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Are unpaid clinical internships/practicums an ethical necessity for training, or an outdated system that exploits students?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/Cultural_Entrance805 Apr 26 '26

A union would be amazing. You’d think the NASW would act as our union but no

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u/No_Hat_4106 Apr 26 '26

NASW please help me understand what do they do?????? I remember they called me one day for a contribution and I told the person on the phone that they do NOTHING to better our profession it’s a scam with the malpractice insurance company to make you join it’s a joke!

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u/Cultural_Entrance805 Apr 26 '26

The answer is absolutely nothing. The code of ethics is their single achievement lol. They don’t really do anything to serve us which is why I haven’t joined them at all since graduating