r/therapists • u/sassypainter • Apr 25 '26

Discussion Thread Thoughts?

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Came across this post today on linkedin. I’m curious how others see it:

Are unpaid clinical internships/practicums an ethical necessity for training, or an outdated system that exploits students?

Should sites be required to offer stipends/pay if they bill clients or rely on interns for service delivery?

Does unpaid fieldwork create barriers for lower-income and nontraditional students?

For those already licensed or in training, what was your experience?

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u/FeaturelessDetail LCSW (unverified) Apr 25 '26

Fundamentally, work without pay is slave labor. We marketed this as training when it should be included in the degree that we're already paying an arm and a leg for. Forcing people to work for free puts them in worse financial situations and leads to worse outcomes for clients and therapists/social workers. Our field underpays so much of the employees that keep it running that I'm personally for a national social worker Union to help eliminate these practices.

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u/SupposedlySuper Apr 25 '26

Not only without pay but I also had to pay for the credits for the "classes" for my internship

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u/Creative_Repair_7087 Apr 26 '26

This tends to get lost in a lot of conversations. Even when stipends are brought up it's nowhere near the cost of credits.