Today we're back with more on Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). As mentioned in last month’s blog, every other month for the next several months, we are covering a topic and comparing a recall vs. reasoning question to highlight how the same topic can be tested in different ways. Last month’s blog highlighted a recall question on NPD. This month we are taking the same topic, but giving you a reasoning question to practice with. What do I need to know about Narcissistic Personality Disorder? When thinking about how a client with NPD may present, you want to first and foremost be thinking

This month’s blog will focus on the topic of case conceptualization. The ability of an MFT to conceptualize their client’s presenting issues and use that to inform their treatment plan has a direct relationship to the effectiveness of therapy. Case conceptualization is an integral part of our therapeutic work, and your understanding of it will be tested on the California MFT written clinical exam. What is case conceptualization? In short, it is the process used to understand our client’s presenting issues and offers a roadmap to guide the therapeutic process. We’ve written a more thorough

Over the next several months, we are going to be trying something new with our social work blogs to highlight the differences in the types of questions that show up on the ASWB exam. One month we are going to do a recall question of a topic. The next month, we are going to take the same topic, but do a reasoning question on that topic. Both the LMSW and LCSW exams have more reasoning than recall, however, you definitely want to be prepared for both. This month and next month, we are exploring the topic of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). What is Narcissistic Personality Disorder

In last month’s ASWB exam prep blog, we covered the topic of consultation with colleagues. We discussed when to (and when not to) choose this answer option on the exam. Sometimes the exam will present you both with the answer option to 'consult with colleagues' as well as the option to 'seek supervision' ('consult with a supervisor'). When this happens, which answer option should you choose? And in what other scenarios is seeking supervision appropriate? Consult with colleagues or seek supervision: which is best? The answer the ASWB is most often looking for when some form of consultation is

The prevalence of telehealth for mental health counseling has been on the rise in recent years. However, since COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were implemented in early 2020, telehealth services have grown exponentially. As a consequence, the number of questions I receive on this topic are higher than ever before. These questions fall into two general categories. First, test-takers seek to better understand our legal and ethical obligations related to telehealth. Second, test-takers are concerned about the COVID-related waivers and how they could appear on the California MFT licensing exams. In

On the ASWB exams (both LMSW and LCSW), there are many reasoning based scenario questions that offer the answer option ‘consult with colleagues.’ I’ve had a number of social workers email me coaching questions about this, sharing their difficulty in identifying when this is the right answer and when it’s not. Sometimes consultation will be the correct answer and other times it will not, which can make this answer option feel challenging. The good news is, there are some clear guidelines to follow for these questions. Today’s blog covers some of the scenarios when you want to choose this answer

Case management is a concept more commonly associated with social work than marriage and family therapy. In more recent times, however, there has been an increased emphasis on MFTs engaging in case management with their clients. As a result, the BBS expects you to know about this topic and you can definitely see questions related to it appear on your MFT California Clinical exam. This month’s blog will provide a brief overview of case management and test your ability to navigate a FREE practice question on the topic. Whether you have experience with case management and resource coordination or

Many of us preparing for our ASWB social work exams have never encountered a situation in which we are being subpoenaed. This also happens to be a topic that is often overlooked during our schooling. This leaves a lot of social workers feeling unprepared for questions around privilege and subpoenas on the LMSW and LCSW exams. It is almost a guarantee you’ll see this subject show up on your test, so it’s an area you want to go in feeling confident about. The good news is TDC’s LMSW and LCSW programs cover this subject thoroughly AND you have access to a coach you can email with any lingering

The field of Marriage and Family Therapy distinguishes itself from other branches of psychology and counseling by its focus on systems and the interplay of relationships between self and others. MFTs are expected to think systemically. This systemic approach holds true whether you are working with an individual client, a family, a couple, or even a group. It is for this reason that you can expect to see questions related to systems theory appear on your California MFT Clinical Exam or your AMFTRB exam. So, what do you need to know about systems theory for the California MFT Clinical Exam or

As every social worker (new or seasoned) knows, maintaining records is an important part of the job. Because of this, record keeping is a topic that is regularly tested on the ASWB masters and clinical level exams. What do you need to know about record keeping for the LMSW and LCSW Exams? Are you ready for questions on this important topic? What to know about records Maintaining accurate records is both a legal and ethical issue. Each state has different laws about how long records need to be kept. The good news is, this is a national exam, so specific state laws won't be tested. For this