Mental Health Social Work Responsibilities

Mental health and substance abuse social workers are responsible for extensive tasks to help their clients. Mental health social work responsibilities include getting clients through social, economic, family and sometimes criminal crisis.

Social work in mental health is an extraordinarily important service for the number of mentally ill people in the U.S. Many of these are people who have no one to help them, and no ability to help themselves.

These extensively trained social workers  are highly educated. They regularly interview individuals or families. These interviews include reviewing various personal client records, then consulting with professionals. They work with doctors and psychologists to be able to evaluate client's and their family's needs.

Specific Mental Health Responsibilities

Once a client relationship is established with an individual or family, a substance abuse social worker will monitor client progress. They will evaluate their progress, while establishing ongoing treatment options and goals. This is in addition to providing ongoing training to clients about mental illness and substance abuse. The social worker will also provide additional resources to assist them in their progress.

Social workers dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues  help their clients adhere faithfully to treatment plans. They train them to keep schedules, help them get transportation, and other factors related to keeping up with their treatment.

Mental health social workers may also assist families of clients in working with the client, providing family support. They commonly arrange for housing and financial assistance to assist in recovery. They counsel with the families of these clients, helping them deal with the stress of living with someone with mental illness or addiction.

Mental Health Social Work Technical Knowledge

In mental health social work, the worker is generally required to be able to exercise certain special skills. They must have a working knowledge of some technological tools required to do their jobs in a modern work environment.

It is a given that today, a social worker must have a functional knowledge of desktop and laptop computers and requisite programs to operate with. They will be required to keep a client database with activities, records and evaluations.

Desktop publishing products such as Adobe, and Microsoft Publisher are necessary for presentations and illustrated evaluations. Presentation software such as PowerPoint or Open Office Impress are necessary for illustrating to groups and individuals how to implement treatment and follow up.

Spreadsheets and word processors are necessary for writing letters and keeping monetary and other mathematical records. All these will be required as a knowledge base for substance abuse and mental health social workers. 

Personal Qualities and Skills of Mental Health Social Workers

Personal skill sets that help social workers in their job responsibilities are social understanding, being able to actively listen effectively (while taking note of significant points), and not interrupting at the wrong time. This must be coupled with the ability to speak clearly and understandably to clients to convey information on a level they can understand. These should all be outgrowths of the most basic orientation toward serving and helping people.

Clinical social workers must be capable of thinking critically using logic to evaluate complex social situations and provide creative solutions.They must have good reading and comprehension skills. This all enables them to understand documents related to their field of work and client needs.

Finally monitoring of client progress, and good writing ability round out the skills necessary for a social worker to work in mental health and substance abuse fields.

These are the basic job responsibilities and skill sets needed for social workers with advanced degrees working with mentally ill and addicted clients. Successfully helping them and their families cope and recover is one of the most noble and needed professions.