Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
On the Job
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers treat people who have problems with addiction. They work with people who are addicted to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. They may provide therapy and education. They may also offer crisis intervention.
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Assist clients in handling details of daily life.
- Collaborate with other professionals to assess client needs or plan treatments.
- Refer clients to community or social service programs.
- Maintain client records.
- Collect information about clients.
- Conduct research on social issues.
- Interview clients to gather information about their backgrounds, needs, or progress.
- Maintain professional social services knowledge.
- Monitor clients to evaluate treatment progress.
- Modify treatment plans to accommodate client needs.
Typical Working Conditions
- Using e-mail.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- Working with a group or team.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
- Freedom to make decisions without supervision.
- Being in situations in which conflicts arise.
- The freedom to determine tasks, priorities, and goals.
- Sitting.
This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.