The first thing I want to say is that I love being a social worker. Yes, I could have been a clinical psychologist and made more money. But that was not what I went into this profession for. I think what separates social workers from all other professionals is our unwavering commitment to client autonomy. We do not tell our clients or patients what to do. Rather, we work to help them understand the potential consequences of their choices and actions while supporting their right to continue to make their own choices, no matter how ill-advised. Social workers are tasked with meeting people where they are, as tired as that phrase may sound. We accept that it may take time for people to understand the need to change, engaging in motivational interviewing along the way to assess readiness for change. Social work is often an ancillary service in the medical realm. When it becomes clear that patients have issues such as inability to access resources, violence within the home, or housing instability, the refrain is most commonly “I’ll refer you to social work.” This warm handoff very clearly is a punt from someone who cannot be bogged down by psychosocial issues because their focus is on more immediate medical issues. It’s short-sighted, for certain, since those psychosocial issues usually negatively impact health outcomes. Working in medical homecare, I learned that social workers are seen as little more than glorified case workers. And to be honest, why wouldn’t we be when no one truly knows what we do? We complete housing and social service applications with no one appreciating our years or education or level of knowledge. This is not said as a recrimination against other professionals, but rather to illustrate what they assume is the job of a social worker. I have not yet met anyone outside of this profession who realizes part of our master’s program entails two years of internship, that we then go on to get licensed after taking a rigorous exam, and then hopefully get 2,000 supervised clinical hours of experience in order to earn our clinical certification which then must be maintained through 36 CEU credit hours every three years (at least in NYS). And the reality, I know, is that even if they did know, they still might not care.