An Introduction to Becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Washington

Social workers maintain a critical role in the enhancement of society as they support communities and individuals to discover answers to life’s challenges. Social Workers help individuals, children or families if they are having problems being productive and stable in their own lives. A career as a social worker can be quite fulfilling.

Becoming a Washington licensed clinical social worker requires an individual to achieve specific education levels, fieldwork, as well as other administrative related requirements.

Beginning your journey to become a licensed clinical social worker in Washington, starts with earning the necessary social work educational requirements. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) provides accreditation to social work programs in the United States. We recommend you begin your search there.

An example accredited social work program by the CSWE is the Online Masters of Social Work at Tulane University which has trained social workers since 1914. Tulane University’s MSW program helps prepare students to pass their clinical exams (84%) as well as their Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) exams (81%). Visit Tulane’s website to learn more about Tulane University and their online Master of Social Work program.

The average Washington licensed clinical social worker salary is $53,032. For those individuals who’ve gone on to obtain a master’s degree in social work, the average salary is $58,873. Those who have a doctoral degree earn $70,763 on average. The job growth rate for social workers in Washington is expected to grow by 15 percent by 2026.

Currently, there are 20,748 open positions in Washington for social workers. In fact, the following health centers are currently recruiting to hire social workers, with a preference for those with a masters degree, or concurrently enrolled in a masters program:,

• Providence Health & Services
• Multicare Health
• PeaceHealth
• University of Washington
• Pioneer Human Services

Whether you are just starting off in your career as a licensed clinical social worker in Washington or currently work as a social worker but are interested in expanding your earnings potential then a graduate degree in social work might be the right fit for you. The Council on Social Work Education has accredited over 240 MSW programs.

Begin your search for an MSW program below to begin the path of becoming a licensed clinical social worker in Washington.

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