Full Course Description

ASWB Clinical Exam Prep

Take the next step toward advancing your career to the highest level of social work licensure!

Join us for a comprehensive training program that equips Master-level social workers with the knowledge, strategies, and confidence to excel at the ASWB Clinical Exam.

In just one intensive day of training, you will receive expert guidance and a carefully curated collection of strategies essential for conquering the test. Our lead instructor, a seasoned social work professional and award-winning educator, will share invaluable insights to ensure you are fully prepared on exam day.

Discover the most effective strategies for approaching exam questions, managing your time, and reducing test anxiety. We cover all the key content areas and provide you with a structured approach to mastering the material. Designed with visual learners in mind, this engaging presentation reviews essential information in a fun and memorable way.

Finally, test your knowledge with realistic sample practice questions, including a comprehensive breakdown of answer rationale.

Program Information

Outline

Preparing for the Exam

Overview of exam content and structure
Study Strategies
Managing test anxiety

Phases in the Helping Process: What to do first and next

Engagement and rapport building
Exploring and validating feelings
Gathering information, goal setting, and treatment planning
Intervention, evaluation, and termination

Human behavior theories, lifespan development, and diversity

Indicators of normal and abnormal human development, including physical, cognitive, sexual, spiritual and cultural development
Principles of attachment, the family life cycle, and parenting styles
Systems and ecological perspectives and theories
Issues of diversity and discrimination
Indicators and dynamics of abuse and neglect throughout the lifespan
Psychological defense mechanisms definitions and examples
Population specific concepts (gerontology, adoption, caregiving, addiction, LGBTQ+, etc.)

Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning

Taking a biopsychosocial history and gathering collateral information
Techniques and instruments used to assess clients/client systems
Key diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American
Psychiatric Association (DSM)
Indicators and impact of exploitation across the lifespan (e.g., financial, immigration status, sexual trafficking)
Red flags and risk factors of the client's/client system's danger to self and others, crisis and safety planning
Methods to assess motivation, resistance, and readiness to change
Common psychotropic and non-psychotropic prescriptions and over-the-counter medications and their side effects
Theories of trauma-informed care
Discharge, aftercare, and follow-up planning
Basic and applied research design and methods

Psychotherapy, clinical interventions, and case management

Building a therapeutic relationship
Principles and techniques of interviewing (e.g., supporting, clarifying, focusing, confronting, validating, feedback, reflecting, language differences, use of interpreters, redirecting)
The intervention process
Psychotherapeutic theories and techniques
Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies
Service delivery and management of cases
Consultation and interdisciplinary collaboration

Professional values and ethics

Purpose and values of the NASW Code of Ethics
Guiding principles for ethical dilemmas
Professional boundaries in the social worker-client/client system relationship (e.g., power differences, conflicts of interest, etc.)
Confidentiality
Legal/ethical issues regarding documentation
Research ethics (e.g., institutional review boards, use of human subjects, informed consent)
Professional development and use of self
Evidence-based practice Self-care

Objectives

Apply techniques for managing test anxiety, including relaxation and time-management strategies.
Sequence the steps involved in the helping process, from initial engagement to termination.
Recall key elements of human behavior and developmental theories.
Identify diagnostic criteria of commons mental disorders in the DSM-5-TR.
Differentiate between various evidence-based therapeutic modalities.
Apply guiding principles to address ethical dilemmas commonly encountered in social work practice

Target Audience

Students - Master-level social workers studying for the ASWB Clinical Exam