Interview Story - Mentor / Leadership
Working as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, I was approached by 6 unlicensed Master’s Degree MSW’s who asked me to provide clinical skills mentoring. They shared that their current supervisors were only reviewing their cases. They felt they were not learning skills to improve their treatment with their veteran clients. They wanted to meet weekly and wanted homework assignments.
I was surprised by the request, especially the ask for homework. But I could tell they were motivated, so agreed to help.
As an LCSW l worked for the Board of Behavioral Sciences for 17 years performing oral exams to determine candidates’ abilities & readiness to work independently w/o supervision. I had experience supervising and teaching clinical skills to many MSW’s.
Based on this experience, I developed a learning plan that included reading and reviewing the Diagnostic Skills Manual (DSM) of Mental Illness. Beginning training involved understanding symptoms of mental illnesses. Then, they looked at a number of symptoms to conclude an assessment and treatment plan for each diagnosis.
They were to read each chapter and participate in discussions for each chapter taking enough time to understand the symptoms and diagnosis. This was the beginning of learning clinical skills.
Even though these students were interested in learning more, they seemed uncomfortable during our first conversations together. I discovered that they felt embarrassed about their lack of experience and clinical skills. They weren’t sure how to translate our DSM reading to patients cared for.
To make them more comfortable, I shared my experiences receiving my license, discussing some of the challenges I faced. I also added homework assignments to include examples of real cases to diagnose; develop treatment plans and assessments. Cases were discussed in weekly sessions. The group asked questions to clarify assignments and better understand these cases. This process developed their clinical skills and outcomes of success in offering veterans solutions to problems such as addictions; Post Traumatic Stress; homelessness; Physical diagnosis; HIV; smoking; improved health.
At the end of the 18 months, three additional members had joined the group, and one left for another assignment at another location. Eight members had 104 hrs of supervision and passed the online exams the first time. One member did not complete the hours needed and did not take the exam. In addition, I was asked by the Chief of Social Work to continue teaching clinical skills. Two more groups of six students then followed the same program structure.