your coursework. If you already have a background in social work, you may be able to complete the Advanced Standing MSW in as little as 1.5 years. Contact an admissions outreach advisor today to learn more.