Exam Prep

This month’s ASWB LMSW and LCSW topic is one that is important well beyond the exam: Clinical Documentation. Even our code of ethics speaks to the importance of clinical documentation. “Social workers should take reasonable steps to ensure that documentation in records is accurate and reflects the services provided. Social workers should include sufficient and timely documentation in records to facilitate the delivery of services and to ensure continuity of services provided to clients in the future” (standard 3.04, NASW Code of Ethics). Regardless of the setting(s) you work in throughout your

Today’s ASWB social work blog topic is one that is important for both the exams and our clinical practice: clinical assessment. In fact, this topic is so important that TDC created a six hour clinical assessment course on life stressors and coping. While this course goes into more depth than will be needed for the LMSW or LCSW exams, it is a great resource for anyone in clinical practice. Clinical Assessment in Social Work The assessment process is key to understanding why a client is seeking treatment, what their presenting issue(s) are, and what they are hoping to gain from treatment. It

As I coach our LMSW and LCSW customers, the question of the ‘why’-the purpose of the test- sometimes comes up. Ultimately, the ASWB exists for the purpose of public safety. The ASWB exists to be a gatekeeper to the profession, ensuring licensed social workers are able to practice safely and ethically. So many questions on the exam fall under safety and ethics. (And so many of our challenging situations once we’re licensed come from ethical issues; more on our ethics CE offerings below!). ASWB Exam Prep: Ethics So what happens when a social worker acts in a manner that is unsafe or that goes

So, after a 2 month hiatus to cover recent changes to the NASW code of ethics, we are back with another ASWB practice question! This month we continue our series comparing recall vs. application vs. reasoning questions. Every two months this year, we're taking a topic that could show up on the ASWB exams and comparing two ways it could be tested. In February and March we covered Narcissistic Personality Disorder. April and May were all about Antisocial Personality Disorder. In June and July we covered the differences between Bipolar 1 and Bipolar 2. This month we are diving into a commonly

You may or may not have heard that the NASW recently published revisions to the social work code of ethics. While minor, these revisions are so important to our field (and in my opinion, were a long time coming!). These changes fall into two main categories: self-care and cultural competence. Last month’s blog discussed the updates regarding self-care, and today’s blog discusses updates regarding cultural competence. Similarly to self-care, these updates impact our practice more than they will the exam (more on that below!). These changes come at a time where racism, discrimination, and

The NASW recently published revisions to the social work code of ethics. While minor in terms of how this will impact the exam (more on that later), these revisions are crucial to our field. These changes to the code of ethics fall into two main categories: self-care and cultural competency. This week’s blog discusses the updates regarding self-care, and our upcoming blog will discuss updates regarding cultural competency. Code of Ethics and Self-Care I am SO glad to see self-care added to the code of ethics. Self-care mutually benefits both clinicians and their clients by promoting personal

This month we are continuing our series comparing recall vs. reasoning questions. Every two months, we are taking a topic that could show up on the ASWB exam and are first doing a recall (or application) question on the topic. Then the next month we come back with a reasoning question on that same topic. In February and March we covered Narcissistic Personality Disorder. In April and May we covered Antisocial Personality Disorder. Now for June and July we are delving into the differences between Bipolar 1 and Bipolar 2. This month instead of doing a straight recall question, we are going to do

We're back this month with more on Antisocial Personality Disorder. As discussed in our April blog, every other month we are covering a topic and comparing how that topic could show up on the exam in a recall vs. reasoning question. In February and March we covered Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Last month, we did a recall question on Antisocial Personality Disorder. So this month, we're taking that same topic (Antisocial Personality Disorder) and giving you a reasoning question to practice with. What do I need to know about Antisocial Personality Disorder? The biggest thing to keep in

This year, we’ve decided to try something new with our social work blogs to help highlight the different types of questions on the social work exams. When covering a new topic, we’ll take the first month to do a recall question on that topic. After that, the next month we’ll take the same topic and do a reasoning based question. While both the master’s level LMSW and clinical level LCSW ASWB exams have more reasoning than recall, you want to be prepared for both types of questions. For the months of April and May, we’ll cover the topic of Antisocial Personality Disorder. The last two months we

Today we're back with more on Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). As mentioned in last month’s blog, every other month for the next several months, we are covering a topic and comparing a recall vs. reasoning question to highlight how the same topic can be tested in different ways. Last month’s blog highlighted a recall question on NPD. This month we are taking the same topic, but giving you a reasoning question to practice with. What do I need to know about Narcissistic Personality Disorder? When thinking about how a client with NPD may present, you want to first and foremost be thinking