Interested in pursuing a career as a Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM) senior social worker? Here are five tips to help you on your path to a rewarding career as a member of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) team.

  • Compassion is key: It might seem obvious, but you must be passionate about helping people. You will be working with Veterans who have serious mental health issues along with their families, and compassion and understanding are crucial when it comes to making a connection.
  • Demonstrate Good Judgment: As with most jobs, having sound judgment is critical to the MHICM senior social worker position. You’ll be working with individuals who have serious mental health challenges – sometimes you’ll need to make decisions on your feet. To be considered for the opportunity, you must be prepared to demonstrate your advanced evaluation and judgment skills.
  • Previous experience is a must: To qualify as an MHICM senior social worker with VHA, you must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level. You should also have at least two years of experience in an area of specialized social work practice working with serious mental health diagnoses.
  • Extra certification is a plus: Aside from being licensed by a state at the advanced practice level, anyone interested in becoming an MHICM senior social worker can have certification or other post-master’s degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience. Though it’s not a requirement, it will help you to stand out from the pack. 
  • Know the basics of the administrative work: The MHICM senior social worker role involves a significant amount of data collection, record-keeping and monitoring of patient or program clinical indicators, thresholds and performance measurements. So, candidates with a penchant for keeping detailed records and previous administrative experience is ideal for anyone interested in the opportunity.

If you think you’ve got what it takes, then take a look at some available MHICM senior social worker positions. Or, check out other VHA opportunities in the mental health field, and Join VA.

Leave a comment

The comments section is for opinions and feedback on this particular article; this is not a customer support channel. If you are looking for assistance, please visit Ask VA or call 1-800-698-2411. Please, never put personally identifiable information (SSAN, address, phone number, etc.) or protected health information into the form — it will be deleted for your protection.

One Comment

  1. Alex ceja August 12, 2016 at 16:29

    My name is alex ceja, i have a bachelor’s in liberal studies. What kind of a job would i qualify through the va. Also im 100% service connected vet.

Comments are closed.

More Stories