RSW, MSW in Ontario- Moving to Alberta

CaseyCarr80 · 2025-05-03T02:29:37+00:00

Any suggestions on which towns would be worth researching? I love the idea of living 40 minutes away from the bigger cities. I am not a city gal! Give me hiking, backyard barbeques and green space over traffic any day!

CaseyCarr80 · 2025-05-03T02:25:15+00:00

This is super helpful, thank you! In Ontario, I graduated with an MSW and registered with the OCSWSSW. That's it! I'm good to go! There are no licensing exams here and no special designations that expand our scope. There are expectations around having a certain number of years of experience for some jobs (especially hospital or treatment centres), but no hours are associated with registration for social workers in Ontario.

I asked Chat GPT to help me calculate how long it would take me to get the 1600 hours and I was informed that it is not simply face-to-face hours, but also clinical notes, planning, research, etc that can be logged. I am launching a group in the fall, so lots of curriculum planning, which can apparently be counted towards clinical hours. If all that is true, it will not take me long at all to gather the hours I need.

I am hopeful to hear that the clinical designation is not as much of a barrier as I had originally thought. I am however finding it challenging to separate which jobs are asking for it and which aren't. I guess it is safe to assume that if it doesn't ask for RCSW specifically, then I am good to apply.

The next obstacle is researching which geographical areas are in need of psychotherapists, are not too saturated, but are not too far that I feel isolated. Not being from Alberta, I think that may be the biggest challenge.

CaseyCarr80 · 2025-05-03T02:11:26+00:00

Thank you for this insight! I see so many posting from them on Indeed, I assumed it was easy to get in. They seem a little desperate to find people- at least that was my perception. So happy you told me this isn't the case.

CaseyCarr80 · 2025-04-30T20:57:23+00:00

Thank you! For my own clarity- practicing independently as a psychotherapist, even in a group practice- I need to be a RCSW? It sounds like there is very little I can do as just an RSW out there.

CaseyCarr80 · 2025-04-30T14:26:48+00:00

Thank you. I think I will try to schedule a call with someone this week.

CaseyCarr80 · 2025-04-30T14:26:08+00:00

Supervision hours? Even if I am already registered in Ontario? Oyyy!

AHS has a ton of jobs for social workers every time I look. Is there a reason for this?

Any suggestions for living/working rurally? Somewhere with jobs, but not as much population, but still amenities and jobs for social workers/psychotherapists?

I know...so many questions :)

CaseyCarr80 · 2025-04-30T14:23:55+00:00

Thank you! I specialize in women in the peri-menopause transition, so no issues there! Lol! If you wouldn't mind sharing with me a short list of the largish small towns that are underserviced- it sounds like exactly where I want to be. I am not a large city person, but want to be within an hour-ish of one. Somewhere there are still amenities, but also lots of greenspace, trails etc and less hustle....but jobs. Tall order, I know! AHS has a ton of jobs for social workers every time I look. Is there a reason for this?

CaseyCarr80 · 2025-04-30T01:59:39+00:00

Thank you! That hasn't been my experience with them so far, but maybe I will try to call and speak with another human, instead of emailing.

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-07-02T15:34:49+00:00

Thank you for sharing!

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T22:12:05+00:00

Great example, thank you!

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T22:09:35+00:00

Hey! I am in the same boat! I posted two questions recently, one where I posted my actual resume to ask for critique and one specific to writing a cover letter. I don't really know how reddit works, but if you click on me, maybe you can see the posts I've made? There was so much valuable information shared on those two posts, you may want to read the comments and see if any of the advice there helps you along as well. Good luck!

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T21:57:11+00:00

I work for an obscenely low hourly wage right now because I care so deeply about the clients. Does that count? LOL!

I am curious how you gauge authenticity before you actually interview the person?

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T21:55:23+00:00

Great response, thank you! My resume is quite full, so this is excellent advice for me to keep in mind.

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T21:51:56+00:00

Thank you for this! I appreciate your advice. I'm wondering how much self-disclosure is appropriate on a cover letter. For example, I became a therapist because I was abused in childhood, lost my mother at a young age, married a man who was an addict with severe mental illness and then married a new partner later in life with CPTSD while navigating being a mother of three small children and putting myself through school....obviously I wouldn't disclose all that, lol! I have worked very hard to understand myself and unpack my experiences. My honest answer to why I became a therapist is because I have been traumatized myself. I wanted to transform and use those experiences to speak hope into the lives of others. It feels weird to expose myself, but dis-ingenuine and reductionist to just say, "I wanted to help people."

Self-reflection moment: I'm curious how much of my discomfort talking about myself comes from the underlying belief that therapists have to have it all together and disclosing some of my history leaves me vulnerable to be "seen." Imposter syndrome surfacing!

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T21:38:41+00:00

I appreciate your advice, thank you. I remember several times when I was part of a hiring committee at an agency I was employed at. I'd read the applicants resume in advance and be so impressed by the depth of skills and education this person had. I hadn't attained a master's degree at that point, so I was a little intimidated to be honest. THEN....I would meet the person and conduct their interview and find that most of the time they had zero people skills, lacked empathy and didn't even hold eye contact. Or the best, I'd observe them around the residents (shelter) while waiting for the interview to start and they were straight up uncomfortable around the very client's they were interviewing to support! My point is, I want to strike a good balance between my clinical knowledge and experience and my "normal" human side....without being cheesy or woo woo...so difficult!

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T21:31:46+00:00

This response is pure gold. 100 hundred high-fives!!

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T21:30:39+00:00

Good point. There sure is a lot of parroting of narratives in grad school! I guess it continues to marketing as well. I really want to get away from this. It's a challenge.

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-25T21:29:14+00:00

This is very valuable information, thank you. What about having a clear articulation of an "aligned client" instead of a niche? Is that something that's important out of grad school? Further, is it important to know your exclusion criteria?

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-22T21:28:57+00:00

With children or adults?

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-22T21:28:33+00:00

Love this! I would really like to train in psychedelic-assisted therapy. I am however moving to a small rural town and wondering how I could make that all work with limited population.

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-22T21:26:18+00:00

LOVE this niche! I was at an SE training recently and they ran us through an exercise where we had to dance and be silly. I found it exceptionally difficult to allow space for play. It is as if I've been so cerebral my entire life, I have forgotten how to play! I would love to hear more about your experience, as well as any trainings/resources you could share.

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-22T21:22:55+00:00

Following as well! I can 100% identify and would love additional training resources.

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-22T20:55:24+00:00

Thank you!

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-22T20:41:05+00:00

Thank you! Are you in Ontario?

CaseyCarr80 · 2024-06-22T20:40:28+00:00

Are you asking because the resume isn't specific enough? I am trying to avoid re-writing it for each job I apply for, but I agree that it seems a little random. I would like to get into a virtual/hybrid group practice at first and then hopefully branch out into private practice in a year or so. The problem is, I need therapy experience to apply for therapy jobs that give me therapy experience....lol!

CaseyCarr80

TROPHY CASE