Ladies with (or getting) MSWs

FutureMrsTR

This is kind of a post & run because I have to go to the DMV, but I'll hopefully be back within an hour so I'll be back!

Did you go to school part time or full time? 
How long did it take you? 
What are you doing with your degree? 
Was the program really time consuming?
How long did it take you to find a job after graduation?
Do you love it?

Thanks!

crfische

Did you go to school part time or full time?  Full time.

How long did it take you?  2 years with summers off. I could have done it in 1.5.

What are you doing with your degree?  I'm a therapist in a residential program for kids and I also have my own outpatient clinic. I also was able to become a juvenile sex offender treatment specialist, so I do a lot of work with that population as well.

Was the program really time consuming? Umm...yes, I guess. Full time. When you add in practicum and homework and class hours and transcribing and videotaping...yes. But it was SO FUN and I honestly can say I enjoyed every single minute of it. Other than statistics, but even that was kind of fun.

How long did it take you to find a job after graduation? 15 days, I think?

Do you love it? I more than love it.

pinkpinot

crfische I never knew what you did to pay the bills! Wow.  I want to hear more about your job(s)

crfische

Well, thank you! There's definitely not ever a dull day.

It's one of those things where the motivation comes from wanting to do everything I can to try to see that those kids never hurt another child ever, ever again.

pinkpinot

Do you go home from work sad at night when you hear the life stories of the kids?  What do you think causes a kid to commit a sex crime at a young age?
How long are they in treatment for?
Any success stories you want to tell meee?

kikibaby

It seems like it would be so hard to not be depressed from all of the horrible stories you must hear, fishy.  But you're always so upbeat!

vallyhoo

That's because Fishy's glass is always half-full.

kikibaby

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_ladies-getting-msws?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:a2192538-6fc7-443c-bc74-e0c9b09e21b6Post:7b623b20-edd0-4c76-bb6a-34c9d5ad02c3">Re: Ladies with (or getting) MSWs</a>:
[QUOTE]That's because Fishy's glass is always half-full.
Posted by vallyhoo[/QUOTE]

Of margarita?  That would explain the happy-go-lucky attitude.

cengle

I can't answer this for myself, but my best friend has her MSW, so I'll answer for her:

Did you go to school part time or full time?  She went full-time
How long did it take you?  2 years
What are you doing with your degree? She works as a social worker in a hospital.  I don't know all the stuff that she does, but she does a lot of patient counseling in regards to further out-patient treatment and long-term care and stuff like that 
Was the program really time consuming?  I think so, but she still managed to have a life
How long did it take you to find a job after graduation?  She found her job relatively quickly.
Do you love it?  She does like her job, although now she is getting her MBA so that she's able to have more upward mobility.

danieliza1127

Ooooh Val, pretty picture!

vallyhoo

Thank you ))

crfische

Oh man, it's something I've had to work at. It was harder when I first started, but now I've conditioned myself to leave work at work and home at home.

It's always why I try to take a lot of vacation days. Compassion fatigue is a real thing. We did a TON of work on self-care in our program and when I was doing it at the time, I was like. DUH. This seems so stupid to learn about this, but it quickly made sense.

It's also why I started hanging out here. Mindless chatter is a good break during the day.

But yeah. You'd not be human to not feel emotions about the things you hear and see, and it's hard to explain, but there's like...a line between that getting in the way of you doing your job effectively and feeling appropriate empathy for your client base, if that makes sense?

vinlove77

Did you go to school part time or full time?  Fulltime

How long did it take you?  3 years. I could have done it in 2 but I broke up my practicum hours since I was still working fulltime.

What are you doing with your degree?  I work at a substance abuse treatment center doing clinical groups for inpatient and outpatient clients.

Was the program really time consuming? I suppose so. Luckily I didn't meet FI until I was close to being done so I had a lot of time to focus on school/work.

How long did it take you to find a job after graduation? I was already working in the field without my degree so... but I know that even in my small town different agencies are ALWAYS looking to hire MSWs

Do you love it? Yes! I love that if I ever get sick of clinical work I can do a million different jobs in the field of social work.

I haven't been on here long but hope this helps!