Social Work Exam Quiz: Name That Psychotherapy

Here's another in our series of quizzes designed to help you get prepped for the social work licensing exam. Here, we've listed several entries from Wikipedia's long list of psychotherapies and the descriptions linked there.Your job: Name that psychotherapy!

Good luck. Answers are in comments.


1.__________________ is a philosophical method of therapy that operates on the belief that inner conflict within a person is due to that individual's confrontation with the givens of existence.

2.__________________ is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of their overall situation.

3.__________________ is a structured, short-term, present-oriented psychotherapy for depression, directed toward solving current problems and modifying dysfunctional thinking and behavior.^[

4.__________________ is a goal-directed collaborative approach to psychotherapeutic change that is conducted through direct observation of clients' responses to a series of precisely constructed questions. [This therapy] focuses on addressing what clients want to achieve exploring the history and provenance of problem(s).

5.__________________ (known by several names)  provides clients with an opportunity to develop a sense of self where they can realize how their attitudes, feelings and behavior are being negatively affected. [This therapy] maintains that there are several necessary and sufficient conditions required for therapeutic change. Among these are therapist genuineness, unconditional positive regard, and empathic understanding

How'd you do? Answers in comments. Stay tuned for more exam-prep friendly quizzes. Good luck on the exam!

Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Social Work Exam

Among the big changes in DSM-5 is the arrival of a new diagnosis, autism spectrum disorder. Exam prepping? It's probably wise to get this new diagnosis a little understood. It's a bright shiny object, likely irresistible to exam writers penning the first couple of waves of DSM-5-based licensing exams.

Wikipedia summarizes:

The new diagnosis encompasses previous diagnoses of autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and PDD-NOS. Rather than categorizing these diagnoses, the DSM-5 will adopt a dimensional approach to diagnosing disorders that fall underneath the autism spectrum umbrella. It is thought that individuals with ASDs are best represented as a single diagnostic category because they demonstrate similar types of symptoms and are better differentiated by clinical specifiers (i.e., dimensions of severity) and associated features (i.e., known genetic disorders, epilepsy and intellectual disability). An additional change to the DSM includes collapsing social and communication deficits into one domain. Thus, an individual with an ASD diagnosis will be described in terms of severity of social communication symptoms, severity of fixated or restricted behaviors or interests and associated features. The restriction of onset age has also been loosened from 3 years of age to "early developmental period", with a note that symptoms may manifest later when demands exceed capabilities.

Everything else you need to know--and lots more--available at these sites (and many others);

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (NIMH)
• ASD DSM-5 Criteria (Autism Speaks)
• Autism Spectrum Disorders (PsychCentral)

Walking Through DSM-5

You can dive in and wade through the hundreds of pages of details in DSM-5 as you're preparing for the social work exam. It's probably more effective to take a quick stroll through the essentials. Just tiptoe through the diagnoses. To make that simpler, consider using the short Desk Reference version of DSM-5 for exam prepping. The big DSM-5 is just too much to digest. And the level of detail that lies within it is generally beyond what you're expected to have grasped come exam day.
To get and stay extra up on DSM-5 changes and exam-likely diagnoses, the web is there to help. We've linked to these helpful sites before:

• DSM-5 Fact Sheets (APA)
• DSM-5 Changes (Psych Central)
• DSM-5 (Wikipedia)

Prefer an easy guided tour through what you need to know? Take a look at SWTP's helpful unfolding series of posts detailing DSM-5 diagnoses and the big changes from DSM-IV-TR. What's ASD, AUD, DMDD...? Answers there.

Happy studying and good luck on the exam!

California Here I (the ASWB Exam) Come

It's happening. As of January 1st, 2016, the ASWB is the national social work exam. No more, "everywhere but California." Golden Staters aiming to get their LCSW will soon be taking the clinical exam just like social workers from Maine to Washington to Minnesota to Texas (and everywhere in between). So, welcome to the party Californians!

Californians still get to claim a little difference and specialness because in addition to the ASWB clinical exam, they have to (get to!) take a California Law & Ethics exam in order to make it to licensure. Everyone else can tune out about now, but Californians, take note: The BBS has just published details about what the Law & Ethics exam will consist of in a handy eleven-page outline.

What's on there? The same law and ethics material, more or less, that appeared on the CA Standard Written exam. Only now, you'll be facing an exam that's wall-to-wall law and ethics. That means confidentiality, consent, mandated reporting, scope of practice, record keeping...all that stuff (and lots more). Take a look at the outline, take a breath, and get studying. You'll be through it before you know it.

Good luck, Californians. And again, welcome!

DSM-5, the Slide Show

On the lookout for different ways to get all necessary social work licensing exam information into your head? Already using podcasts, practice tests, textbooks, and Pinterest charts? Here's another source of info--DSM-5 info in this case: the collection of DSM-5 slides on SlideShare. Different slide-makers have stressed different aspects of the changes between DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5. Most have covered the essentials. So, pick your patience level, and get clicking through. You never know what vital tidbit you'll pick up.

The first here zips through in 30 slides; the second ambles through in 81. But just think, speed read 81 slides and you're that much more prepared for the exam. Or, at very least, somewhat clearer about what you don't know.

Learning DSM-5

DSM-5 has arrived. Now that the change has happened on the ASWB exam, time to buckle down and learn the thing. As ever, the web is eager to help out. We've already linked to these info-filled pages:

• DSM-5 Fact Sheets (APA)
• DSM-5 Changes (Psych Central)
• DSM-5 (Wikipedia)

But maybe you don't feel like reading. Okay, here's SWTP's DSM-5 YouTube collection. Includes lots of different people going over lots of DSM-5 facts. Also take a look at this webinar series from Magellan Healthcare. It's dry as dry toast, but seems to cover everything. Also, coming up later this month--for NASW members only--here's a lunchtime webinar.

There are plenty more presentations out there, not all of them free. If you find something and like it, please share in comments. In the meantime, happy DSM-5 learning!

Farewell, DSM-IV-TR

This day in history, the last time DSM-IV-TR appears on the social work licensing exam. Will you miss it?

Mark the moment with a song, or a drink, or just ignore it. Any of those will do. Love it or hate it, if you prepared for the ASWB exam using the big, gray DSM, you're not likely to forget it. Farewell, DSM-IV-TR.