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Exam DSM: Personality Disorders

4:18 AM 0
The DSM is huge. There's way too much information in there for you to have completely memorized, or to come even close. Wiser thing to do as you're approaching the social work licensing exam, try imagining what you'd do if you were writing the exam.

What diagnoses are crucial to know about for carrying out day-to-day social work? Is it really important that every social worker have a handle on every obscure diagnosis? Not really. If something unfamiliar presents itself, they can look it up. Better that they are familiar with the diagnoses that most commonly turn up in social work settings. You know the ones: mood disorders, substance abuse disorders, psychotic disorders, disorders particular to specific groups (e.g., children and the elderly). And, of course, the focus of the links below, personality disorders. You know these when you see them; here are some places to brush up on the details:
Enjoy and good luck on the exam!

Social Work Exam Resource: Best in Mental Health

4:47 AM 0
Trying to catch up with the social work past as your prepping for the social work licensing exam may feel daunting. One way to take a break while still (sort of ) preparing for the test is to try to catch up with the social work present. What're people up to in the field right now?

There are journals and websites aplenty out there aiming to answer that question. Happily, Dorlee M., LMSW, is out there compiling a weekly best-of, summarizing contents, and generally making it easier for you to stay fresh on the latest social work happenings. She titles her posts "Best in Mental Health." They even have their own catch phrase: "I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to..."

You never know what might help you speed through a question on the ASWB exam. Every little bit of acceleration helps!  Enjoy.

Happy New Year

4:08 AM 0
Happy New Year from Pass the ASWB Exam! If you're the resolution-making type, hope you'll include setting aside some study time to get prepped for the big, four-hour licensing sit-down. The exam doesn't have to eat up your life, but it'll try to take a bite. Then, soon enough, it'll be over. This time next year, you're licensed!

Below are the site's most visited posts since launching in the spring. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by. Congratulations to all the now-licensed social workers who've gotten help here and to all of those facing down the social work exam in 2014!

 
 
 
 

Happy Holidays from Pass the ASWB Exam

12:22 AM 0
Happy Holidays from Pass the ASWB Exam! Here's a holiday-themed Eye on Ethics column about how to handle gifts from clients. It begins:
Raise your hand if a client has offered you a gift. That social work club has lots of members, especially this time of year. Did you accept the gift or politely refuse it because you thought accepting the gift might complicate the boundaries in your professional-client relationship?
However you handle clients gifts (in reality or on the exam), here's to a happy season. Take care. Next year, you're licensed!

Virtual Study Group

12:56 AM 0
Check out PTAE's new Pinterest group board: ASWB Exam Prep. Write to join in, then post whatever you think will help people see a PASS result on the social work licensing exam. Certain material lends itself to visual learning--especially anything you can throw into a chart. That means the various developmental theories (Freud, Erikson, Piaget, etc.)...the clusters of personality disorders in the DSM...all that jazz. Also, as ever, links to helpful sites (this one, for instance).

Come for the infographics, stay for the exam passing! See you there.

Social Work Exam Practice Gets Less Expensive

4:31 AM 0
The spending that it takes to get to becoming a licensed social worker can be daunting, if not downright overwhelming at times. School + fees + more fees + not getting paid much = grief. Happily, exam prep itself just got cheaper. SWTP has introduced their third ASWB practice exam, and along with it, a three-exam bundle that brings SWTP's usual per-exam price down from an already-low $35 all the way to $30. Hard to beat!

You can also put SWTP test prep on your holiday list by sharing this PayPal Gift Certificate URL with caring, cheerleading loved ones.

Happy Holidays and good luck with the exam!

Mindfulness and the Social Work Exam

8:15 AM 0
Mindfulness meditation may be something you're already recommending to your clients for all kinds of symptom relief. But are you practicing mindfulness yourself? There's good reason to--not just to relieve test anxiety and the general sense of overwhelm that can hit when you're prepping for the licensing exam. See Mindfulness Can Aid in Focus and Working Memory. Mindfulness ed and practice were studied. The result:
[S]cores indicated that the mindfulness group significantly improved on both the verbal GRE test and the working memory capacity test. They also mind-wandered less during testing.
What works for the GRE should work for the ASWB exams (LCSW, LMSW, etc), right? Big, vexing, standardized tests take lots of focus, verbal skills, and working memory. So, good reason to get to it. And so what if it helps you be more calm, centered, and all that other good stuff?

Here are some free mindfulness resources on the web to get you started:
Breathe, half-smile, and get licensed!  Good luck.
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