Yesterday we posted the following question about suicidal clients, and today we have the answer and rationale for you!

As you all know, September is Suicide Prevention Month, and here at TDC, we are using the month as a platform to begin conversations around this often-taboo topic. If you’re studying for your licensure exam, whether a social work exam OR a MFT exam, you’ve probably found that this topic is front and center. There’s a good reason for that: at some point in our professional lives we will almost certainly work with at least one client who wants to end his or her life. Our state boards and licensing organizations want to ensure that as competent professionals we can recognize the signs and symptoms of potential suicide, assess for it accurately, and take the necessary steps to help our client’s stay safe.

Recently the TDC team had the honor of screening a new film, The S Word Documentary: Opening the Conversation About Suicide. And for our team it did just as the title indicated-it opened up a space for us to have conversations about suicide and the ways it has impacted our lives personally and professionally.

Last month we shared Yves Domond's successful journey using the Therapist Development Center to pass his master's level social work exam after failing the exam four previous times. This month we are excited to share our interview with Caroline Moreno who recently PASSED her marriage and family therapy exam to become a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist!

Last month I wrote about the role anxiety plays in preparing and sitting for your licensing exams. In particular, my goal was to assure you that anxiety is not only a normal part of the process, but can even benefit your study process. If you didn’t have an opportunity to read it, here is the link. As I discussed in the last blog, while a moderate amount of anxiety can be beneficial, too much or too little can actually be detrimental. In this month’s blog, my goal is to help you develop awareness around your anxiety and begin developing skills to temper it when it becomes too high.

Five years ago, I hadn’t yet been introduced to the concept of mindfulness and the idea of creating a daily meditation practice was far from my radar. As I entered into my first practicum experience where mindfulness was central both to the office culture and the mode of therapy used (DBT), I was unaware how foundational this would become to my own clinical and personal practices.

On Friday I drove up to Sacramento to attend the BBS board meeting. My goal was twofold: to gather information on matters of importance to MFTs and Social Workers, and to ask a few questions specific to the concerns we’ve heard regarding the MFT Clinical exam. Thankfully, both goals were achieved and I want to share with you what I learned and discuss how this information impacts you.

On Friday we posted the following question on our Tarasoff duty, and today we have the answer and rationale for you!

This week our practice question explores Tarasoff and our duty to protect. Oftentimes, people struggle with questions on this topic because the subject itself feels a bit abstract. Many clinicians have read case law and studied Tarasoff in graduate school, but have not encountered these situations in clinical practice. And while it is an intimidating prospect, the likelihood of our duties being triggered under Tarasoff is thankfully low. However, the BBS still wants to ensure you know what to do in the unlikely event you find yourself in this situation.