What does the medical abbreviation lcsw-r casac mean?

Answer 1

This is a set of qualifications for a professional health provider in New York State. There are three parts indicating that the holder is approved to provide services by three completely separate government agencies.

LCSW stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker. The license is issued by the New York State Education Department only to Masters-level social workers who meet certain educational and training qualifications and can provide psychotherapy unsupervised by other professionals.

-R indicates that the worker is approved by the New York State Insurance Department to bill health insurance companies for psychotherapy services.

CASAC stands for Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor. This is a separate accreditation issued by the New York Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services for people specially trained to provide counseling services to substance abusers. It is not an advanced professional credential as the minimum requirement is a GED, 300 hours of special training and a minimum of 3 years of counseling work supervised by experienced practitioners.