Saturday, April 15, 2023
Risk Assessment Methods
Monday, November 21, 2022
ASWB Exam Changes
Take a look at the latest ASWB Exam Handbook for some new additions coming to the social work licensing exam. If you've taken the exam recently, you know they've already added highlighting and strikethrough to the exams. Handy tools for some, distracting--and potentially time-wasting--bells and whistles for others.
But a bigger, more meaningful change is happening. For the first time in who knows how long, the exam will include something other than just questions with a STEM (the question part) and FOUR ANSWER OPTIONS. It will now include--drumroll please--questions with a STEM and THREE ANSWER OPTIONS! So now, you'll have a 33% chance of getting a question right even if you have no idea what it's about and can't eliminate one of the options. This is up from 25% (one out of four) for coin-flippy efforts to answer tough questions correctly.
How the content of these questions will differ from the traditional four answer options (A, B, C, & D) is unclear. More will be revealed soon.
In the meantime, take is as good news and go pass that exam!
Monday, March 01, 2021
LCSW Exam Scoring
One of the questions that comes up again and again regarding the LCSW exam is also a very basic one: what score do you need to pass? The answer is...no one can say for sure. There are multiple exams being given at the same level, at the same time around the country. The ASWB spells it all out here.
Generally, pass points range from 90 to 107 correct answers of the 150 scored questions.
Okay, 90/150 to 107/150. That's [opens calculator] between 60 and 71%. Meaning that on some versions of the exam, you can miss nearly half the questions and still arrive at a pass sheet after your four-hour sit. If you're checking the math, remember, it's 90 out of 150, not 170. Twenty questions are being tested for future exam use and aren't counted for scoring.
Another tidbit from the ASWB to keep in mind:
ASWB has multiple forms of each exam for exam security and to ensure that candidates who retake the exam do not get the same set of questions.
So asking around about what's on the latest version of the exam isn't just unethical, it's going to be unproductive. No one can say exactly what you're going to encounter on the version of the test that you're given. But, they can say--if they read you the ASWB's published content outlines to you--what topics you should reasonably expect to appear on the test. (Note: you don't have to ask someone to read it to you, exam outlines are available, free of charge, at ASWB.org.) That's the same information that a reputable test prep company uses to weight practice tests by topic area.
Not only can you miss a bunch of questions on the LCSW exam and still pass. Twenty questions that you face won't count at all. So, as you encounter perplexing and confounding questions, remain calm. It's no big deal. Keep focused, keep at it, and pass that exam. Good luck!
Friday, February 22, 2019
Into the DSM - Antisocial Personality Disorder
A. Pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since age 15, including three or more of these:
- Failure to conform to social norms.
- Deceitfulness.
- Impulsivity, failure to plan ahead.
- Irritability and aggressiveness.
- Reckless disregard for the safety of others.
- Consistent irresponsibility (work, money).
- Lack of remorse.
How about a high school bully-turned-Fortune 500-CEO who does the grown-up version of that and delights in humiliating underlings? Now you might be onto something. Take a look at the other choices. Maybe conduct disorder (but the adult CEO has outgrown that). Maybe other cluster B personality disorders BPD (not it), NPD (conceivable). Antisocial personality disorder is probably the best of those answers for the non-vignette sketched out above.
For more about the disorder, try the Mayo Clinic antisocial pages here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353928
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Test Preparation and Test Taking
A vignette may offer an easily identifiable set of symptoms, but don't be surprised if the question takes a sudden turn. Instead of asking, "What is the BEST diagnosis?"--the question you were prepared to answer with easy--you might be thrown a curve: "How would a social worker using cognitive behavioral therapy MOST likely respond?"
You've got to be smart and flexible and focused in your exam-taking. So it's wise to be smart, flexible, and focused in your exam prep. Combine approaches to learning. Take lots of practice tests. And stay calm.
That's some of the advice offered at studygs.net. Take a look at the test preparation and test taking suggestions there. Not all apply to the social work exam. A lot of them are common sense. Most of them should be helpful.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Into the DSM - Histrionic Personality Disorder
Personality disorders--as opposed to just personality--involve patterns of beliefs and behaviors that severely impair those diagnosed with them. A full 10-15% of people meet criteria for a personality disorder. That's a whole lot of people suffering, and often making others suffer, with long-standing, difficult-to-treat conditions.
Those with histrionic personality disorder seek attention more-or-less constantly, exhibiting extremes of feeling and behavior. Focus is often on excessive flirting, attention to looks, and severe reactions when attention isn't given.
Five of the following must be present to make a diagnosis:
- When not receiving attention, feels less valued.
- Inappropriate flirting and seduction.
- Mood lability (quickly changing feelings).
- Attracts attention via physical appearance.
- Vague, detail-lacking style of speech.
- Extreme displays of feeling (aka "drama").
- Easily swayed by others and by fads.
- Rapid attachments with overestimated depth.
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Theories and Methods - Play Therapy
The hive mind at Wikipedia adds:
Play therapy is a method of meeting and responding to the mental health needs of children and is extensively acknowledged by experts as an effective and suitable intervention in dealing with children’s brain development. It is generally employed with children aged 3 through 11 and provides a way for them to express their experiences and feelings through a natural, self-guided, self-healing process. As children’s experiences and knowledge are often communicated through play, it becomes an important vehicle for them to know and accept themselves and others.Find more about how play therapy works and about its origins via this article at Good Therapy.
Will play therapy be on the LCSW exam? You never know. If you've glanced at the above articles, you'll be more than prepared to face a test question if it does. Good luck!
Thursday, May 17, 2018
LCSW Exam Study Guides
Study guides are also easily tracked down via Internet search. Here are two that come up early have the advantage of being completely free: This (semi-outdated) pdf from University of Missouri-St. Louis. And this free (with sign up) study guide from Social Work Test Prep. Those should keep you busy for a while. If you find others that are great, post for others in comments. Passing the social work licensing exam is a team sport.
Wednesday, May 09, 2018
The Code of Ethics - Responsibilities to the Broader Society
Social Welfare
Social workers should promote the general welfare of society, from local to global levels, and the development of people, their communities, and their environments. Social workers should advocate for living conditions conducive to the fulfillment of basic human needs and should promote social, economic, political, and cultural values and institutions that are compatible with the realization of social justice.
Public Participation
Social workers should facilitate informed participation by the public in shaping social policies and institutions.
Public Emergencies
Social workers should provide appropriate professional services in public emergencies to the greatest extent possible.
Social and Political Action
This one's got several paragraphs--we covered it in an earlier post. As it says there, it shouldn't take you by surprise to see this material appear on the exam. Public participation and political action have been on the rise, and social workers have either been a part of it or have wrestled with whether or not to be a part of it. That, of course, includes exam writers. What are they most likely to create questions about? Whatever's on their mind.
Read the entire NASW Code of Ethics here. Then read it again. This is important stuff--for the exam and beyond. Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 06, 2018
ASWB Exam Outline Changes
The more with-it exam prep companies have adjusted their offerings to fit the new guidelines (SWTP, for example). But if you're prepping using older material, don't sweat it. The outline changes are minimal. Some areas of the exam are being stressed a little bit more, others a little bit less. And some of the areas in the outline have been merged or renamed. No matter. You still have to study all the content areas (which is what you're doing when you take a practice test, review your old social work notes, or run through the posts in this blog). If one area comprises 17% instead of 19% of the exam, does that mean you study it 2% less? If you're able to gauge such things...then, maybe. But, really, no.
If you want to know the details of the changes, the ASWB has spelled them out with nice graphs on their site: https://www.aswb.org/exam-candidates/about-the-exams/exam-development/2018-exam-blueprints/how-are-the-exams-changing/
For everyone else, just know that something changed a little and it doesn't really matter.
As you were. Prepping and, soon, passing the LCSW exam. Good luck!
Monday, January 22, 2018
NASW Code of Ethics Changes
Here it is.
What's changed? Not an enormous amount, but enough to warrant some determined review. The main areas that have been updated relate to tech. There are new guidelines for Internet searches, social media, and the like. You can just read the code and see if you notice the changes. Or, maybe better, turn to an expert or two for their run-down: Here's Alan Barsky enumerating the changes. And here's Fredrik Reamer in Social Work Today doing the same.
There's also a new ASWB content outline (find it at aswb.org). Professional values and ethics, once 18% of the exam, has gotten a meager boost to 19%. That's nearly one in five questions you'll face that will be rooted in the code. It's very much worth your while to get it known. Happy reading, happy testing. Good luck!
Monday, October 23, 2017
Theories and Methods - Family Systems Theory
Family systems theory springs from the work of Murray Bowen (you'll sometimes see it labelled "Bowenian Family Therapy"). It posits that clients cannot be understood on their own, but as a part of a larger system--their family--which is seen as an emotional unit unto itself.
Family roles, rules, boundaries, and patterns are all foci of family systems therapist, who turn to Bowen's eight interlocking concepts as they practice. They are: triangles, differentiation of self, nuclear family emotional systems, family projection process, multigenerational transmission process, emotional cutoff, sibling position, and societal emotional process.
Some of these have entered the vernacular--or, at least, the therapy vernacular. If you see any of them show up on the social work licensing exam, you can know with some confidence that you're facing a question about family systems theory and answer accordingly. Good luck.
For more reading about family systems theory, including quick definitions of the eight interlocking concepts, take a look at https://www.genopro.com/genogram/family-systems-theory/
Monday, August 28, 2017
Into the DSM - Schizoaffective Disorder
A. A major mood episode (MDD or manic) concurrent with Criterion A of schizophrenia*
B. Delusions or hallucinations for two or more weeks in the absence of a major mood episode.
C. Symptoms meet criteria for a major mood episode for the majority of the illness.
D. Not attributable to substance or another medical condition.
Subtypes:
Bipolar type (that is, psychotic symptoms alongside--but not exclusively during--a manic episode).
Depressive type (same as a above, but with symptoms of MDD).
Remember that psychotic symptoms can be present within bipolar or depressive illness. They can also be present--with the absence of any major mood episodes--in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.
That's a lot to have understood before facing down a question about mood/psychotic symptoms. But now you're that much closer to correctly answering a social work exam question on the topic.
For a lot more about schizoaffective disorder, try this long Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizoaffective_disorder
*Here's Criterion A of schizophrenia, referenced above: Two or more of the following present most of the time for a month or more:
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
- Disorganized speech
- Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
- Negative symptoms (e.g., blank affect, avolition)
Monday, August 07, 2017
Theories and Methods - Reality Therapy
This is just a quick summary (though probably sufficient for answering a social work exam question). Find much more about reality therapy at Wikipedia and the William Glasser Institute.
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
The Code of Ethics - Social and Political Action
For more reading on the topic, there's no better place to turn than to the Code of Ethics itself. Enjoy it again.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
The Code of Ethics - Informed Consent
Monday, January 30, 2017
Into the DSM - Narcissistic Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
3. Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
4. Requires excessive admiration.
5. Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).
6. Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).
7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.
And that's it. Simple--and difficult--as that. Narcissistic personality disorder is grouped with antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and histrionic personality disorder in Cluster B.
Seasoned social workers can usually assess the presence of a personality disorder pretty quickly, without knowing which PD they're facing. The quick summary you'll hear all the time in the field: "Cluster B." On the exam you have to be more certain--know these criteria and how to distinguish from the other personality disorders and you'll be able to correctly answer without too much difficulty.
For further reading, try the Mayo Clinic's NPD page: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/definition/con-20025568 and Wikipedia's pages, linked here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_B_personality_disorders
Good luck on the exam!
Monday, December 05, 2016
Time Management and Test Preparation
That raises the question: further review when?...memorized how?
Here's a site that aims to help you get those important questions answered. What is the best way to go about learning all the information that may show up on the LCSW exam? And how can you best organize your time to make room for all that learning? The too long; didn't read version is this: You already know how to learn and how to make time for learning. You've been doing it your whole life, running a decades-long experiment about what works best for you.
That doesn't mean you can't use additional guidance. So check out the test preparation and time management skills detailed at studygs.net. The site quotes William Shakespeare for inspiration: "Study is like the heaven's glorious sun. You may feel differently about it. But with the study tips detailed on the site, you at least don't have to be completely in the dark regarding best study practices. Enjoy and good luck!
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
The Code of Ethics - Core Values
- service
- social justice
- dignity and worth of the person
- importance of human relationships
- integrity
- competence
Wednesday, November 02, 2016
The Code of Ethics - Self-Determination
1.02 Self-Determination
Social workers respect and promote the right of clients to self-determination and assist clients in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals. Social workers may limit clients’ right to self-determination when, in the social workers’ professional judgment, clients’ actions or potential actions pose a serious, foreseeable, and imminent risk to themselves or others.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Into the DSM - Schizophrenia
A. At least two of the following for a significant portion of the time during a one-month period:
1. Delusions
2. Hallucinations
3. Disorganized speech
4. Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
5. Negative symptoms (e.g., flat affect)
B. Level of functioning is markedly below level at onset of symptoms.
C. Disturbance persists at least six months.
D. Schizoaffective, depressive, and bipolar disorder ruled out.
E. Symptoms not attributable to the effects of a substance.
F. If there is a history of autism spectrum disorder or a communication disorder of childhood onset, a schizophrenia diagnosis is made only if prominent delusions or hallucinations are present for at least one month.
Specifiers include:
- First episode, currently in acute episode
- First episode, currently in partial remission
- First episode, currently in full remission
- Multiple episodes (acute, partial, or full remission)
- Continuous
- With catatonia
For further reading, including risk factors and treatment, take a look at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml
Friday, September 09, 2016
Into the DSM - Autism Spectrum Disorder
A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, for example:
- Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity (back-and-forth conversation, sharing of interests)
- Deficits in nonverbal communication (eye contact, body language)
- Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships (adjusting behavior to context, making friends)
- Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements (lining up toys, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases)
- Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior
- Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus
- Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input (indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds...)
- With or without intellectual impairment
- With or without language impairment
- Associated with a medical or genetic condition or environmental factor
- Associated with another neurodevelopmental, mental, or behavioral disorder
- With catatonia
Friday, August 05, 2016
Into the DSM - Panic Disorder
1. Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate.
2. Sweating.
3. Trembling or shaking.
4. Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering.
5. Feelings of choking.
6. Chest pain or discomfort.
7. Nausea or abdominal distress.
8. Feeling dizzy, unsteady, light-headed, or faint.
9. Chills or heat sensations.
10. Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations)
11. Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself).
12. Fear of losing control or "going crazy."
13. Fear of dying.
With that you know most of what you need to know about the diagnosis, but not all. There's a crucial addition--criterion B: At least one of the attacks has been followed by one month (or more) of one or both of the following:
1. Persistent concern or worry about additional panic attacks or their consequences.
2. A significant maladaptive change in behavior related to the attacks (e.g., avoidance)
Of course, there are the usual "not better explained by" caveats. And that's it.
Risk factors for panic disorder include:
- Family history of panic.
- Major life stress or life changes.
- Trauma.
- Excessive caffeine intake and/or smoking.
- History of childhood physical or sexual abuse.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Mental Status Exam
The general elements covered in the MSE are as follows:
- General Appearance
- Psychomotor Behavior
- Mood and affect
- Speech
- Cognition
- Thought Patterns
- Level of Consciousness
Further reading: "How to Do a Mental Status Exam," and Mental Status Examination at Wikipedia.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Into the DSM - Bipolar I Disorder
A. Distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood with increased goal-directed activity or energy, lasting at least 1 week.
B. Three or more of the following during the mood disturbance:
- Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
- Decreased need for sleep
- Increased talkativeness
- Racing thoughts or flight of ideas
- Distractibility
- Increased goal-directed activity or psychomotor agitation
- Excessive risk-taking
D. Episode is not attributable to effects of a substance or another medical condition.
Hypomanic episodes include many of the same symptoms, but are not severe enough to cause marked impairment in social or occupational functioning or to require hospitalization.
Specifiers for bipolar I disorder include:
- With anxious distress
- With mixed features
- With rapid cycling
- With melancholic features
- With atypical features
- With mood-congruent psychotic features
- With mood-incongruent psychotic features
- With catatonia
- With peripartum onset
- With seasonal pattern
- Having a first-degree relative (e.g., parent or sibling) with the disorder.
- Substance abuse
- High stress
- Major life changes (e.g., death of loved one)
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
Into the DSM-5 - Schizoaffective Disorder
There are two essential criteria:
- Major mood episode concurrent with symptoms of schizophrenia
- Delusions or hallucinations in the absence of mood symptoms at some point
- Bipolar type
- Depressive type
- With catatonia
For further study: Schizoaffective disorder at MayoClinic.com
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Theories and Methods - Attachment Theory
For futher review: Attachment theory at Wikipedia, at Simply Psychology, attachment theory books at Amazon.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Studying with Social Work Podcasts
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Developmental Theory to Know for the Social Work Exam
- Attachment theory
- Constructivism
- Ecological systems theory
- Psychosexual development
- Stages of moral development
- Stages of psychosocial development
- Theories of cognitive development
- Stages based on the model of hierarchical complexity
- Zone of proximal development
- Evolutionary developmental psychology
Friday, March 11, 2016
Study Resource: Eye on Ethics
- The Limits of Confidentiality
- Managing Boundaries and Dual Relationships
- The Complexities of Client Privacy, Confidentiality, and Privileged Communication
- Parents' Access to Minors' Counseling Records: An Example of Evolving Standards
- Boundaries Among Colleagues
- The Complexities of Informed Consent
- Terminating Services