What Can I Do With a Master of Social Work (MSW) Degree?

The MSW is a versatile college degree that can open doors to a variety of social work careers. If you’re drawn to this helping profession, you are likely to find a job role that aligns with your career interests.

“When you’re a social worker, you can go and work in any sort of setting,” says Dr. Stacey Borasky Ferguson, EdD, MSW, dean of Chamberlain University’s Master of Social Work (MSW) degree program. “I’ve worked in child welfare. I’ve worked in mental health. I’ve done community organizing. I’ve worked in a hospital. I’ve done a lot of different things. So, your interests can be really broad if you have a desire to help people.”

What Do Social Workers Do?

Simply put, social workers can help to improve lives: “Social workers assist people by helping them cope with issues in their everyday lives, deal with their relationships, and solve personal and family problems,” the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) explains on its website.¹

So, what can you do with an MSW degree, a preferred credential for many social work jobs?² Here are seven social worker job roles that may help inspire you:

• Medical social workers help patients understand their diagnoses and make any necessary adjustments to their lifestyle, home, or healthcare.
• Substance abuse social workers assess and treat people who are experiencing addiction. The diverse range of services includes mental health therapy, crisis and response interventions, case management, education, and prevention. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than 62 percent of jobs for mental health and substance abuse social workers require a master’s degree.³
• Clinical social workers assess, diagnose, and treat people who are experiencing mental and emotional health challenges and provide individual, group, and family therapy.
• Crisis social workers help vulnerable populations using crisis de-escalation, emotion management, and therapeutic techniques.
• School social workers work collaboratively with children, parents, and educators to advance a child’s academic and social progress. Their duties may include conducting assessments, providing counseling, and offering parent education sessions, among other activities.
• Trauma social workers use a mix of psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and motivational interviewing to help their clients deal with and heal from stressful events.

Gerontology social workers focus their practice on meeting the diverse needs of older adults. These social workers provide services like counseling, case management, and advocacy.

Earn a Master of Social Work Degree Online

Choosing an MSW program is an important step in planning your social work career. If you are interested in a specific area of practice, look for a master’s degree program that lets you tailor your studies to your career goals.

Chamberlain’s online MSW degree program can prepare you for generalist practice, or for specialized practice through focused learning in one of these tracks: Crisis and Response Interventions, Trauma, or Medical Social Work.

Another important feature to look for when choosing an online MSW program is Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accreditation. CSWE accreditation means an MSW program’s curriculum meets or exceeds standards for social work education. And a degree from a CSWE-accredited program academically prepares you to pursue licensure.

Here’s an important question to ask about an MSW program, especially if you’re a working professional: Can I earn the degree online? Chamberlain’s coursework is 100 percent online and available 24/7, allowing you to log on and study when it’s convenient for you.

Contact Chamberlain for more information on an MSW program that can help prepare you to transform lives and communities.

Chamberlain University, an accredited institution, offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and certificate programs in nursing and healthcare professions. With a growing network of campuses and robust online programs, Chamberlain continues to build on more than 130 years of excellence in preparing extraordinary healthcare professionals.

Chamberlain University’s Master of Social Work degree program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation, https://www.cswe.org.

Chamberlain University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (https://www.hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

¹Source: www.socialworkers.org/News/Facts/Social-Workers#:~:text=More%20than%2040%25%20of%20all,senators%20and%20four%20U.S.%20Representatives.3

²Source: www.chamberlain.edu/media/11556/msw-ebook.pdf

³Source: www.bls.gov/ors/factsheet/pdf/mental-health-and-substabce-abuse-social-workers.pdf

⁴Source: : www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm#tab-1

By Chamberlain University