Have you read the social worker code of ethics? I think variances in viewpoints exist in any field (for instance in psychology there are practitioners that have a behaviorist point of view and other who have a positive psychology point of view such as yourself, etc.) As long as you have no inherent issues with the code of ethics social workers abide by, the kind of practitioner you are once you become licensed is mostly up to you.
And yes, if you are looking for a master's level licensure, the LCSW is typically more portable than an LPC. LCSWs also have the ability to bill Medicare, which LPCs cannot if I'm not mistaken.
Just a side-note, there are no license eligible psychology masters programs. Mental health counseling is a counseling degree so you want to look for CACREP accredited programs. The APA does not accredit MA psych programs.
Hey I can relate to not being sure about if MSW was a good fit, I'll tell you though my alternative would be MFT or PhD in clin psy, not LPC. I think you have a sort of stereotypical view of the MSW orientation. MSW is a CBT, strengths based, and systems based approach. When I say systems I mean some of that stuff you mention, like taking into account a persons community or neighborhood as being part of the puzzle. It is about identifying barriers that are preventing progress and helping them overcome them. None of that means you have to be anti government, anti police, anti white, or that you must vote a certain way. You are supposed to advocate for your clients and help them by supporting causes that would provide them some social justice. That doesn't nevcessarily mean you go rally for open borders or vote for minority candidates because they are minorities, it means you assess how the population you choose to work with is under served or discriminated against or stigmatized and you do all you can within reason to help. Now that said, you will encounter people who are anti police, anti military, anti immigration, anti white, anti male, who are in these programs, and you will be in school with a mostly democrat or socialist group, but that's ok even if it's outside your comfort zone. You gotta work with clients from all walks of life, with colleagues. I don't even know if this stuff applies to you, but for what it's worth, I say keep an open mind, you can do the MSW and follow the code of ethics while still being about empowerment and positive psych. I mean strengths based is like that too. I for one love that I had a good psych undergrad to support my MSW that I'm doing now. And the MSW is the best degree you can get, big scope of practice.
