From social work assistant to mental health social worker
24 of the 76 essential skills of a mental health social worker are already essential for a social work assistant — about 32% of the job, before you learn anything new.
These numbers compare two occupations, not you and a job. What you personally already cover depends on what you have actually done.
- 24
- skills carry over
- 52
- would be new
- 32%
- of the target job covered
- 76
- essential skills of a mental health social worker
What a mental health social worker does
Mental health social workers assist and provide counselling to people with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems. They focus on providing personalised support to cases and monitor the recovery process of their clients by providing therapy, crisis intervention, client advocacy and education. Mental health social workers may contribute to mental health services improvement and mental health outcomes for citizens.
What carries over
24 skillsEssential in both jobs. This is the part of the move you have already made.
- apply person-centred care
- apply problem solving in social service
- apply quality standards in social services
- assess social service users' situation
- build helping relationship with social service users
- communicate professionally with colleagues in other fields
- communicate with social service users
- contribute to protecting individuals from harm
- deliver social services in diverse cultural communities
- follow health and safety precautions in social care practices
- listen actively
- maintain records of work with service users
- manage ethical issues within social services
- manage social crisis
- meet standards of practice in social services
- plan social service process
- prevent social problems
- promote service users' rights
- protect vulnerable social service users
- provide social counselling
- provide support to social services users
- relate empathetically
- review social service plan
- work in a multicultural environment in health care
What would be new
52 skillsEssential for a mental health social worker and not for a social work assistant. Note that the taxonomy describes activities rather than tools, so some of these may be things you already do under a different name.
- accept own accountability
- address problems critically
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- adolescent psychological development
- advise on mental health
- advocate for social service users
- apply anti-oppressive practices
- apply case management
- apply crisis intervention
- apply decision making within social work
- apply holistic approach within social services
- apply organisational techniques
- apply socially just working principles
- assess the development of youth
- clinical social work
- company policies
- conduct interview in social service
- consider social impact of actions on service users
- cooperate at inter-professional level
- demonstrate leadership in social service cases
- develop professional identity in social work
- develop professional network
- diagnose psychiatric symptoms
- diagnosis of mental health issues
- empower social service users
- evaluate older adults' ability to take care of themselves
- have computer literacy
- identify mental health issues
- involve service users and carers in care planning
- legal requirements in the social sector
- make legislation transparent for users of social services
- manage stress in the work place
- negotiate with social service stakeholders
- negotiate with social service users
- older adults' needs
- organise social work packages
- prepare youths for adulthood
- promote inclusion
- promote mental health
- promote social change
and 12 more
Other moves from social work assistant
2 roles- youth offending team worker24 skills in common
- clinical social worker24 skills in common
← social work assistantmental health social worker →The other way round
No account needed to start
How far are you from being a mental health social worker?
MyNodes reads your CV once, maps it to this same taxonomy, and shows you which roles you are already closest to and the few skills that would open the most doors. The file is deleted as soon as it has been read.