KSA of the Day: Consultation and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

KSA of the Day: CONSULTATION AND INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION. Will you be tested on this? Yes--chances are.  The ASWB naturally wants to assess whether social workers understand the limits of what a social workers can do.  A client presents with a diagnosis that could be accounted for by a medical condition?  Refer to an MD.  A client has a problem you have no experience with?  Seek supervision.  Like that.   Some topics covered and potentially helpful links: Models of peer supervision; Consultation approaches; Elements of a case presentation; Client referral for services

KSA of the Day: Management of Cases

KSA of the Day: MANAGEMENT OF CASES.  Some topics and potentially helpful links: Case recording for practice evaluation or supervision (pdf); The concept of client advocacy (ppt);  Documentation and the management of practice records (pdf slides)

In addition to the above links, you might also review the NASW Code of Ethics (always a good idea--tends to show up a lot on the exam) and the NASW Standards of Practice.

KSA of the Day: The Intervention Process

Here's  a long one--a really long one. KSA of the Day: THE INTERVENTION PROCESS.  Some helpful links for this section:  Crisis intervention/treatment approaches; Solution-focused and brief interventions; Partializing techniques; Models of family-centered social work practice

Also, more broadly:

• Wikipedia Psychology Portal 
• AllPsych.com
• SimplyPsychology.org 

KSA of the Day: Therapeutic Relationship

Next up, the next section, which accounts for a quarter of the exam: Psychotherapy, Clinical Interventions, and Case Management.  The first KSA of the Day from this section: THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP, all about what you do when you do therapy. A couple of links: The principles of relationship building; Concepts of transference and counter-transference.

And here are 52 slides covering a lot of the topic:

ASWB Clinical Exam Content Outline

Removed at the request of the ASWB. Find the complete outline at aswb.org.

An exam prepper's guide to the Social Work Podcast

SWTP recently posted about podcasts that are helpful for social work exam prep.  The post suggests searching the Social Work Podcast archives to find episodes that cover exam material.  We did; now you don't have to.  Here's what we found (lots):

• DSM Diagnosis for Social Workers
• Bio-psychosocial-Spiritual (BPSS) Assessment and Mental Status Exam (MSE)
• Crisis Intervention and Suicide Assessment: Part 1 - History and Assessment
• Crisis Intervention and Suicide Assessment: Part 2 - Intervention and Crisis Assessment
• Freudian Psychoanalysis
• Adlerian Psychotherapy
• Existential Therapy
• Person-Centered Therapy
• Gestalt Therapy
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
• Developing Treatment Plans: The Basics
• Behavior Therapy
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Reality Therapy
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Interview with Sabrina Heller, LSW
• Supervision for Social Workers
• Psychopharmacotherapy and Social Work: Interview with Kia J. Bentley, Ph.D.
• Best Practices and Resources for Psychopharmacotherapy: Interview with Kia J. Bentley, Ph.D.
• Measurement in Clinical Practice and Research (Part I): Interview with Dr. Mary Rauktis
• Measurement in clinical practice and research (Part II): Interview with Dr. Mary Rauktis
• Schizophrenia and Social Work: Interview with Shaun Eack, Ph.D.
• Social workers and depression: Interview with Mark Meier, MSW, LICSW
• Theories for Clinical Social Work Practice: Interview with Joseph Walsh, Ph.D.
• Prochaska and DiClemente's Stages of Change Model for Social Workers
• How do you define Evidence-Based Practice?
• The Process of Evidence-Based Practice: Interview with Danielle E. Parrish, Ph.D.
• Cultural Considerations in Military Social Work: Interview with Dr. Anthony Hassan
• Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI): Interview with Jennifer Muehlenkamp, Ph.D.
• Social Work Ethics: Interview with Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD

Turned out to be a majority of episodes!  This'll keep you occupied during your commute, jog, or other listening opportunity.  Enjoy.

KSA of the Day: Treatment Planning

Clinical KSA of the Day: TREATMENT PLANNING. A painless way to master this content area--give a listen to the treatment planning episode of The Social Work Podcast.

 

KSA of the Day: Assessment and Diagnosis

KSA of the Day: ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS.  A pretty straightforward section--facts, facts, facts.  Here, some links to help you gather them:  The methods of involving a client in identifying the presenting problem; The components and function of the mental status exam; Medications; The current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association; The indicators of sexual abuse; Risk factors related to suicide

Pass the ASWB Exam on the Web

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Reposts from the site plus other helpful social work exam prep material appear regularly on the Social Work Exam Prep Google+ Community.

See you there!

KSA of the Day: Information Gathering

Now, section II: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment Planning, which makes up 26% of the ASWB Clinical Exam.  KSA of the Day: INFORMATION GATHERING.

Some help here:

• BPSS Assessment & the MSE (Social Work Podcast)
• Biopsychosocial Model (Wikipedia) 
• The Social Work Interview (Washington.edu)

KSA of the Day: Addictions

KSA of the Day:  ADDICTIONS.  How best to prepare for answering questions about addiction?  Do a little social work!  Which you've already done.  After that, studying up about Motivational Interviewing is a good idea.

If you're following along on the outline, you might be wondering, what's "Addiction Theory"?  Here's a primer in slides via SlideShare:

KSA of the Day: Effects of Diversity

Clinical KSA of the Day:  EFFECTS OF DIVERSITY.  Here's a source to get exam-ready on the topic:  The NASW's Diversity and Equality page. 

KSA of the Day: Human Behavior in the Environment

Clinical KSA of the Day:  HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN THE ENVIRONMENT.  Some links:  The Person in Environment (PIE) theory; Psychological defense mechanisms; The dynamics of sexual abuse; The effects of trauma on behavior. If you're the overstudying type, you could bury yourself in this section--and in the entire outline--for a long, long while.  (Note: Don't overstudy!)

KSA of the Day: Human Development in the Life Cycle

KSA of the day (from the clinical section of the ASWB Content Outline @ aswb.org).  Reading this can bring on a wave of anxiety.  But it seems harder than it is.  Much of what you'll be tested on takes common sense social work instinct that you've likely had in place for years.  First section: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE LIFE CYCLE.

For brushing up, here's a PowerPoint summarizing several developmental theories, courtesy of Dr. A.M. Gonzalez.

Pass the LCSW Exam

Still haven't seen a good explanation of all the different social work titles and how they came to be.  Here are some posts dedicated to those aiming to become Licensed Clinical Social Workers.  Congratulations in advance, future LCSWs!

• From Social Work Test Prep
• From The Licensed Clinical Social Work Exam Blog
• From LCSW Exam Prep
• From Social Babble

Californians, who have a particularly tough set of obstacles to get to their LCSW, read up on the process here:

• From the California BBS

Happy Social Work Month!