Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) Shadow
Support
For eight weeks, I was given the opportunity to shadow Sara Elliott, a Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) in pursuit of her License in Clinical Social Work (LCSW) at an Inpatient Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Rehab Unit. This SUD Rehab is an acute 28-day program focused on crisis care and short-term stability. Caseworkers utilize person-centered care by setting participants up with stable housing and aftercare appointments such as primary care, outpatient SUD counseling, Mental Health (MH) counseling, and educational programs. During this time, I got to observe various individual and group therapy sessions centered around SUD counseling and MH counseling. Simultaneously, I was able to form therapeutic relationships with the participants throughout their program.
Group therapy sessions at this Rehab included informal sessions with no discussion topic, as well as more structured sessions that were based on a different aspect of recovery each day: Monday was titled "Risk and Protective Factors," Tuesday was "Managing Emotions," Wednesday was "Spirituality," Thursday was "Behavior Models," and Friday was "Family Systems." People who have Substance Use Disorders typically struggle in each of these areas, and bringing awareness to their struggles will help them develop coping skills to deal with trauma in less harmful ways than turning to substances. In the structured group sessions, participants were given a handout each day paired with an educational video packed full of coping skills to use. An open-ended discussion followed the video where participants could relate this information to their own lives. I learned a lot from these therapy sessions, not only from Sara but from the participants as well. Their dedication and vulnerability made me curious about resiliency in traumatized individuals.
1:1 Mental Health (MH) Sessions at this Rehab were more person-centered. The LMSW Sara would sit down with a participant and ask them to share their story of what led them to their SUD. After listening to and validating their traumas, she would offer some alternative coping skills that work better than substances, and brainstorm how best to help them as an individual in their recovery. She asked what the most important part of recovery was for them, and noted that in their treatment plan as goals to be completed. These MH Sessions provided visibility to commonly stigmatized disorders so that participants were able to separate themselves from their disease and find hope and help to maintain long-term recovery. But this was not always the case. Many participants could not beat the stigma and took themselves out of or self-sabotaged their program. These cases made it abundantly clear that stigmatizing substance use is dangerous and makes recovery incredibly difficult for these individuals. I appreciate Sara for doing all that she could to make the program successful for as many participants as possible and not discriminate against anyone.
Finally, because I got eight entire weeks of watching wise staff members create therapeutic relationships with their participants, I challenged myself to form therapeutic relationships of my own. When the participants had downtime, I would sit with them and strike up a conversation. Sometimes they asked me for things I did not have the resources to help them with, so I directed them to people who could help properly. The interactions I had with them helped me understand their perspective more than any research could do. I am so fortunate to have found a special love for this population and hope to one day work with them again. Often they do not get the fair chance in life that they deserve, and I'd like to be part of that change.
This experience was incredibly influential to me. I have decided to pursue a Master's Degree in Social Work so that I have the flexibility to do both Mental Health Counseling as well as work in the Justice System if I choose. I cannot thank Sara Elliott LMSW enough for her patience and graciousness over these eight weeks. I would recommend this experience to anyone willing to take it.