Clinical Social Worker as Patient Advocate in a Community Mental Health Center

Abstract

As a profession, social work has always advocated for clients. Yet clinical social work settings often ignore this important aspect of practice. For mental health services in public agencies, patient advocacy is a particularly vital element because these systems are not always responsive to the individual client. The clinical social worker, trained in advocacy, systemic intervention, and psychotherapy, is the professional most qualified to fill this role. The author summarizes the history of advocacy, provides a conceptual framework for the clinical social work advocate, and provides examples from 20 years of experience as a patient advocate in community mental health.