This week, our free MFT exam practice question is going to focus on the complex topic of working with children and adolescents. By the time you are sitting for your MFT exam, you’ve most likely had to navigate at least one complicated case involving a child or adolescent. Although there are many tricky situations that may arise when working with this population, the experience you’ve had, combined with all that you learn through the Therapist Development Center’s exam prep, will help you to successfully answer questions that test your knowledge regarding this subject.
How Will This Show Up on the MFT Exam?
There is no doubt you will encounter questions that incorporate children and adolescents during your MFT exam. And while the exact number of questions is unknown, you are guaranteed to see questions on this topic appear across all knowledge areas including:
- Legal
- Ethics
- Clinical Evaluation
- Treatment
- Treatment Planning
- Crisis management
Let’s see how you do on this week’s FREE MFT practice question regarding work with children and adolescents!
Practice Question:
A 15-year-old high school student is referred for individual therapy by his school counselor. The mother and father attend the first session with their son and consent to treatment. The parents dominate the session and express concern that their son suddenly appears to be struggling with severe anxiety. They tell the therapist that he was extremely active in sports and excelled in school, but recently his anxiety has caused him to drop off the basketball team and his grades have dropped. After four sessions, the client opens up and shares that he believes the anxiety is a result of all the pressure his parents place on him. The mother contacts the therapist and asks for a comprehensive update regarding her son’s progress. Which of the following actions should the therapist take in response to this request?
A. Inform the mother that the therapist is not able to discuss the client’s progress without his permission.
B. Provide the mother with a comprehensive update regarding the son’s progress since the parents consented to treatment.
C. Discuss the mother’s request with the client and determine what information he would like the therapist to share and request a release of information.
D. Determine what information can and cannot be shared with the parents based on the therapist’s understanding of implications to therapeutic relationship.
Share your answer and rationale in the comments section below and check back tomorrow for a discussion of the answer and rationale for this week’s MFT Exam practice test question.
To learn more about the intricacies of working with children and adolescents you need to know for your MFT licensing exam, sign up for one of TDC’s MFT exam study guides to help you prepare for your exam today! Amanda Rowan has helped thousands of Marriage and Family Therapists pass their MFT exams-are you our next success story?
Comments
Filtering and identifying the information that can be disclosed will allow for further growth between CT/parent Ct/therapists
D is general and is what you should do first. A is direct and language is not aligned with parents.
A would be my answer - because of his legal age- therapist does not have to shareinformation
"A" is the first. The student is the unit of treatment. The therapist may, at a later date, approach item "C".
D because it could be detrimental to the therapeutic relationship if therapist revealed what was discussed in session especially after 4 sessions that it took for client to open up.
C. Because it collaborates with the client to discuss the content of disclosure and ask for an ROI, which is good practice for a child 12 and above.
D - protecting the therapeutic rapport with kiddo, but keeping in mind that parents will need to join therapy eventually, rapport with parents is also important.
A is the answer, the patient is not in danger to himself or others
A, therapist should let mother know of consent rules then talk with the son, then C. So with client being 15 yoa I see some comments saying this is a legal age. I live in Ga. and I believe or thought 18-was of legal age in all states? I could be wrong. Thank You TDC!!! Oh yeah what was the correct answer to question?
I would say "C" because the client must be informed before disclosing his information to his parents.