Clinical Social Worker vs. Therapist: What's the Difference?
Updated August 23, 2024 · 3 Min Read
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Clinical social workers often work as therapists to serve clients alongside counselors, psychologists, and marriage and family therapists. Students seeking the right pathway to therapist professions might wonder what makes clinical social workers different from other therapists.
Learn more about specific job duties, educational requirements, and career outlook data as you compare a clinical social worker vs. therapist in this helpful guide.
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Duties and Responsibilities
Licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) and therapists often assume the same job duties and responsibilities. However, they can find employment in various settings and handle different responsibilities based on their environment. The following section explores these differences.
Licensed Clinical Social Workers
LCSWs often work as therapists, performing the same job duties as psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists. Clinical social workers often work in more diverse work environments, including schools, hospitals, and substance use treatment facilities.
Clinical social workers can specialize in working with certain populations, such as children, families, or couples. They can also focus on therapeutic modalities, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, play therapy, and somatic experience.
Therapists
Therapists conduct mental health assessments, create treatment plans, provide individual and group therapy services, document progress, and offer educational workshops on their area of specialization.
They often work in outpatient therapy offices but can also find employment in colleges and care facilities. Therapists can focus their work by specializing in certain mental health concerns — like anxiety or substance use — or particular types of therapy. Therapists can work with people of all ages, depending on their goals, work setting, and training.
Education and Certification
Educational requirements for a therapist vs. clinical social worker include graduate degrees and supervised clinical experience before independent licensure. Explore the specific education and certification requirements for a LCSW vs. therapist.
Licensed Clinical Social Workers
An LCSW must obtain a bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, or a related field, followed by a master's degree in social work. After completing a clinical internship in graduate school and passing the Association of Social Work Boards' (ASWB) master's-level exam, social workers can apply for limited licensure with their state's social work licensing authority.
States require additional supervised clinical hours, in addition to passing the ASWB clinical exam, before applying for clinical licensure. This process can take two years or more, depending on the individual's situation and the state's requirements. LCSWs are then permitted to provide therapy services independently.
Therapists
Therapists can follow a similar path to licensure. Each aspiring professional must first obtain a bachelor's degree — usually in psychology or a related field — followed by a graduate degree in counseling, psychology, or marriage and family therapy. Depending on their state's requirements and license type, they might also pursue doctoral degrees in clinical psychology or similar subjects. After completing the required number of supervised clinical hours, they may apply for full licensure in their discipline.
Salary and Career Outlook
Salary and career outlook data appear favorable for LCSWs and therapists from other backgrounds, with differences based on educational attainment and specialization.
Licensed Clinical Social Workers
Payscale data from August 2024 indicates that LCSWs, who must hold master's degrees, earn an average annual salary of $66,740. Meanwhile, bachelor's-level social workers earn an annual average salary of $55,060. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects employment for social workers to grow by 7% from 2022-2032, which is more than twice the average for all occupations.
BLS data also reveals that LCSWs who specialize in particular populations or in-demand treatment modalities have greater earning potential, as do those who choose to work in private practice.
Therapists
Salary figures for therapists from other disciplines vary significantly based on the person's training and educational background. For example, the BLS reports a median annual salary of $96,100 for counseling and clinical psychologists as of May 2023, who must hold doctorate degrees to practice.
BLS data also indicates that marriage and family therapists earn a median annual salary of $58,510 per year. This role requires a minimum of a master's degree. The career outlook appears bright for therapists, with faster-than-average projected career growth across all disciplines.
Clinical Social Worker or Therapist: Which Should You Choose?
Choosing social work allows clinicians to work in more settings than other therapists, who primarily find employment in outpatient therapy settings, including schools, hospitals, and nonprofit organizations. Individuals looking to collaborate with professionals in other disciplines may prefer clinical social work. For example, in a hospital-based clinic, they may work with physicians, speech and occupational therapists, and other care providers.
Clinical social work might be a good fit for professionals who value diversity, inclusion, and equity and wish to take a systems approach to their work with individuals and families.
In contrast, psychologists are trained to diagnose and treat psychopathology, and counselors often take a holistic and strength-based approach to problem-solving.
The person-in-environment perspective and macro social work lens afforded by clinical social work training often inspire therapists who are motivated by social justice, policy change, and community development. Clinical social work invites participation in advocacy work with local, state, and federal agencies. These efforts encourage clinicians to make a difference on behalf of their clients to make lasting, systems-based change.
Frequently Asked Questions about Clinical Social Workers vs. Therapists
Can social workers be therapists?
Yes. Clinical social workers call themselves therapists because they are licensed to provide therapy and have advanced training in human development, psychology, and interpersonal communication.
How do social workers assess mental health?
A complete mental health assessment might include a social and developmental history evaluation, mental status exam, and substance use screening, among other tactics.
Is a social worker the same as a therapist?
In some cases, yes. A social worker who has obtained a master's degree and clinical licensure can work as a therapist alongside psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors.
What is a day in the life of a clinical social worker?
Most clinical social workers assess clients, perform clinical documentation duties, attend agency meetings, and provide clinical supervision to other clinicians. Still, a clinical social worker's day can vary greatly depending on their work setting, specialization, and client population.