What is the difference between lpc and lcsw

These include:. Clinical mental health counseling is one such area of specialization. Other common specializations include addiction counseling; rehabilitation counseling; school counseling; and marriage, couple, and family counseling. Clinical mental health counseling programs accredited by CACREP must demonstrate that they provide students with training in various areas, including:.

In contrast, some programs offer courses year-round and have full-time enrollment plans that allow students to graduate in less than two years. Advanced Standing MSW programs can typically be completed in one year by full-time students or two or more years by part-time students. As is visible, we cannot say that one approach to the problem is superior to the other. They are different. Taking this into account, it matters a great deal how new professionals are trained, supervised and socialized into each of their respective professions.

The points of view highlighted above are purist in nature, but even by observing them from that perspective, we come to understand that there are significant overlaps between the two philosophies when dealing with problems. Both fields have been influenced by the workings of the other. Psychologists are a good example. Community psychologists are greatly influenced and have a lot in common with LCSWs in the approach they take.

The hard lives of turn-of-the-century immigrants and factory workers gave rise to the modern profession of social work. Their goal is to cure the issue that is facing the client through whatever tools are available. If that can happen through direct counseling, they may take that role themselves. Or they might resolve the problem without directly involving the client at all, by addressing external factors including:. LPC therapists, on the other hand, revolve around their counseling capabilities.

Working with individuals and groups to correct specific issues within their own control is the counseling approach. The LPC is also about problem-solving, but they are the specialists who are expected to use their clinical toolbox to get that job done. They may also refer clients out, but only when the problem is beyond their level of treatment capability, or if the problem cannot be resolved through therapy.

An example would be a client who comes in with severe depression and anxiety issues. Through their evaluation, if the LPC finds that the root of those issues is a more complex mental health issue, like schizophrenia, they will probably refer the patient out to a psychologist with more expertise in that field.

Or if the depression and anxiety is coming from a life situation like homelessness, they might refer the patient to a social worker, who is better equipped to line up housing and basic services. You can also understand some of these differences by looking at the histories of both professions.

Trained social workers have existed in the United States since the late s. By , with the Great Depression bearing down, the role had become so widespread that the U.

Census Bureau started tracking it. Counselors, on the other hand, have a lineage that goes back just as far, but have not had a distinct role or license until relatively recently. Mental health counseling came of age with the science of psychology, a profession that became broadly accepted in the mid to late s. At the same time, as the Industrial Revolution was underway, the first counselors were coming into the picture to provide vocational guidance to displaced or injured workers.

The Industrial Revolution created massive displacement in traditional communities that lead to both an expanded interest in social welfare and some of the earliest efforts at individual counseling. Faced with a wave of returning soldiers who both had little or no skills or experience in regular jobs, and who were experiencing the kind of post-war mental issues we would now recognize as PTSD, counseling as we know it today began to shift into gear. As the country was entering the Cold War with educational and industrial demands at the highest levels ever and a large population of veterans without the training necessary to fill those roles, the federal government decided to do something about both problems.

So in , the National Defense Education Act was born. Through Title V of the act, that included provisions for the training of counselors.

Although guidance counselors for secondary schools were the intended recipients, the practical effect of the program was to offer a tremendous boost to counseling programs in general at universities nationwide. If you understand the motives behind how and why these professions were created, you can better understand the differences between them.

The licensing movement for social workers also came a little earlier. Most states adopted some sort of professional social work license by the end of the s. By the early s, the American Counseling Association had created the National Board for Certified Counselors to establish common national standards for professionals.

Even though LPC and LCSW often handle the same types of mental health issues, and may even treat the same individuals, their approaches to treatment can vary based on the perspectives that come from their history and professional training. The source of those different perspectives in the professional fields of counseling and clinical social work is baked into the educational requirements.

All have similar coursework and an emphasis on patient diagnosis and treatment. For both counseling and social work, there are dedicated accrediting bodies that set academic standard and evaluate programs to make sure those standards are met.

This kind of specialty accreditation is different from the general institution-level accreditation that schools are required to have to be eligible for federal student loan money. While some counselors engage in private practice, many counselors are employed by hospitals, clinics, schools, and universities, and are typically part of a staff of treatment specialists that may also include psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers.

While social workers can perform counseling services, counseling is only one component of their training. Social workers may be employed in hospitals, clinics, universities, and various forms of governmental roles and offices.

In both cases, becoming a counselor or a social worker requires that you complete an undergraduate degree, and both apply and be accepted into a graduate program in either counseling or social work.