LMSW Exam Prep

As a clinical social worker, you are expected to have some basic knowledge of medical conditions. It is important to be aware of medical disorders that can impact or present as psychological disorders. This comes as a surprise to some of our customers preparing for their ASWB social work exams who often see this as being outside of their scope of practice. While we should never make medical diagnoses or recommendations, we do want to make sure we know when to refer clients back to a physician for further evaluation. Ruling Out Medical Conditions Why is it so important to rule out underlying

No matter what setting we are in, termination is a part of our work with clients. Whether we see a client for 1 session or for several years, the ultimate goal should be getting a client to a place where they meet their identified goals and termination occurs. Your ASWB licensure exams (whether LMSW or LCSW) are likely to have at least a couple questions surrounding termination issues. Today we’ll discuss some key points on termination, how this could show up on your social work exams, and will wrap things up with a practice question. When is a client ready to terminate? How do you know if a

If you’re preparing for your ASWB Clinical Social Work Exam, transference and countertransference are two topics you definitely want to familiarize yourself with. As a coach I get a lot of questions on the differences between these two topics. Many social workers confuse the definitions of transference and countertransference and assume both warrant the same response. As we'll discuss throughout this blog, transference and countertransference require very different actions both on the exam and in real life. What is Transference? Transference is a dynamic that occurs in therapy between the

Minor consent for treatment is a topic I get questions on multiple times per week as an LCSW coach. So what is informed consent? Informed Consent Definition Informed consent is defined as the process for getting formal permission for treatment and services before engaging in treatment with a client(s). What makes minor consent for treatment so challenging is that rules and laws surrounding informed consent for minors vary state to state and this is a national exam. While you are licensed by your individual state, the licensure exam is the same across all 50 states. Because this is a national

This may come as a surprise to some LMSW and LCSW test-takers, but you are likely to see some questions on the ASWB exam asking what action a supervisor should take with their supervisee. The ASWB puts clinical supervision questions on their exams for two reasons.: 1. To assess whether social workers understand the purpose of and activities done in supervision; and 2. Once you pass this exam, supervising other social workers may be in your future! The NASW and ASWB collaborated to create a document on the Best Practice Standards in Social Work Supervision. While this goes into far greater

The DSM-5 was published in 2013. Many social workers went to school learning the DSM-IV-TR and because of this, we still receive coaching questions about the differences between the DSM-IV-TR and the DSM-5. We know regardless of which DSM you went to school with, picking up the DSM-5 can feel daunting. The thought of learning and applying all of the DSM-5 information to LCSW exam questions can be overwhelming. But fear not: TDC's got you covered! How am I supposed to memorize the DSM-5? The good news is, you aren’t! The ASWB does not expect you to have the DSM-5 memorized. One of my favorite

Alright Social Work Exam and MFT Exam-Takers, it’s Tuesday, time for another free LCSW practice exam question to help you study. For this week's Hot Topic we’re taking a brief look at Domestic Violence. Let’s take a closer look at a possible test item.

As you prepare for your ASWB exam, know that issues surrounding aging adults are likely to show up in one form or another on your test. The ASWB is assessing not only that you know how to appropriately respond to scenario questions with aging adults, but also that you know symptoms for common diagnoses such as Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, and Alzheimer's. Additionally-and this is an important one-they want to make sure you aren’t answering based on any underlying assumptions or stereotypes you have about aging adults. Self-Determination Like our work with any client population, we want to