Some people learn best via text, others via charts and images, still others like to listen their way to knowledge. Everyone can benefit from the free audio exam preparation available on the net. Podcasts are a great way to load up on information and general social work knowledge. Early episodes of the Social Work Podcast are especially useful as they cover the very theories and approaches that may show up on the ASWB exam. (Here's a helpful menu of useful Social Work Podcast episodes.) Other podcasts may make for inefficient but effective social work exam studying. An episode of inSocialWork, focused on one content area (and not designed for exam preparation) will give you the type of depth of knowledge that will make it impossible to miss a question on that topic. But will that topic actually show up on the exam? There's no saying. What you will get is a ever-increasing sense of what it means to be a social worker and how social workers think about difficult questions. That's something you can bring to just about every question on the exam! Links:
Showing posts with label Exam Prep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exam Prep. Show all posts
Monday, June 20, 2016
Monday, October 26, 2015
Free Social Work Exam Help
One of the enduring truths about the social work licensing exam is that it costs too much. It's expensive to register for the exam; preparation time is expensive (in a time equals money sense); exam materials can cost an outrageous amount. And while we're at it, why not lump in the cost of an MSW? It all adds up to more than most social workers can easily afford. That's something this blog aims to alleviate,in part. Reading through these pages costs you nothing (except time). Elsewhere on the web, there are resources aplenty that can help you gather the all the content you need to know for the exam. If you're especially resourceful, you may be able to piece together exam practice enough to help you get a sense of the exam process. Got exam content and process under your belt? You're ready to go.
Here are some favorites, new and old, obvious and less-obvious, worth checking out:
The NASW Code of Ethics. Did they hand Code of Ethics booklets out at graduation? That was free. So is this online version. A test-preparation essential.
ASWB.org - The ASWB administers the exam. The exam content outlines live on their site and are free of charge.
Study Guide for the Social Work Licensing Exam - SWTP's free offering, includes basics, study tips, and some free exam practice questions. After the Code and the Exam Content Outlines, a good place to start.
The Social Work Podcast - Great explorations of social work topics, many relevant to the exam--especially the ones about various psych theories.
Eye on Ethics - Dr. Frederic Reamer's long-running column in Social Work Today presents a wide variety of dilemmas similar--or perhaps identical--to the ones you'll face on the exam.
This is just a starter list. Also don't forget Wikipedia--good for deepening understanding about pretty much any social work topic you can think of. Other free, info-rich sites are a Google search away. If you've found ones you think are especially great, don't hesitate to share them in comments. Thanks and happy studying.
Here are some favorites, new and old, obvious and less-obvious, worth checking out:
The NASW Code of Ethics. Did they hand Code of Ethics booklets out at graduation? That was free. So is this online version. A test-preparation essential.
ASWB.org - The ASWB administers the exam. The exam content outlines live on their site and are free of charge.
Study Guide for the Social Work Licensing Exam - SWTP's free offering, includes basics, study tips, and some free exam practice questions. After the Code and the Exam Content Outlines, a good place to start.
The Social Work Podcast - Great explorations of social work topics, many relevant to the exam--especially the ones about various psych theories.
Eye on Ethics - Dr. Frederic Reamer's long-running column in Social Work Today presents a wide variety of dilemmas similar--or perhaps identical--to the ones you'll face on the exam.
This is just a starter list. Also don't forget Wikipedia--good for deepening understanding about pretty much any social work topic you can think of. Other free, info-rich sites are a Google search away. If you've found ones you think are especially great, don't hesitate to share them in comments. Thanks and happy studying.
Monday, September 22, 2014
3 Tips to Managing LCSW Exam Anxiety
Part of ramping up to any of life's big tests is experiencing some anxiety. That's true for big changes, big transitions, big gains, big loses, and especially when the big test you're facing is...a big test. The LCSW exam is as big a test as you've likely faced in recent years. Anxiety is as natural part of exam prep as there is. With that in mind, here a three tips to managing social work exam anxiety.
1. Try CBT. Study while you self-soothe. If you don't already use CBT with clients, try it out on yourself as you're exam prepping. CBT is evidence-based treatment for anxiety and therefore very likely to turn up on the social work licensing exam. It's also very likely to help you out of upward-spiraling anxiety. Under the CBT umbrella fall countless useful interventions. Start with the basics. Do a thought log regarding your feelings about the social work licensing exam. What are your fears? How realistic are they? Thought logging can help you challenge your automatic negative thoughts and replace them with a more realistic assessment of the exam-prepping process. Then go from there...
2. Increase self-care. (This is really the "B" in CBT, but let's count it as a separate item.) Studying for the exam adds one more thing to a social worker's usually wildly busy day. It doesn't have to be the thing that throws your entire life out of whack. While you may have to cut back on some self-care traditions that have been helpful in the past (e.g., hours of zoning out in front of the TV), keep track of your overall self-care and make sure it's dialed up, not down. Look at the fundamentals: exercise, sleep, nutrition. You're worth it!
3. Remember past coping. Social workers see clients who have found their coping resources outstripped by their circumstances. Still, they find ways to help. Exam prep time is ideal for turning your best social work interventions back on yourself. Be strengths-based. What's helped you in the past? Dig through your coping toolbox and put that stuff back to work for you. You know best how to manage your anxiety.
And... If you really want to take anxiety reduction seriously, write yourself an exam anxiety treatment plan complete with goals and objectives. Remember, your well-being is more important than the letters that follow your name! Good luck.
1. Try CBT. Study while you self-soothe. If you don't already use CBT with clients, try it out on yourself as you're exam prepping. CBT is evidence-based treatment for anxiety and therefore very likely to turn up on the social work licensing exam. It's also very likely to help you out of upward-spiraling anxiety. Under the CBT umbrella fall countless useful interventions. Start with the basics. Do a thought log regarding your feelings about the social work licensing exam. What are your fears? How realistic are they? Thought logging can help you challenge your automatic negative thoughts and replace them with a more realistic assessment of the exam-prepping process. Then go from there...
2. Increase self-care. (This is really the "B" in CBT, but let's count it as a separate item.) Studying for the exam adds one more thing to a social worker's usually wildly busy day. It doesn't have to be the thing that throws your entire life out of whack. While you may have to cut back on some self-care traditions that have been helpful in the past (e.g., hours of zoning out in front of the TV), keep track of your overall self-care and make sure it's dialed up, not down. Look at the fundamentals: exercise, sleep, nutrition. You're worth it!
3. Remember past coping. Social workers see clients who have found their coping resources outstripped by their circumstances. Still, they find ways to help. Exam prep time is ideal for turning your best social work interventions back on yourself. Be strengths-based. What's helped you in the past? Dig through your coping toolbox and put that stuff back to work for you. You know best how to manage your anxiety.
And... If you really want to take anxiety reduction seriously, write yourself an exam anxiety treatment plan complete with goals and objectives. Remember, your well-being is more important than the letters that follow your name! Good luck.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
The Science of Studying
One of these science of studying articles pops up pretty regularly. Here's a new one via NPR which encourages an on/off study pattern (instead of on/on/on/on): Studying? Take A Break and Embrace Your Distractions. From the article:
Distraction is one of those things everybody is worried about— certainly every parent, with the iPhones and people jumping on Facebook and so on. And of course if you're spending your entire time tooling around on Facebook, you're not studying, so that's a problem.
However, there's a whole bunch of science looking at problem-solving. In problem-solving, when you get stuck, you've run out of ideas, distraction is really your best friend. You need to stand up, let it go — walk around the block, go to the cafe, drink a beer, whatever it is— and that is really your best shot at loosening the gears a little bit and allowing yourself to take a different and more creative approach to the problem.
If answering exam vignettes isn't "problem-solving," I don't know what is. So, set down the practice tests, step away, catch a breath. Just make sure you get back to studying sooner than later. Happy studying. Good luck on the exam!
Distraction is one of those things everybody is worried about— certainly every parent, with the iPhones and people jumping on Facebook and so on. And of course if you're spending your entire time tooling around on Facebook, you're not studying, so that's a problem.
However, there's a whole bunch of science looking at problem-solving. In problem-solving, when you get stuck, you've run out of ideas, distraction is really your best friend. You need to stand up, let it go — walk around the block, go to the cafe, drink a beer, whatever it is— and that is really your best shot at loosening the gears a little bit and allowing yourself to take a different and more creative approach to the problem.
If answering exam vignettes isn't "problem-solving," I don't know what is. So, set down the practice tests, step away, catch a breath. Just make sure you get back to studying sooner than later. Happy studying. Good luck on the exam!
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