As a professional social worker, it’s likely you’ve thought to yourself at some point about starting a private practice. This is a career aspiration for many social workers who are passionate about what they do. As the owner of a social work practice, you’ll have much more agency to make decisions related to your work life and can allow you to make important decisions for your business that reflect your values. 

The decision to start a social work private practice can be a lot of work and making sure your practice is set up for success can be difficult. However, owning your own social work practice can also be one of the most rewarding things you do in your life. It can also be challenging to navigate the ins and outs of what your private practice can look like.

At Mollaei Law, we are highly experienced in helping social workers establish their private practice in a way that reflects their wants and needs. If you are considering starting your own social work private practice, don’t hesitate to email us at admin@mollaeilaw.com or book a consultation call at https://calendly.com/mollaeilawconsultation/professional-corp to get the process started.

What Do Private Practice Social Workers Do?

In general, social workers are people who help others deal with mental, emotional, and/or behavioral struggles. This can include a wide range of scenarios, including adopting a child, fostering a child, or being diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Additionally, advocacy is a large part of the job for social workers. As a social worker your job is to advocate for the benefit of your clients and your profession at all levels, including the local, state, and national levels.

When it comes to starting your own private practice, most social workers start their own private practices once they become trained therapists, otherwise it’s common for social workers to start private business consultancies. Another option if you have experience on a large scale, you can open a practice that assists social service companies to develop programs and conduct research.

What Are the Education Requirements for a Private Practice Social Worker?

In general, if you want to be prepared to become a licensed clinical social worker, you must receive your Master of Social Work (MSW). MSW programs help students understand the foundation of social work practices and allows you to grow the skills required to provide social work services. Having your MSW also prepares you to promote the mental health and social functioning of your clients and how to diagnose psychosocial issues. 

What Are The Different Types of Private Practices for Social Workers?

In general, there are two different types of social work private practices. If you are looking to start your own social work private practice, you can choose to open either an individual private practice or a group private practice. At Mollaei Law, we can help you decide which private practice best suits your needs, so don’t hesitate to email us at admin@mollaeilaw.com or book a consultation call at https://calendly.com/mollaeilawconsultation/professional-corp to get all your questions answered.

What Is an Individual Social Work Private Practice?

An individual social work practice is one where you would manage all the aspects of your practice on your own. This means you will be in charge of reaching out to potential clients, setting up meetings, billing your clients, purchasing insurance to protect your practice, leasing your office space, creating materials for marketing, etc. This also means that you will be responsible for all the costs required to run your practice, but you get to keep more of the earnings your practice generates compared to your counterparts who run group practices.

In order to run an individual social work practice, you must have the skill set required to manage a business on your own. This is no easy feat, so do not let yourself be persuaded by the potential to earn more money if you don’t trust that you can manage the responsibility on your own. In the end, if you are not able to run a practice on your own, your practice could fail in the long run so this decision is not one you should take lightly. 

What is a Group Social Work Private Practice?

A group social work practice is a practice that is already established, but individual social workers can join at any time. In general, group practices are likely to have insurance, billing systems, marketing strategies, and office space before you join the practice. This is a good option for social workers who are just beginning to work in the private sector of social work.

Additionally, if you are hoping to meet other social workers and build a network to get a better feel for what private practice work looks like before starting your individual practice, joining a group practice might be the best choice for you. As mentioned above, if you work in a group practice you share the earnings of the practice with other social workers and earn less, and you have less autonomy than social workers who start individual practices.

Depending on where you are in your career as a social worker, each practice type will suit different needs you have. At Mollae Law, we have assisted hundreds of social workers through the process of starting their own individual practice or joining a group practice. If you are interested in speaking with a professional lawyer from Mollaei Law to help with your process, If you are considering starting your own social work business, please email us at admin@mollaeilaw.com or book a consultation call at https://calendly.com/mollaeilawconsultation/professional-corp to get the process started.

What To Do Next.

Joining or starting your own social work private practice is a long and complicated process. What your path will look like depends entirely on where you are in your career and where you hope to be. This is not a decision you should take lightly since it will impact what your career looks like weeks, months, and even years down the line.

At Mollaei Law, we are committed to helping you find the right path to suit your needs. Whether that means assisting you in starting your own individual private practice or helping you join an already established group practice, we are here for you. If you are hoping to enter the private sector of social work and need assistance, If you are considering starting your own social work business, don’t hesitate to email us at admin@mollaeilaw.com or book a consultation call at https://calendly.com/mollaeilawconsultation/professional-corp to get the process started.