The Initial Journey to Clinical Social Work

I’m Erin Neill, a clinical social worker and the founder and president of HEART Counseling! I’m excited for you to get to know me a little more and to share about my journey to become a licensed clinical social worker, therapist, and eventually to start HEART Counseling!

My Early Clinical Social Work Training

Growing up outside of Washington, DC, I knew I was good at a few things: Swimming, writing, and helping people. When it came time to choose a college, I decided to attend The Catholic University of America (CUA). It was close to home, I could swim for their Division III swim team, and they had an awesome psychology department. 

I planned to attend graduate school right away and started looking into the different types of masters programs that would allow me to become a therapist. I found that many therapists were clinical social workers, and the more I looked into it, social workers had a wide variety of jobs they could do with their master of social work (MSW) degree.

Penn: Becoming a Social Worker

The University of Pennsylvania’s (Penn) School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2) was a great fit for me. I loved living and learning at Penn and in Philadelphia! I met the best people and got to take the most interesting courses like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Grief & Loss. As a Graduate Resident Assistant I even got to live on campus in one of Penn’s College Houses in the middle of the iconic and historic Quadrangle and help freshmen residents there.

In my MSW program I completed my first internship in a charter school. There I got to support kids through individual therapy, small groups, and also taught social-emotional lessons in classrooms. I loved the energy of being in a school and supporting students!

My second year internship was at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on their Safe Place: The Center for Child Protection and Health team. At CHOP I saw kids, and their caregivers, who had injuries from physical and sexual abuse as well as neglect. It was tough work but I enjoyed it immensely. 

Journey to Clinical Social Work & Looking to the Future

When I graduated with my MSW I eventually took a job as a case manager in DC. My clients there were all adult women who had experienced trauma in their lives. They struggled with mental health issues as well as substance abuse and homelessness. Some of them came into my office, but I also did home visits. I learned so much and really loved connecting my clients to the resources they needed. 

I’ve also worked with older clients with severe mental illness as well as with college students. I have learned and grown in each role that I’ve had. But I also had a feeling that something was missing. In my heart I still wanted to learn more and dig deeper into the field. Why was what I learned about in the classroom so different than how social work was practiced in “the real world”? Why was there such a disconnect between researched, evidence-based interventions and how clinicians really practiced?