Mental Health Social Workers
What does a Mental Health Social Worker do?
Mental health social workers work with individuals with mental disorders to resolve associated psychosocial problems and with families in which mental health problems exist in connection with social problems, such as family distress, unemployment, disability, poverty and trauma. They work with issues such as depression, anxiety, mood and personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, relationship problems, adjustment issues, trauma and family conflicts.
Services
Mental health social workers provide a range of evidence-based interventions, which focus on achieving solutions, including:
- Cognitive behavioural therapy
- Relation strategies
- Skills training
- Interpersonal therapy
- Psychoeducation
- Family therapy
- Narrative therapy
Mental health social workers interventions include:
- Detailed psychosocial assessment identifying the connections between mental health problems and complex social contexts
- Assessment of the mental illness and its impact on the life of individuals and their families
- Working with individuals, families, groups and communities to find solutions to mental health problems
- Working cooperatively as part of multidisciplinary teams
- Working within the guidelines of a professional code of ethics, practice standards and legal framework for practice
Medicare Eligibility
To be eligible to provide services under the Medicare chronic disease management items, a mental health social worker must be a ‘member’ of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and be accredited by AASW as meeting the standards for mental health set out in AASW’s ‘Practice Standards for Mental Health Social Workers' (2008).