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Clinical Social Worker Job Description

What does a Clinical Social Worker do?

A Clinical Social Worker is a trained professional who helps individuals, families, and groups deal with issues related to mental health, addiction, and various life challenges. They work closely with clients to identify their needs and develop a personalized plan of support. Clinical Social Workers provide a range of therapeutic services, including counselling, advocacy, and case management. They may also collaborate with other healthcare professionals and community resources to ensure the best possible outcomes for their clients. Overall, a Clinical Social Worker is focused on helping individuals achieve their personal goals and improve their overall quality of life.

Our Clinical Social Worker job description includes the Clinical Social Worker responsibilities, duties, skills, education, qualifications, and experience.

Clinical Social Worker Example


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If you need an example job description for a Clinical Social Worker download the one below, alternatively we have many other Social Care job description samples and a job description library with over 3000 job descriptions templates that you can download for free.

What does a Clinical Social Worker do?

Clinical Social Workers are responsible for providing specialist mental health services and support to individuals, groups and families in order to improve their social and emotional wellbeing. They work with clients to assess their needs and develop appropriate interventions, using a range of evidence based therapeutic approaches. They also provide advice and support on a range of issues such as housing, benefits, financial difficulties, relationships, parenting and employment. Clinical Social Workers have strong interpersonal skills and are able to maintain professional boundaries when working with vulnerable people. They are required to maintain accurate records and be able to work collaboratively with other professionals.

Clinical Social Worker Role Purpose

The purpose of a clinical social worker is to provide psychosocial support to individuals, families, couples and groups in order to promote wellbeing, resilience and improved quality of life. Clinical social workers assess the psychological, social and biological factors influencing an individual's health and functioning, and develop a therapeutic plan to facilitate recovery and enhance wellbeing. They provide emotional support, crisis intervention, and advocacy services to help individuals cope with difficult life events or mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. They also work with families to help them identify and resolve issues that may be preventing them from achieving a healthful, stable environment. Clinical social workers collaborate with other health professionals to ensure a holistic approach to treatment.

Clinical Social Worker Role

A Clinical Social Worker is a professional who provides support and guidance to individuals, couples and families who are facing difficult and challenging life situations, such as mental health issues, substance abuse, disability, relationship issues and other social issues. Clinical Social Workers use a range of therapeutic and practical strategies to help people to develop the skills and resources they need to cope better with their situation and to achieve their goals.

Clinical Social Worker Duties

  • Provide counselling and psychotherapy to individuals, couples and families
  • Assess and diagnose mental health issues
  • Develop treatment plans and provide referrals to other services as needed
  • Advocate for clients with other health professionals, schools and community services
  • Keep detailed case notes and provide regular reports
  • Support clients in understanding their feelings, behaviours and life choices
  • Maintain professional boundaries and ethical standards

Clinical Social Worker Requirements

  • Qualified as a clinical social worker
  • Knowledge of relevant legislation, policies and procedures
  • Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships
  • Ability to analyse complex problems and make well-informed decisions
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Clinical Social Worker Skills

  • Ability to understand and empathise with clients
  • Ability to assess clients and provide appropriate therapy
  • Knowledge of relevant legislation and regulations
  • Ability to maintain professional boundaries and confidentiality

Clinical Social Worker Personal Traits

  • Empathy
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Ability to build relationships
  • Organisational skills
  • Ability to handle sensitive information

How to write a Clinical Social Worker Job Advert

Use our job advert template to write a job advert for posting on job sites and job boards. Our job advertising templates are carefully created to help you reach your audience and beat the competition to the best talent.

A job description informs the reader about a job, whereas a job advert’s main objective is to sell the job opportunity to attract as many suitable applicants possible. A job advert maybe the first touch-point a candidate has with your company so it is important to create a great impression.

Job Advertisements should enticing, so considering using short, exciting language which get the reader’s attention.

How to write a Clinical Social Worker Job Description

To write a job description, we recommend starting with a job description template from our job description library, which contains examples for 800+ positions and professions. Our job description examples include a job summary with duties and responsibilities and skills and requirements, which can be personalised for your job vacancy.

Job Description Advice - Guidance on How to Personalise a Clinical Social Worker Job Specification

The hiring process and recruiting new employees to fill your key roles requires a degree of personalisation if you are to attract the best employees in a competitive employment market. The right person for a crucial role or more senior roles will likely have other employers targeting them. As your job description will be the first point of contact, you need to nail your pitch and provide the best possible service.

Job Description Tips - Help on formatting a Clinical Social Worker Job Specification

When creating your bespoke description and advert, you should cover and promote these points:

Job title: This should accurately reflect the role and include keywords that top talent might be using to search for jobs.

Job duties: The day to day duties, such as administrative tasks, which vary depending on the company and inform the candidate if they can complete the role.

Technical skills: These are the hard skills required through training, such as proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Soft skills: These include the interpersonal skills and general abilities the right candidates will possess. For example, the competency to prioritise multiple tasks, handle customer queries and customer complaints, work alone, or build a good relationship with coworkers.

The company's culture: Highlighting your company culture and values ensures employees thrive and find outstanding job satisfaction. Candidates that are not the right fit won’t waste their time completing the application process, meaning you can focus on qualified individuals and hire in a more timely manner.

Career progression: Including the career path will entice candidates looking for career growth. 

Training and development programs: Smaller companies may need employees with previous experience or provide educational assistance over internal training offered by larger organisations with more significant resources. 

Employee benefits: Compensation and benefits often fail to appear in job ads and while you may want to hold your cards close to your chest, failing to include them is a mistake. Consider answering common questions, such as working hours and paid leave. Researching the average salary for the role in these early stages will ensure you don’t waste your interviewer’s and the candidate’s time.

Skill gaps: Your company may need to bring in new skills beyond those required to complete the key role and duties. Thinking on an organisational level can be beneficial when contemplating skills diversity.

Legal requirements: Ensure your job advert and description does not ask for inappropriate or discriminatory personal details, such as age, marital status, or religion.

How to Hire a Clinical Social Worker

Once you have selected your Job Description download it or convert it to a Job Advert. From here you can post/advertise your job across our network of job boards. If you wish to use the job description for a CV Template click through for advice and Convert to a CV

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