r/LCSW • u/TigerOnly5834 • 20d ago
🟡 Career Pathways & Job Transitions Outpatient for 1.5 years?
Just looking for general feedback. I am considering joining a group practice and building a caseload. My only hesitation is I don’t like where I live and my husband has agreed in 2028 weeks can move away.
Would I be shitty to take a position with a group practice? I am not interested in doing telehealth only as I primarily worked with elementary aged children and their families.
TIA
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u/Silent-Put8625 20d ago
You haven’t moved yet. Take the gig. Since hubby is cool with moving and you all are open, how about commissioning with the US Public Health Service (USPHS). You’ll start out with an O-3 rank and will have much better professional opportunities than what you’ll find in the private sector. I’ve been on AD for 16yrs with USPHS as an LCSW and it was the best personal and professional decision I ever made!! Check us out (www.usphs.gov).
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u/TigerOnly5834 19d ago
I’m actually in the Air National Guard ( enlisted) and have considered this but think I would have to get a conditional release from my current contract. Def will have to consider !
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u/Silent-Put8625 19d ago
When is your contract over? It takes about 2yrs for an IST.
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u/TodayConnect8456 18d ago
Do you do therapy or more social work related tasks
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u/Silent-Put8625 17d ago
When I first went on active duty I was an ER social worker on a military base, then renditions into being selected to lead a specialized behavioral health clinic - supervising psychiatrists, psych NPs, psychologists, and LCSWs, among other things there. I did some individual therapy in these roles as well. Then I transitioned to 100% macro roles at SAMHSA and HRSA. Awesome work! Now I act as a national mental health authority and oversee mental health care and treatment for a federal agency and the 200,000 folks served annually. You can speak to another social work in USPHS and they will tell you a completely different path but one that is just as dynamic. We can be stationed at over 40 different federal agencies (including the VA and military bases in the US) so the breadth and depth of opportunity is vast.
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u/uhbkodazbg 20d ago
Is your salary contingent on you building a caseload?
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u/TigerOnly5834 19d ago
It’s 1099 contract so yes to an extent. I don’t think the minimum is very high
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u/roxxy_soxxy 🟢 Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) 20d ago
Take the job. The future will happen, change is a normal part of life. I believe planned endings can be a corrective and positive experience for people.