- Counsel clients and patients in individual and group sessions to help them overcome dependencies, recover from illness, and adjust to life.
Occupations with related tasks Save Table: XLSX CSV
- Counsel individuals, groups, families, or communities regarding issues including mental health, poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, physical abuse, rehabilitation, social adjustment, child care, or medical care.
- Lead group counseling sessions that provide support in such areas as grief, stress, or chemical dependency.
- Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required.
- Maintain case history records and prepare reports.
- Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.
- Serve as liaisons between students, homes, schools, family services, child guidance clinics, courts, protective services, doctors, and other contacts to help children who face problems, such as disabilities, abuse, or poverty.
- Develop and review service plans in consultation with clients and perform follow-ups assessing the quantity and quality of services provided.
- Address legal issues, such as child abuse and discipline, assisting with hearings and providing testimony to inform custody arrangements.
- Consult with parents, teachers, and other school personnel to determine causes of problems, such as truancy and misbehavior, and to implement solutions.
- Arrange for medical, psychiatric, and other tests that may disclose causes of difficulties and indicate remedial measures.
- Refer clients to community resources for services, such as job placement, debt counseling, legal aid, housing, medical treatment, or financial assistance, and provide concrete information, such as where to go and how to apply.
- Provide, find, or arrange for support services, such as child care, homemaker service, prenatal care, substance abuse treatment, job training, counseling, or parenting classes to prevent more serious problems from developing.
- Collect supplementary information needed to assist client, such as employment records, medical records, or school reports.
- Counsel students whose behavior, school progress, or mental or physical impairment indicate a need for assistance, diagnosing students' problems and arranging for needed services.
- Evaluate personal characteristics and home conditions of foster home or adoption applicants.
- Conduct social research.
- Supervise other social workers.
- Serve on policy-making committees, assist in community development, and assist client groups by lobbying for solutions to problems.
- Determine clients' eligibility for financial assistance.
- Place children in foster or adoptive homes, institutions, or medical treatment centers.
- Recommend temporary foster care and advise foster or adoptive parents.
- Work in child and adolescent residential institutions.
- Administer welfare programs.
- Counsel individuals, groups, families, or communities regarding issues including mental health, poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, physical abuse, rehabilitation, social adjustment, child care, or medical care.
- Lead group counseling sessions that provide support in such areas as grief, stress, or chemical dependency.
- Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required.
- Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
- Perform crisis interventions with clients.
- Discuss with individual patients their plans for life after leaving therapy.
- Act as client advocates to coordinate required services or to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
- Counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, or supporting clients or patients.
- Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports.
- Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems.
- Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
- Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
- Develop and implement treatment plans based on clinical experience and knowledge.
- Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests.
- Modify treatment activities or approaches as needed to comply with changes in clients' status.
- Evaluate clients' physical or mental condition, based on review of client information.
- Monitor clients' use of medications.
- Collaborate with mental health professionals and other staff members to perform clinical assessments or develop treatment plans.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling programs on clients' progress in resolving identified problems and moving towards defined objectives.
- Plan, organize, or lead structured programs of counseling, work, study, recreation, or social activities for clients.
- Refer patients, clients, or family members to community resources or to specialists as necessary.
- Learn about new developments in counseling by reading professional literature, attending courses and seminars, or establishing and maintaining contact with other social service agencies.
- Meet with families, probation officers, police, or other interested parties to exchange necessary information during the treatment process.
- Gather information about community mental health needs or resources that could be used in conjunction with therapy.
- Supervise other counselors, social service staff, assistants, or graduate students.
- Plan or conduct programs to prevent substance abuse or improve community health or counseling services.
- Coordinate or direct employee workshops, courses, or training about mental health issues.
- Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
- Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
- Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
- Perform crisis interventions with clients.
- Discuss with individual patients their plans for life after leaving therapy.
- Act as client advocates to coordinate required services or to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
- Counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, or supporting clients or patients.
- Provide family counseling and treatment services to inmates participating in substance abuse programs.
- Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors.
- Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial difficulties.
- Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner.
- Develop and implement individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior, and other personal issues.
- Maintain case files that include activities, progress notes, evaluations, and recommendations.
- Collect information about clients, using techniques such as testing, interviewing, discussion, or observation.
- Confer with clients to develop plans for posttreatment activities.
- Confer with other counselors, doctors, and professionals to analyze individual cases and to coordinate counseling services.
- Determine whether clients should be counseled or referred to other specialists in such fields as medicine, psychiatry, or legal aid.
- Provide instructions to clients on how to obtain help with legal, financial, and other personal issues.
- Provide public education and consultation to other professionals or groups regarding counseling services, issues, and methods.
- Follow up on results of counseling programs and clients' adjustments to determine effectiveness of programs.
- Supervise other counselors, social service staff, and assistants.
- Gather information from doctors, schools, social workers, juvenile counselors, law enforcement personnel, and others to make recommendations to courts for resolution of child custody or visitation disputes.
- Write evaluations of parents and children for use by courts deciding divorce and custody cases, testifying in court if necessary.
- Provide family counseling and treatment services to inmates participating in substance abuse programs.
- Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors.
- Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial difficulties.
- Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Intervene as an advocate for clients or patients to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
- Counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, and supporting clients or patients.
- Complete and maintain accurate records or reports regarding the patients' histories and progress, services provided, or other required information.
- Assess individuals' degree of drug dependency by collecting and analyzing urine samples.
- Follow progress of discharged patients to determine effectiveness of treatments.
- Review and evaluate clients' progress in relation to measurable goals described in treatment and care plans.
- Coordinate activities with courts, probation officers, community services, or other post-treatment agencies.
- Develop client treatment plans based on research, clinical experience, and client histories.
- Modify treatment plans to comply with changes in client status.
- Coordinate counseling efforts with mental health professionals or other health professionals, such as doctors, nurses, or social workers.
- Plan or implement follow-up or aftercare programs for clients to be discharged from treatment programs.
- Attend training sessions to increase knowledge and skills.
- Interview clients, review records, and confer with other professionals to evaluate individuals' mental and physical condition and to determine their suitability for participation in a specific program.
- Instruct others in program methods, procedures, or functions.
- Participate in case conferences or staff meetings.
- Act as liaisons between clients and medical staff.
- Provide clients or family members with information about addiction issues and about available services or programs, making appropriate referrals when necessary.
- Train or supervise student interns or new staff members.
- Confer with family members or others close to clients to keep them informed of treatment planning and progress.
- Develop, implement, or evaluate public education, prevention, or health promotion programs, working in collaboration with organizations, institutions, or communities.
- Supervise or direct other workers providing services to clients or patients.
- Conduct chemical dependency program orientation sessions.
- Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Intervene as an advocate for clients or patients to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
- Counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, and supporting clients or patients.
- Counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse.
- Counsel or aid family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, or supporting the client or patient.
- Collaborate with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs.
- Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress with respect to treatment goals.
- Interview clients, review records, conduct assessments, or confer with other professionals to evaluate the mental or physical condition of clients or patients.
- Supervise or direct other workers who provide services to clients or patients.
- Modify treatment plans according to changes in client status.
- Assist clients in adhering to treatment plans, such as setting up appointments, arranging for transportation to appointments, or providing support.
- Educate clients or community members about mental or physical illness, abuse, medication, or available community resources.
- Increase social work knowledge by reviewing current literature, conducting social research, or attending seminars, training workshops, or classes.
- Refer patient, client, or family to community resources for housing or treatment to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness, following through to ensure service efficacy.
- Plan or conduct programs to prevent substance abuse, combat social problems, or improve health or counseling services in community.
- Develop or advise on social policy or assist in community development.
- Counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse.
- Counsel or aid family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, or supporting the client or patient.
- Discuss with offenders how such issues as drug and alcohol abuse and anger management problems might have played roles in their criminal behavior.
- Prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender.
- Gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information.
- Interview probationers and parolees regularly to evaluate their progress in accomplishing goals and maintaining the terms specified in their probation contracts and rehabilitation plans.
- Supervise people on community-based sentences, such as electronically monitored home detention, and provide field supervision of probationers by conducting curfew checks or visits to home, work, or school.
- Investigate alleged parole violations, using interviews, surveillance, and search and seizure.
- Recommend remedial action or initiate court action in response to noncompliance with terms of probation or parole.
- Arrange for medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment services according to individual needs or court orders.
- Develop liaisons and networks with other parole officers, community agencies, correctional institutions, psychiatric facilities, and aftercare agencies to plan for helping offenders with life adjustments.
- Administer drug and alcohol tests, including random drug screens of offenders, to verify compliance with substance abuse treatment programs.
- Inform offenders or inmates of requirements of conditional release, such as office visits, restitution payments, or educational and employment stipulations.
- Participate in decisions about whether cases should go before courts and which court should hear them.
- Write reports describing offenders' progress.
- Conduct prehearing and presentencing investigations and testify in court regarding offenders' backgrounds and recommended sentences and sentencing conditions.
- Arrange for postrelease services, such as employment, housing, counseling, education, and social activities.
- Provide offenders or inmates with assistance in matters concerning detainers, sentences in other jurisdictions, writs, and applications for social assistance.
- Develop and prepare packets containing information about social service agencies, assistance organizations, and programs that might be useful for inmates or offenders.
- Develop rehabilitation programs for assigned offenders or inmates, establishing rules of conduct, goals, and objectives.
- Recommend appropriate penitentiary for initial placement of an offender.
- Assess the suitability of penitentiary inmates for release under parole and statutory release programs and submit recommendations to parole boards.
- Identify and approve work placements for offenders with community service sentences.
- Discuss with offenders how such issues as drug and alcohol abuse and anger management problems might have played roles in their criminal behavior.
