MSW Student Career Uncertainty- Please Advise

[alicat118]

Hi, all. I know this is a looong explanation; please bear with me, because I desperately need advice!

**Background: Got BA in Psych, then worked as a community support provider for a year at a MHC for adults with mental illness. Fall 2016, I applied for a MSW program and got in. I've been at school for 4 weeks (I'm no longer at the job).

Problem: Up until spring of 2017, which was AFTER my program accepted me, I wanted to be a therapist. I am introverted but (IMO) good at helping people work through their problems, and I generally enjoy doing so. But I often found my MHC job to be incredibly stressful, and many of my therapist coworkers seemed overwhelmed, stressed, and didn't particularly like their jobs. A couple quit or moved departments because of the huge caseloads, bunches of paperwork, and stress of the job (seemed like a bad sign). However, I had already formally decided to go to school, so I continued with that plan.

Honestly, I loved and cared about my clients, but I found the constant worries of suicide (and homicide) were too emotionally taxing for me despite being fairly successful at my job. After the first half year, I started dreading work because I'd worry so much, in spite of my previous training. I found it difficult to have the energy to do anything after work. Self-care and coping skills helped somewhat, but I still did not often look forward to my job. This intensely concerned me, because I want to have a career that helps people, but one that I can also enjoy (aka stress is manageable) and that is sustainable for me long-term. My professors seem to think I just need better coping skills, but I'm not sure that the intensity of SMI/crisis clinical work is for me. But, it's hard to give up my dream of therapy. I don't want to continue with my MSW for no reason, but I don't want to give up on it too early, either. I have faith there could be a clinical career out there that fits me. Thus, I was thinking I could:

1. Shift my career focus to addressing people's general life problems ("counseling"?), not geared toward SMI. Sort of like counseling psych v. clinical psych. I thought this might decrease the number of crisis situations that always sent me into an internal tizzy. But is this kind of work even possible for a SWer to obtain when just starting out-- or even in the future afterward?

2. EAP counseling, because it seems to me this is also more life-problem and not crisis/SMI based, and I could merge my Psych and Business interests. But it appears difficult to break into that field. 

Am I being unrealistic in hoping to do more "general counseling" or EAP type work? Should I go find something more "behind the scenes" to do with my MSW? (I've thought of grant writing or program planning, but have no current experience there.)

TL;DR : Find working with/counseling SMI/crisis clients very stressful- wondering if more general counseling about life issues, or EAP careers, are realistic and less stressful for a future entry-level MSW grad. Desire to help others while moderating own stress level for more sustainable career. Willing to consider other options if suggested. 

[Adelaide9216]

Ok wow. I wrote this loooong reply and then it all got erased. So I’m restarting.

What you are describing is very typical of social workers, especially social workers entering the workforce. There is always a discrepancy between what we are taught in school and what actually happens on the ground. Most of us enter this field because we want to help people, especially vulnerable and marginalized communities. But I think what you are describing is normal because the current social, economic and political context in the Western world (budget cuts, austerity measures, neoliberalism, all dynamics that are very present in the Western world right now) makes it difficult for social workers to feel that they are providing any meaningful help to their clients. I would say that this is true also in the community sector where funding is scarce very often, and in the public sector, social workers end up doing things that are very dehumanizing instead of spending actual times with their clients (for instance: statistics that are supposed to represent "efficiency" and "productivity"). 

I did a placement at a hospital a few years back as a social work intern and I hated every second of it. It was a very tough experience for me. And I could sense that even though my supervisors or colleagues had been in the field for a few years now, that they did not seem to enjoy their work anymore. I found it extremely hard on my mental health. I was never looking forward to my stage whenever I woke up in the morning and was always entering the hospital with high anxiety. Not a very pleasant experience.

However, this experience has made me realize that I want to be in academia rather than being a clinical social worker. I do believe that clinical experience is important to inform my research work. But in the long run, I want to be a professor in post-secondary studies in social work (either in college or university) and do research. 

Also, the problem might also be clientele. I do believe that any social worker will encounter crisis situations anywhere they go in their career, but depending on the clientele you're working with, you can "limit" that. I would say it's inevitable, that crises from clients and/or their families will pop up at some point. But I know that depending on the setting, that might be less likely to happen. The beauty of social work is that you can literally work with any clientele you want. So that might be something to consider as well. 

Edited September 18, 2017 by Adelaide9216