I commend David Luce for bringing to the attention of your readers the barriers that exist in insurance coverage for professionally trained and state certified social workers in solo private practice (Record-Eagle letter, Jan. 24.)
    In the mental health field, social workers are on the front lines. They are often the first to be called upon by people in crises.
    And most still use psychotherapy as a treatment tool, which along with medication is the most effective treatment for many disorders, particularly depression.
      Because of this unique position, social workers, in the mental health field, can be likened to general practitioners in the medical field. It is unfair that solo practitioners are not accorded the same reimbursement by insurance companies as are psychiatrists and psychologists.
      However, your readers need to know that these barriers don't exist for all state certified social workers.
      If you see a social worker in a group practice, the chances are that your health insurance will cover the cost of their services.
      The reason for this can be found in the historical development of the profession of social work.
      Until 30 years ago, social workers practiced exclusively in groups: Family Service; Child &  Family Services; Traveler's Aide Society; Child Guidance Clinics. In the last three decades, solo practice of social work has increased tremendously yet insurance companies, by and large, still view social worker as a group practice.

This assumption about social workers will probably remain unchanged until the profession aggressively lobbies state legislators much in the same manner that psychologists did 20 years ago, in their successful effort to gain access to all health insurance carriers.
           However, there may not be the political will among social worker profession for such a struggle.
      Social workers likely will never compromise their principles to exclude any of its practitioners, as psychologists were required to do in order to further the state-sanctioned recognition for Ph.D. psychologists. These apparently coveted insurance programs are constantly changing and what is required now may by irrelevant next year. Social workers know that and are not easily seduced.

  
       Social work has been around since the early days of our republic.
      Long before Sigmund Freud wrote about the unconscious or before Gordon Allport wrote about "Social Contract," social workers were engaged in helping people in poverty or stress, from one cause or another.
      And they are still here with many more specialized fields of practices then ever before.
      Nationally, 3 million cases of suspected child abuse and neglect are reported each year, and hundreds of social workers are very busy investigating these allegations and submitting reports to the courts.
    It is estimated that there are 800,000 children in out-of-home placements requiring ongoing treatment, support, and consultation.

   And when social workers report to the court on their assessments they often can expect to undergo sometimes brutal cross-examination designed to discredit their work, their methodology and their conclusions.
      One such example was the suit of a social worker accused of inappropriately diagnosing and treating children, an activity, it was asserted, reserved only for the medical profession.
        After a long a bitter court battle, the social worker was acquitted.
      Specialization has social workers working in hospitals, aiding patients in making decision about their illness and helping people cope with issues of death and dying. Social workers in schools are helping children and parents overcome obstacles to learning.
      In fact, social workers are the largest professional group in the mental health field.
      There are twice as many professionally trained social workers as there are psychiatrists and psychologists combined. As a group, social workers have always been more service oriented and, I believe, compassionate about their work.
      Even the social workers in solo practice charge less than other professionals and are more likely to see a client at a reduced fee when necessary.

Biographical Note:

Mr. Vanderlind is a graduate of The University of Michigan School of Social Work. He was the first Social Worker to open a full time outpatient practice in Birmingham, Michigan and is the founder of the Maple Clinics where he continues to work as its administrator.