By definition, a pediatric social worker is a professional who works with children in a helping role. However, there are many different areas in which social workers can work with children. These can include any setting in which the social worker is working directly with children, such as in the areas of social services, mental health, school-based services, hospice, healthcare, and many other settings.
Pediatric social workers must receive specific training to understand typical childhood development as well as family dynamics that can typically occur in stressful situations. They may conduct family therapy to help both the family and the child learn to function more successfully at home, may arrange community services to benefit the child and family, or provide individual counseling or therapy to the child as a way of helping him or her work through difficult situations. (more…)