[acb-hsp] Additional training and opportunities post grad school.

[Laura Glowacki]

Hello list,

I apologize in advance for the myriad of thoughts and questions.  Any 
feedback on anything related is much appreciated, either on or offlist.

I'm a recent graduate of Jane Addams with my MSW with a mental health 
concentration.  I currently work as a supervisor of volunteers on an 
online suicide hotline.  Incidentally, if anyone is interested in 
persuing a volunteer opportunity, you can contact me offlist for more 
information at IMAlivesupervisor2 at gmail.com or see the faq section on 
imalive.org.  The training course is accredited by the board of Licensed 
Professional Counselors (my apologies for getting the name wrong if I 
have) for CEU's.  It is rather time demanding though, just a warning.  :)

Anyways, this position is, for the time-being, part-time.  Do to recent 
events in my own life, seeking additional employment isn't in my best 
interest.  I am receiving supervision towards LCSW hours.  I haven't 
gotten my LSW yet, but am strongly considering doing that soon.  In 
Illinois, it's not required in order to acrue LCSW hours luckily.

However, I'd like to persue additional training or some kind of 
internship.  I've been discouraged from the internship idea mostly 
because of liability issues, etc.  Anyone have any additional thoughts 
on that?

Additionally, I realize that most training for entry-level clinicians 
comes from supervision and experience.  I know that there are ways to 
get training in specific therapeutic modalities.  Would you recommend 
persuing such opportunities?  Why or why not?  What are those 
opportunities and how might I go about finding them?  I'm curious as to 
whether such training would be useful or advantageous without more 
experience?

I'm interested in seeking additional training in substance abuse or 
dual-diagnosis; do most people do that through additional schooling?  I 
don't know much about the requirements for substance abuse counseling 
etc and also realize that this should be part of my own research.

As I hope to be seeking additional employment sometime in the near 
future, do any of you have suggestions on finding part-time clinical 
work?  I love my job with IMAlive and have been with the project 
basically since the beginning.  I know it's not ideal to use two 
different part-time jobs for clinical hours, especially since getting 
clinical supervision at a part-time job is unusual.

I am frustrated that many of the entry-level positions I come across 
require a driver's license and traveling.  This is obviously a 
challenge.  I also wouldn't be comfortable making home visits by myself 
for safety reasons, even if I was allowed to via public transit.  Being 
in Chicago, I have access to a lot more opportunities than I would 
otherwise have in that realm, at least.

While I'd prefer to work in mental health, there are medical social work 
positions open for which I could apply.  Does anyone who's worked in 
such an environment have any tips on dealing with paperwork?  There are 
still many things that are not electronic at many places such as 
applications for services, and that is one of my main concerns about 
applying for such a job.  However, I have only what I saw the other 
interns at my MSW placement cope with to go off of.  It was at Cook 
County Hospital.  I loved the environment and would take a job there 
gladly, but they've only recently switched over to electronic filing 
using citrix etc.  Also, my current clinical supervisor for IMAlive 
works there but has been providing supervision for free (bless her 
amazing heart) and so could be a conflict of itnerest etc.  Anyways, 
sorry for the digression.

Finally, I just want to thank those of you who post articles of interest 
and questions to the list.  Though I reply rarely, I feel like I learn 
from these exchanges.

Sincerely,
Laura Glowacki