1. SUSTAINING THE CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK WORKFORCE The role of professional recognition

2. Kim Sherriffs Oosthuysen PhD Candidate, University of Queensland

3. The issues What is clinical social work and how does it fit within the broader profession? Why are clinical social workers vulnerable? What do they teach us about recognition in a professional context?

4. Elements of Clinical Social Work Clinical Social Work Shares broader profession’s values Umbrella term Specialist social workers Therapeutic services Range of methods Range of theories Specialist competencies Person- in- environment

5. Many fields but shared interests Counsellors Family Therapists Psychotherapists Mental Health Workers Self- employed Availability of accredited advanced training Quality specialist CPE opportunities Standardized specialist supervision guidelines Inter- disciplinary representation Policy level advocacy

6. CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK BOARD OF PRACTICE Shared representation Counsellors Family Therapists Psychotherapists Mental Health Workers Self- employed

7. Australian Clinical Social Workers Clinical Social Work Mostly female and older Informal route to specialisation Predominantly employees Split between full- and part-timers Mostly AASW members Mixed association membership = more involved with other Split between social work and generic titles Between 1-7 different titles used

8. Informal route vulnerable to skill/expertise challenges Formal route Few social work specific advanced training programs available Generic Formal route Non-social work specific training dilutes social work identity & values Routes to specialisation Why are they vulnerable?

9. “There is little provision within our existing social work undergraduate and post- graduate structures to allow for this specialisation, even though there is a need...for specialisation in Clinical Social Work...

10. ...This is not adequate, nor does it assist in developing an effective and confident professional identity.” (Carrasco, 2007)

11. Informal route vulnerable to skill/expertise challenges Formal route Few social work specific advanced training programs available Generic Formal route Non-social work specific training dilutes social work identity & values Routes to specialisation Why are they vulnerable?

12. PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION ACCURATELY IDENTIFIED and VALUED AS WORTHWHILE SEEKING STATUS AND POWER

13. Intra- professional recognition (within the profession) Inter-disciplinary recognition (by allied professionals) Policy recognition (legislative) Levels of Professional Recognition

14. Intra- professional recognition (within the profession) α = 0.87 Inter- disciplinary recognition (by allied professionals) α = 0.87 Policy recognition (legislative) α = 0.93 Reliable Recognition Scale

15. Intra-professional recognition (within profession) Affective commitment (want to be part) Intention to leave the profession Intra-professional valuing

16. SUMMARY Clinical social workers specialise in providing therapeutic services – 24% of AASW membership Clinical Social Work Board of Practice Vulnerable to skill and expertise challenges Limited social work specific post-graduate options Impacts acquisition of social work values, professional identity formation and socialisation into the profession Recognition = accurately identified and valued Three distinct levels of recognition – reliable instrument Feeling valued by peers is key to WANTING to be part of the profession and not intending to leave First empirical evidence that intra-professional devaluing is detrimental to the broader profession

17. Thank you... For more information, contact Kim at k.oosthuysen@uq.edu.au