NASW urges clearer title protection, removes ‘psychotherapy’ barrier in proposed OPR amendments

BURLINGTON, Vt. — At a Feb. 18 meeting of the Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee, witnesses from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) asked lawmakers to adopt two amendments to an Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) bill that they say would protect the social work title and remove a barrier to clinical licensure.

For the record, Lynn Courier Stanley, executive director of the NASW Vermont chapter and also the New Hampshire chapter, told the committee she was proposing two changes: extend title protection so only degree-trained social workers may use the job title, including in private agencies, and remove language that requires the term "psychotherapy" to appear in a job description in order for supervision hours to count toward licensure. "We're not asking for organizations to hire only social workers. We're just asking that the job title be called something else if they're not going to hire a social worker," Stanley said.

The changes would add a requirement that the title "social worker" be used only for…