The Dollars and Sense of Social Work
What’s up with our stagnant mindset?!
“You’ll never make money as a social worker.”
I call BS! That mantra plagues our profession. However, an LCSW with gumption and entrepreneurial spirit can earn $100,000 - $300,000 per year.
I know this firsthand. My mom did this 20 years ago as an LCSW in a rural part of western Oklahoma. I’m doing it now with a part-time virtual LCSW supervision and teletherapy practice.
I want to acknowledge that I hold privileges that removed certain obstacles in my educational and career path. I hope to use those privileges and my experiences to help all of us social workers find satisfying careers that also provide financial security.
How many of us have thought:
I wish I made as much as the RN case manager sitting next to me.
I have to work late… again… my patients need me.
I could make more as a therapist, but that seems really hard.
About 6 years ago, I thought the same thing, and I wanted to leave social work. What I did instead was change my mindset.
Now, I realize that many social workers operate from a fixed mindset. We’re trapped by stagnant thoughts that tell us, “This is where you are. You chose this career. This is the income you deserve. This is what you deserve.”
Ouch.
When our internalized messages are that murky, we literally feel like we’re stuck in a swamp. Our only option is to keep trudging through the mire while trying to “help other people,” “be a nice social worker,” or whatever other message of toxic positivity we cling to as we sacrifice our own physical, emotional and spiritual health and financial wellbeing for “the greater good.”
Let us collectively pull ourselves out of the swamp and adopt a growth mindset:
We deserve to be paid what we’re worth.
We deserve a reasonable workload with healthy workplace boundaries.
We are intelligent, beautiful people who can learn the needed knowledge, skills, and abilities to run our own businesses.
We can be the change we want to see in the world, nurture ourselves and our loved ones, and earn a 6 figure income!
My goal is Mindset Abundance. My LCSW supervision practice will focus on this in the upcoming months. I hope you, my fellow social workers, will join me in channeling this uplifting mindset and that our united energies will help us all expand our profession and our bank accounts.