Psychiatric Social Work

Psychiatric social work is an application of social work methods and its practices in every field of Psychiatry. It is a kind of skill-based practice in psychiatry settings. It is the combination of arts and sciences where social work belongs to the various disciplines. Psychiatric patients not be treated only through medicines, they need both psychological and social treatment. Psychiatric social work is the subject relevant to social work course; a social worker needs knowledge in both the focused area like – “Psychiatry and Social work”.

Psychiatric social work is an exclusive type of social work that involves caring, providing medical help to those persons who are severally mentally ill, and who hospitalized or other types of intensive psychiatric help. Social Workers in this demanding field must work closely with individuals suffering from complex and hard to manage conditions. Psychiatric social workers may also encounter difficulties in getting clients the resources and support they need to fully address their problems, however,  some individuals grab this work for its constant intellectual and professional challenges for the opportunity to help vulnerable people.

 Method To Cure Psychiatric patients

a)     Individual counseling intervention.

b)     Family counseling intervention therapy.

c)      Group works counseling therapy.

d)     Community-based intervention.

e)     Welfare administration.

f)      Social action and lobbying.

Role of the social worker in Psychiatric social work

Social workers play a vital role to address the various needs of patients in medical settings. Social workers provide services as a member of the team on a one to one basis with the client.

v  People who are disadvantaged, they try to alleviate poverty and liberate vulnerably and oppressed people to promote social inclusion.

v   In general, psychiatric social workers are members of the team; they provide a link between the team and family members as well as community resources.

v Psychotherapy counseling, human services management, community development and organizing, advocacy, and social research.

v   Case management and evaluation.

v   Reporting and administrative duties.

v   Economic support, that connected with donors.

v   Utilize community resources.

v  He/she should be skilled in interview techniques and group dynamics.

v   Meeting with various client groups in a psychiatric hospital.

v   Write case sheets.

v   Conduct family therapy and other kinds of interventions.

v   Facilitate the treatment process.

A psychiatric social worker requires the following skills:

• The ability to conduct assessments regarding a person’s social, emotional, interpersonal, and socioeconomic needs;
• The expertise to employ a variety of techniques or interventions to enhance client and family communications with the medical team;
• The capability to enable a person to participate in their care and advocate for themselves;
• The ability to provide targeted education and counseling about specific illnesses and treatments (e.g. eating disorders, alcohol and substance abuse counseling);
• The knowledge and insight to integrate cognitive and behavior modification techniques;
• The ability to provide discharge planning and transitional care from one facility to another and to help the person integrate back with family and community; and
• The expertise to function as a member of a multidisciplinary team.

Psychiatric social workers work in different clinics and psychiatric units of the hospital. They mostly work with children and adolescents those who have behavioral problems, phobias, withdrawal symptoms, etc. in the hospital they work with different types of patients, those suffering from various chronic depressions, drug addiction, and the psychiatrists finding out the root cause of the problem and after that, they continue to work as a facilitator in the treatment process.

A social worker works with the children, families, and young people to identify the problems in society. It is a challenging and exciting area in which to work and it requires both motivation and commitments from coming from personal experiences and as well as professional education and development. Social workers are very essential members of the psychiatric care team. Social workers should be trained and skilled in recovery and rehabilitate mentally ill people.