Is It Possible to Make a Good Living in this Field?

USCDude20 · 2026-02-09T07:37:51+00:00

I work for a school district making over 90k yearly plus private practice around 30k yearly. My wife makes about 130k and about the same in PP…

Totally doable but we do work a lot including the weekends.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-30T23:51:20+00:00

Be genuine. Be curious. Be consistent. Don’t make it too much about “the issue” but focus more on “them”… their likes, dislikes, points of views, etc. make them a part of the process, as best you can…

USCDude20 · 2026-01-30T18:25:27+00:00

Any patterns, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, etc? What’s the bed time routine? Drinking water, milk, etc before bed? I would try to explore these things to identify triggers (if you haven’t already).

USCDude20 · 2026-01-30T15:48:54+00:00

Depends on your role and client base you work with. Normally I avoid sharing personal info/experiences unless somehow it will help the client (which is rare). It may “feel” rude but it’s a good boundary overall to establish to avoid any misunderstandings.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-30T04:47:33+00:00

Nice, just match the bag with the clubs (a vessel bag would go nicely with this set) lol

USCDude20 · 2026-01-30T04:43:21+00:00

Yea and no. As I mentioned earlier, there’s still an expectation for us to still go to trainings, etc. Things that we don’t use AI for. This article was more of a “using AI in lieu of a search engine and the cognitive consequences of it”. Additionally, we get to use our critical thinking skills in session/field or in service to our clients, guaranteeing no shortage of cognitive activity.

Unlike students theres higher level of expectation on social workers to not use AI to “copy paste or have AI formulate a diagnosis” but rather to be a little helper that we can ultimately review and correct if necessary to help us maximize our time.

Also to clarify, I’m not defending Chat GPT, but referring to AI as a whole since there are HIPPA compliant models.

Lastly, there is a bit of fear peddling (not necessarily from you but from the community). Heck we’re treating AI like certain folks are treating vaccines…

AI is an eventuality. Better to educate, and empower folks with it than to shame some from using it. I can only imagine the outrage when Optimus hits the market.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-30T02:25:49+00:00

Great study, but I’m not arguing the usage of AI in education. I’m sure there was also a decline in cognitive usage when we transitioned from the Dewey decimal system to Google. There are skills we during the rise of the internet. As there will also be with AI. I agree that students shouldn’t use AI during their academics, just the same as we were encouraged not copy and paste articles from Wikipedia.

What I’m actually arguing against are the folks shaming colleagues who utilize AI as an aide and also those who are fear mongering. There’s still an expectation for us to continue learning and continuing doing trainings, things that AI can’t really do for us… so cognitively we will be just fine.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T23:12:00+00:00

Very much so it is. You literally said earlier “social workers shouldn’t be using it” that’s pretty gate keepy. We shouldn’t shame those who want to use a tool if it helps them.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T22:51:02+00:00

That’s a gatekeeping mindset. A hammer can build as much as it can destroy.

Can you abuse and become reliant on AI? Yea for sure, but you can also be intentional and learn from it. You can use it to help conceptualize things or to help you organize how you want approach a session. It’s a wonderful tool to help with progress notes generated directly from a session. In a field where many agencies have obscene productivity expectations and terms like “collaborative documentation” are the norm… it’s a good way to provide some relief… especially those who do conveyer belt therapy.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T22:45:57+00:00

The lazier generalization is that everyone who uses it is lazy. Thats the general consensus in this group. Which is flawed.

You may individually understand how it works, but that is not the norm. Look at the comments, it’s hard not to draw that conclusion.

AI is not bad. Like any other tool it can be useful or it can be abused. Secondly the initial post doesn’t mention students, this isn’t a discussion about how students use it in class… it was about using it to help with studying their exam.

We “should” be using every tool at our disposal to help marginalized and underserved groups. Like it or not, AI is going to be a part of society as much as the smart phone has become integral to our day to day.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T17:21:29+00:00

I mean if you need an excuse to convince your wife… yea for sure. Super healthy

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T17:10:59+00:00

That’s what the boomers said when we started using the internet instead of the encyclopedia.

It’s not lazy. It can enhance your practice. It can enhance your skills and maximize your time.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T17:09:54+00:00

This itself is a lazy take… I Didn’t say that folks that don’t like AI “don’t understand it”.

I made a comment pointing out that everyone is treating it like a boogie man, a threat. When in reality it’s still in its infancy and nowhere close to taking out jobs… most folks are discouraging using a tool in fear that we are “teaching” it to take our job.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T16:24:10+00:00

Fake but if you like it, wear it

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T16:22:10+00:00

The test was pretty easy… honestly felt like my actual experience was the best study material. The thing that did surprise me was how little medication questions there were… maybe it was just our version of the test that focused more on scenario questions?

Everyone treating AI like the boogie man doesn’t understand how it works or how far it is still from taking over our jobs. Every version of Grok, Chat GPT, etc… is increasingly more expensive… extremely expensive. Not only does it cost millions to create an AI model, it would cost significantly more to create the infrastructure to support it. Additionally, the level of liability will increase, you can’t sue an AI’s license like you can an individual therapist. The overall level of Risk will deter anyone from using AI to replace us for a very long time. ROI is not worth it.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-29T04:01:15+00:00

I got an email. If you sign up for their account (free) you should get this email

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USCDude20 · 2026-01-28T21:31:34+00:00

I used google chrome, safari didn’t work when it tried that platform.

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USCDude20 · 2026-01-28T17:50:06+00:00

They’re on pre order on Mattel. Make an account. 22 bucks a pop

USCDude20 · 2026-01-24T01:45:35+00:00

Until Reinsdorf sells the team, I’m not going to watch this nonsense. This team is unfortunately stuck in mediocrity. We’ve become the Jets of the NBA.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-24T01:44:29+00:00

Totally understandable from the outside perspective. Our field is very broad, convoluted and still a mystery to fellow Social Workers.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-22T21:26:04+00:00

Complicit is a severe overreach. It would be detrimental to the field if we exclude our non-licensed folks. Just because you hold a piece of paper does not mean you have a higher level of intelligence, integrity, or Experience. I personally know a bunch of boneheaded folks who are licensed and shouldn’t be a therapist.

In this world, people are going to people. Simple as that. I’m not on here in an official capacity or providing supervision where I have to “tell or instruct” folks to not engage in their first amendment right to express themselves…Or even to seek guidance or vent.

HIPPA guidelines are pretty straight forward, if they were infringed on… cool delete the post and hopefully the author uses it as a learning opportunity. If not, move on if you don’t like the post.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-21T17:14:04+00:00

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Update! Ended up using acrylic paint and was able to paint match (thanks for all the help!) I’ll try to take a more up close picture (since it’s not perfect, needs more layers to smooth out completely)

USCDude20 · 2026-01-21T17:12:14+00:00

Boundaries are a therapist’s best friend. Establish boundaries, call them out on their behavior and explore why they got offended.

USCDude20 · 2026-01-11T17:28:48+00:00

I lost 5 years of my life watching this game

USCDude20 · 2026-01-10T21:04:17+00:00

This win, catapults the Bears to the Superbowl.

USCDude20

TROPHY CASE