A career in psychology is similar to a career in social work, because both careers deal with helping individuals with intense life problems, and each prescribes solutions to their suffering.
People have wondered since ancient times why humans behave the way they do. The psychology profession came into existence by Greek philosopher Aristotle who wanted to explore what the human mind could do. The idea of helping people and showing favor to the less fortunate comes from some religions but especially Christianity, and social work is the career that makes this happen. With social work and psychology being similar it is hard for someone who is deciding on a career in helping improve humans to choose between the two. Explanation of some of the most popular careers in social work and psychology will give a more understanding of how they contrast. Looking up social work and psychology in The World Book Encyclopedia provides information on the major fields and what they offer. So does The Big Book of Jobs, 2005-2006 edition, College Board website, and the California Employment Development Department career information website. This is how three major career fields in social work and three major career fields in psychology differ.
Explanation of three careers fields in social work is necessary to get an idea about the career. Family and child welfare is one field in social work. Family and child welfare social workers help children who have been physically or emotionally abused. Family and child welfare social workers provide services to families for the purpose of improving their social and psychological function. For example, child welfare workers take action if they detect child abuse in a family. Furthermore, family welfare workers help families deal with their relationship problems, marriages, home management, finances and health. But social workers don’t just help children and families, they also help in different situations. This brings us to mental health, another field in social work. Mental health social workers help people who suffer from mental and emotional stress. It is a lot of the same types of services that medical social workers perform. Mental health social workers usually work in hospitals, substance abuse treatment centers, individual and family service agencies, and local government. They also perform one on one and group therapy sessions. The work of mental health and substance abuse social workers is very similar to that of clinical psychologists and counselors,” claimed a social work article on College Board, an online website for students. Many other places occupy social workers. Social workers also exist in schools. They take parts in programs in schools in any way imaginable, from nursery school through college. In special schools they provide services to students who are emotionally disturbed or handicapped. School social workers also provide career counseling and can help with personal problems that help young people get back on track to lead a happy life. These situations usually require them to work indoors at their office, or the need to visit the clients at home. Now a look at psychology.
There are three major fields in psychology. Clinical psychology is one and constitutes the largest specialty field. These psychologists create programs that help prevent emotional illnesses and they do research to come up with methods that people can use to improve their life and eliminate problems. Clinical psychologists diagnose and counsel individuals, family, and groups. They work in counseling centers, independent or group practices, hospitals, or clinics. They help mentally and emotionally disturbed people adjust back to life. They specialize in an area of health psychology. Psychologists sometimes only do research. In developmental psychology, another psychology field, there is mostly research being performed. Developmental psychologists study emotional, intellectual, and social changes in a human life from birth to death. They also mostly specialize in studying children and adolescents. They study why they do the things they do, and what are their reasons, for example, their choice of friends. It is seen how psychology consists of research, but there is a field in psychology that is not about research. This brings us to counseling psychology, another major field. Counseling psychologists use techniques such as interviewing and testing to be able to advice people about their problems. They work in places such as hospitals, individual and group practices, and schools. It is a lot like clinical psychology since they do very similar things like counsel people, work in mental health institutions and do some research. Counseling psychologists however don’t usually work with people who are sick but those who just need casual advice, while a clinical psychologists works with the mentally ill. These explanations have finally drawn a better understanding.
Psychology and social work seem to relate to one another because they use some of the same terms in the explanation of their duties. But there is still a visible contrast, and the different ideas of social work and psychology are also clear. Social workers have people encounters all the time, while psychologist help people and also do some study. So someone could say that social workers depend on psychologists to provide ideas on how to help people’s life problems. For this reason, a person that is interested in helping people’s life problems would have to do a careful decision to not get caught in doing research. The duties for clinical and counseling psychology where not just of research but also of helping humans in their life problems through direct contact with the mass population and people of all ages. But since mental health social workers are similar, it is a more reliable career for work with the care of patients.
Citation:
James B. Maas, Emma Giordano Quartaro. The World Book Encyclopedia. USA. World Book Inc. 1986.
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Big Book of Jobs. 2005-2006 ed. New York. McGraw-Hill, 2005.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers., Child, Family, and School Social Workers., Clinical Psychologists., Developmental Psychology., Counseling Psychology. College Board. 2008 collegeboard.com Inc. 2 Dec. 2008 http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/index.html
Social Workers. California Employment Development Department. 1998. State of California, Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division, Information Services Group. 2 Dec. 2008 http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/SOCWORK.HTM
