The Hidden Strength of Social Workers in Mental Health Treatment
Each March, we mark Social Work Month to recognize the contributions of social workers and the ways they support clients, families and communities. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) identified 2026 as ‘Social Workers: Uplift. Defend. Transform.’ This phrase parallels the core values of the progression: underscoring justice, advocacy and collaborating on wider change to meet the needs of our clients.
In healthcare, social workers often serve as the glue, connecting multidisciplinary teams, external providers and natural support while assisting our patients in navigating often cumbersome and complex helping systems to meet their needs. This is showcased by translating medical and behavioral health information into plain language to support accessibility and bridging contexts between treatment recommendations and the realities our patients face in their daily lives.
More specifically, in behavioral health, social workers bring a distinctive professional lens to treatment by focusing on the psychosocial realities that shape health outcomes (i.e., social determinants of health). These include housing, food security, relationships, trauma, economic standing, gender contexts and access to care. As social workers, we help patients understand their options, support informed decision-making and advocate not only for individual needs but also for the systems and structures they exist in, to better respond to those needs.
Role in Behavioral Health Settings
As social workers, we push to reframe understanding and treatment to consider the whole person and the realities in which their recovery occurs. We begin by conducting biopsychosocial assessments that look beyond the presenting concerns and consider additional factors, including family relationships, housing stability, culture, past experiences with treatment, trauma history and substance use.
By understanding the broader contexts of someone’s life, social workers help challenge assumptions, identify risk and protective factors and avoid solely superficial behavior or distress. This process is known as informed consent, where social workers are able to understand a patient’s goals and values and review their available options to enable decisions aligned with those goals.
In an inpatient hospital setting, this work occurs in one-on-one conversations where social workers employ approaches such as motivational interviewing and solution-focused approaches to help patients reflect on goals, identify barriers and consider meaningful changes. This series of conversations helps patients navigate systems, consider their options and address barriers, whether they are related to treatment, housing, finances or other types of need. Sometimes this work involves reframing and setting expectations. For instance, we cannot secure housing while a patient is in a short-term hospitalization; instead, we can connect them to community-based case management to address this need at discharge or assist the patient with stepping down to a less restrictive residential setting to support longer-term stability.
Our Work With Patients
Often our patients come to us in crisis. They are frequently navigating significant difficulties. While social workers help connect patients to support, we also collaborate with patients to develop safety plans by identifying triggers and stressors, warning signs, coping strategies and ways to help prevent future hospitalizations. We seek to understand what contributed to the crisis, what support was missing and what we can do to help set our patients up differently for the next time this happens.
Advocacy is central to social work as a profession. In inpatient settings, this can mean ensuring patients have the time, access and support necessary to heal. We advocate for appropriate services, coordinate between providers, and ensure that our treatment plans and discharge dispositions reflect a patient’s values and lived experiences. Equally important to advocacy is helping other treatment team members understand the role of social workers in supporting the team and in helping others grasp the full context of a person’s life, rather than remaining at a surface level.
One of the main functions of an inpatient social worker is discharge planning. Social workers engage with patients to plan for the support they need after leaving the hospital. Social workers coordinate aftercare appointments with therapists, prescribers and primary care providers. They make referrals, provide resources and collaborate with support to help ensure immediate needs are met. They also address larger contexts impacting safety and basic needs upon discharge. The goal is not just to get a patient out of the hospital; it is for a safe discharge to support stability, and to develop support mechanisms and systems for people to remain in the community and reduce patient re-hospitalizations.
As patients come to the hospital in crisis, often experiencing feelings of uncertainty and anxiety coupled with being unwell, they can feel overwhelmed. Social workers support individuals by being present, listening to their goals and working collaboratively to identify options and plan next steps. Sometimes patients can engage in concrete problem-solving, while other times a social worker’s role can simply be to create a space for the patient to navigate difficult feelings.
Families and informal support are paramount to our patients’ recovery. Social workers often communicate with them to collaborate for safety while respecting privacy and choice. They also provide key context about how our patients function when they are not ill and help our treatment teams know what success looks like when our patients are doing well.
A core professional value of social work is the dignity and worth of the person. In inpatient settings, social workers help ensure that treatment environments prioritize respect, cultural understanding and compassion. In other words, they help bridge hospitalization from a strictly treatment-focused event to an environment that is supportive and healing. This occurs through open conversations, education and helping patients navigate systems and understand their options. Overall, social work is not a “checklist” type of role where we just engage in a series of activities to complete our job; it is better characterized as having an emphasis on context-aware problem solving to consider what supports are needed for each specific circumstance.
Ultimately, Social Work Month offers an opportunity to reflect and recognize the many critical contributions of social workers. Often, this work is hard to quantify or track for productivity. The work of a social worker happens through a series of conversations, coordination, problem-solving and advocacy, and it can have real and lasting positive impacts supporting the people we serve.
Kevin Durant, LICSW
Doctor of Social Work Candidate
Grand Challenges for Social Work Futures Fellow
Member, NASW National Committee on Disabilities
