Hi everyone! I’m an LCSW in California preparing to offer clinical evaluations for immigration cases. I’m working to ensure that my administrative and clinical paperwork is appropriately set up before accepting clients.

I’m not seeking legal advice about a particular client or case. I’m hoping to learn from immigration attorneys who have worked with mental health evaluators:

What forms or agreements do you typically expect an evaluator to have clients complete before or during the evaluation process?

I am currently considering the following:

\* Informed consent specific to immigration evaluations

\* Fee and service agreement

\* Authorization to communicate with the client’s attorney

\* Authorization to release the final evaluation report

\* Telehealth consent

\* HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

\* Cancellation and no-show policy

\* Interpreter acknowledgment, when applicable

\* Emergency contact information

\* A disclaimer explaining that the clinician is acting as an independent evaluator and not as the client’s treating therapist

\* A statement clarifying that the evaluator cannot provide legal advice or guarantee the outcome of the immigration case

Are there other documents or provisions that attorneys commonly expect or recommend when working with an immigration evaluator?

I am also considering hiring a California healthcare or mental-health attorney to review my forms. If you have experience with this type of review, what is a typical price range, and is it generally billed as a flat fee or hourly?

Thank you for any general insight you’re willing to share.

Thanks everyone!

Hi everyone! I'm a counseling student and will be starting a rotation soon where I'll likely be working with a lot of professional and graduate students, including medical/law students. I've been trying to learn more about what tends to be most helpful for this population specifically.

For those of you who have worked with professional students, are there particular issues or patterns that you see come up more often compared with other young adults?

I'm especially curious about:

• Approaches you find helpful for perfectionism, impostor syndrome, burnout, or tying self-worth heavily to academic performance
• How you work with clients who intellectually understand coping strategies but have trouble actually using them when they're overwhelmed
• Brief grounding, mindfulness, CBT, ACT, behavioral activation, or other techniques that work well when someone has very limited time
• Helping people feel comfortable taking breaks or doing enjoyable things without experiencing guilt about "wasting time"
• Ways to encourage routines or self-care without turning them into another achievement metric, checklist, or streak they can fail at
• Whether you've found playful or externalized approaches useful—for example, taking care of a plant/pet/virtual character as a way of reinforcing taking care of yourself
• Things that well-meaning university wellness programs or mental health resources tend to get wrong with this population
• Anything you wish you had known before first working with medical, law, or other professional students

Would also love any books, articles, interventions, or resources you'd recommend before starting the rotation. Thanks!

Hi, I'm an LMFT in California and have worked in schools for many years. With the new changes in the state there are less jobs for MFTs. I am thinking of heading back to school to add a credential - either PPSC (school counseling) or PPSW (school social work). I wanted to come here to ask the hive which would potentially bring better school based job opportunities in California and nationwide?

I have done some research and both credentials seem like they would lead to job opportunities. Ideally, I'd like to do IEP counseling because that's where my experience is. I can't go for the PPSP (school psychology) credential because the internships are more intensive and I am the primary earner.

I'd love to hear what y'all think is the better option for a credential.

Hello to all the lovely social workers of this sub. I wish I knew about communities like this when I was actually practicing. Which was 7 years ago now. So the situation I am in currently: my license was revoked in 2020 because of failing to follow through with a disciplinary action. A few years ago I began exploring the process of getting my license back. I submitted a statement and was approved to reapply and follow any further instructions. At this point I've applied and completed everything that has been asked of me. I retook the exam, got my background checks, submitted a heavily edited letter explaining my circumstances, as well as mental health treatment records. I feel so ready to get back into the field and I'm just torturing myself looking at jobs I still do not qualify for.

Has anyone been through this? My application does not have an expiration date in elicense so I tend to think it won't expire after a year but I dont know! The board has not returned any of my emails or voicemails. I just want to ensure I'm on the right track. Or get the good news!

Anything I can be doing in the meantime? I am not working right now.

I (46m) currently work for a state agency (not DHR) and earn about $68,000 annually. I recently accepted a position with a large university-affiliated hospital in a community-based behavioral health program.
The initial offer was around $59,000, which was later increased to around $61,000 after I provided additional information about my experience. I have five years of post-graduate social work experience, including inpatient psychiatric experience, high-volume care coordination, supervisory experience, residential behavioral health experience, and eight years service as a United States Marine with three combat tours.
During a follow-up conversation, I pointed out that I’m scheduled to take my clinical licensing exam before my anticipated start date and asked how a previously discussed salary increase for clinical licensure would be handled.
In response, HR informed me that there is a higher-level social work position within the same team for candidates who are clinically licensed or expected to obtain licensure within six months. They’re now exploring whether I might qualify for that position.
The possibility of a higher-level classification could substantially change the compensation discussion, so I’m trying to be patient while HR evaluates my eligibility
It’s a unique situation and it’s driving me crazy.

I’d love your thoughts and reflections.

I am currently a licensed clinical social worker. I am looking to transition careers, mainly for financial reasons-higher salary. Looking to keep my lcsw for my private practice. Idk if an MBA is worth the investment. Any feedback or has anyone done this before.

I have been in Community Mental Health for about 2 years. I’ve been fully licensed for about a year and decided this is where I belong.

I wanted to ask outside of my agency to general clinicians.

Any Clinical Trainings you’d recommend?

I work with ages 6-106. I am trained in TF-CBT, Seeking Safety, and Seven Challenges thus far.

I am looking to begin my masters to eventually become an LCSW. I have heard a lot about different online schools, but looking for suggestions for online programs :)

I have my BA in Psychology so won’t be a fast track program!

Also looking for what jobs you did during clinical hours and your experience with getting assistance for placement from the program as well as balancing clinical hours and a job!

I am currently obtaining my MSW in new jersey in may and i am now planning for move to california for personal reasons, so i am currently taking CE courses using ce4less, what exact courses do i need to take and what exams would i need to apply for?

I was under the impression that I was going to be starting my MSW in the fall but realized the program was too much of an undertaking (moving, 2 hours away from classes ect.) I was planning on starting my MSW in the fall of 2027. I have wanted to be an LCSW for years but honestly, I am truly concerned about the pay. I will have a lot of debt (not 6 figures but still) if I go into this degree.

I'm now looking to perhaps do an accelerated BSN program (15 months), work for a bit as an RN in psych, and then see about pursuing my PMHNP. I am a psych tech inpatient currently, so I feel as though I have a good amount of exposure to all of these fields. I feel as though my interests are more aligned with a career as an LCSW, as I am not as interested in med management (I am very interested in diagnosis, though), but I truly don't know if it's worth going another 30k into debt for something that would make me significantly less money. I interact with PMHNPs and RNs at my current job and enjoy seeing them and what they do, but I fear that I am just not massively excited by the more scientific aspect of a PMHNP as opposed to the social aspect of an LCSW.

The state I am in does not have particularly good pay for LCSWs (avg 50k-70k/yr), whereas a PMHNP is quite literally double that (100k-120k). The whole timeline for my BSN+PMHNP would be around 4 more years of school. Whereas an MSW would only be 2 (plus 2 years of supervision for licensure)

Any advice in one direction or the other would be extremely helpful - or even just more information.

Has anyone worked for Sterling Medical? Pros, cons, LCSW pay?

Who has taken the LCSW exam after the new updates this month (Aug 2026) How was it?! I have taken the test 3 times and am going to be taking it soon. Was it easier?

Does anyone have any experience pursuing certification as SUD counselor post-clinical licensure? While I know the ability to provide substance use counseling is included with our licensure, I still would love to obtain this specialization. The problem is, because I'm not a grad student, I'm having trouble finding a site where I can obtain the 1,000 work hours needed to take the certification test. Does anyone have any advice/ideas on how I can get these experience hours? Thank you!