Characteristics of Mental Health Service Use Among a National Sample of MSW Students

Background and Purpose: Social workers are among the largest group of professionals providing mental health services. Personal experience in therapy is regarded by many mental health training programs as a necessity for enhancing self-awareness and therapist skills. There is also growing awareness of the importance of developing self-care strategies during graduate school in order to proactively combat work-related distress and burnout. Despite the use of personal therapy as an important part of professional development, there is little in the social work literature about mental health service use among graduate students, many of whom intend to enter clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of personal therapy use among a national sample of MSW students. Methods: The data analyzed in this study were drawn from the survey “Assessing Childhood and Community Trauma and Resilience Histories in MSW Students” (N = 344). The survey was distributed via email to administrators of social work programs, nationally. Variables in this study included therapy utilization over the lifetime, length of time in therapy, encouragement by MSW program to attend therapy for professional development, and primary reason for attending therapy currently. Participants also reported their intended area of social work practice, age, and racial, gender, and sexual identities. Results: Participants in this survey identified their race(s) as White (78.2%), Black (14.5%), Hispanic/Latino (6.4%), Asian (4.7%), or Other (3.6%). Participants identified as female (83.7%), male (7%), non-binary (7.8%), and 7% reported that they were someone with trans experience. Approximately 60% of participants identified as heterosexual, and approximately 40% identified as gay, bisexual, or asexual. When asked what type of social work practice they plan to enter, 61.6% responded clinical social work. Nearly 75% of participants had spent at least six months in services, with 41.6% of participants having been in therapy for 3 or more years. Approximately 30% of participants reported that no one in their MSW program – faculty, staff, or other students – had encouraged them to utilize personal therapy as part of professional development and self-care. Among students who were currently receiving mental health services, one half reported that the reason was to treat current mental health concerns. Approximately one-quarter reported that they were currently receiving mental health services for maintenance of past mental health concerns, and one-quarter reported professional development, including self-care, as their reason. Conclusions and Implications: This study identified that the majority of MSW students have utilized or are currently utilizing mental health services. This study also identified that MSW faculty and staff can do more to encourage and normalize personal therapy services as part of professional development. There is a concerning amount of current mental health struggle among social work graduate students. Positively, many students are actively using therapy for mental health improvement, mental health stabilization, and self-care. There is a need for further research to examine if mental health service use disparities exist among MSW students, particularly based on race and income.