ASWB Masters Social Work Licensing Exam — All Questions

Which of Carl Rogers' core conditions refers to accepting the client without judgment?

• a.Accurate empathic understanding
• b.Unconditional positive regard✓
• c.Confrontation
• d.Congruence and genuineness

Rogers named congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathic understanding as core conditions; unconditional positive regard is acceptance of the client.

A housing authority denies a client's application because of a paperwork error the authority made. The social worker contacts the authority on the client's behalf to have the denial reversed. The social worker is acting MAINLY as a:

• a.Mediator
• b.Broker
• c.Advocate✓
• d.Educator

Acting on a client's behalf to challenge a decision that blocks access to a resource is advocacy; NASW's standards call on social workers to advocate for multicultural clients affected by systems, policies and programs. A broker links a client to available resources but does not contest a decision, and a mediator helps two parties settle a dispute from a neutral position.

Who must be included on a child's IEP team under IDEA?

• a.The school board president
• b.The child's pediatrician
• c.The school social worker
• d.The child's parents✓

IDEA requires that the IEP team include the parents of the child, along with teachers and an agency representative.

A patient told that his cancer is terminal insists the scans must be wrong and books a trip for next year. Which of Kübler-Ross's stages does this reflect?

• a.Bargaining
• b.Acceptance
• c.Denial✓
• d.Anger

Kübler-Ross outlined denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance; insisting the diagnosis is wrong reflects denial, and she noted people may show the stages differently.

A child in foster care has a plan to reunify with her mother while an adoptive home is also identified in case reunification fails. This is:

• a.Concurrent planning✓
• b.Emergency placement
• c.Kinship care
• d.Independent living

Concurrent planning pursues reunification while working toward an alternative permanency goal such as adoption.

A social worker organizing tenants in a large apartment complex notices that only a few long-time residents speak at meetings and set the agenda. What should the social worker do?

• a.Let the vocal residents lead, since they are committed
• b.Set the agenda herself to keep meetings fair
• c.Reach out to quieter residents so more voices shape priorities✓
• d.End the meetings until more residents volunteer

CDC's community engagement principles warn that "the most empowered members of a community will quickly move to the forefront, regardless of whether they are truly the most representative." Letting vocal residents lead is the tempting efficient option, but it can leave most tenants unheard.

Which is the FIRST step in the SAFER-R crisis model?

• a.Stabilization✓
• b.Recovery
• c.Encouragement
• d.Referral

SAFER-R consists of stabilization, acknowledgment, facilitating understanding, encouragement, recovery and referral.

Crisis intervention is BEST described as:

• a.A family therapy model
• b.Short-term help to limit harm✓
• c.Long-term insight-oriented therapy
• d.Medication management

StatPearls describes crisis intervention as a short-term technique designed to reduce potential permanent damage to a person affected by a crisis.

A trauma-informed agency lets clients choose where to sit and explains every procedure in advance. These practices reflect which SAMHSA principles?

• a.Collaboration with outside agencies
• b.Peer support and mutual self-help
• c.Cultural, historical and gender issues
• d.Transparency, voice and choice✓

SAMHSA's principles include trustworthiness and transparency, and empowerment, voice and choice; explaining procedures and offering choices apply them.

Which talk therapies does the VA National Center for PTSD say work best for PTSD?

• a.CPT, prolonged exposure and EMDR✓
• b.Group support and journaling
• c.Hypnosis, psychoanalysis and art therapy
• d.Supportive counseling and relaxation

The VA states that the talk therapies that work best are Cognitive Processing Therapy, EMDR and Prolonged Exposure.

A CBT-oriented social worker helps a client notice the thought "I always fail" and test it against evidence. The thought is an example of:

• a.A transference reaction
• b.An automatic negative thought✓
• c.A defense mechanism
• d.A core condition

StatPearls defines automatic thoughts as immediate, unpremeditated interpretations of events, which CBT helps clients recognize and question.

Which statement about harm reduction is accurate?

• a.It requires abstinence before services begin
• b.It is used only for opioid users
• c.It meets people where they are✓
• d.It replaces all treatment

SAMHSA's framework says harm reduction meets people where they are and is part of the continuum of care with prevention, treatment and recovery.

Several months into a group, members share openly, feel close and value working together toward the group's goals. Which stage is this?

• a.Norming✓
• b.Adjourning
• c.Storming
• d.Forming

In the norming stage the group has established connections and recognizes the benefit of collaborative work toward its goals.

Group members realize others share their struggles and feel less alone. Which therapeutic factor is this?

• a.Altruism
• b.Catharsis
• c.Imitative behavior
• d.Universality✓

Universality is when clients realize that other group members have similar feelings and problems.

A therapist who helps an adult separate her emotions from her parents' conflicts and make her own choices is using which model?

• a.Structural
• b.Bowenian✓
• c.Solution-focused
• d.Strategic

Bowenian therapy helps people differentiate and define themselves as individuals by curtailing residual emotional entanglements.

A court-ordered client says he doesn't need services. Which approach is MOST likely to engage him?

• a.Assigning homework immediately
• b.Referring him back to the court
• c.Warning him about the legal consequences
• d.Acknowledging the mandate and exploring his goals✓

With involuntary clients the Code requires explaining the nature of services and the right to refuse; motivational interviewing uses open questions and empathy to engage.

Which goal is written as a measurable objective?

• a."The client will be happier."
• b."The client will communicate better."
• c."The client will attend 3 interviews by May 1."✓
• d."The client will improve her self-esteem and mood."

A measurable objective is specific and time-bound, such as a number of interviews by a date; CBT is described as structured and goal-oriented.

A social worker builds a 12-item caregiver-stress scale in which several items ask about the same concept in different words. To check whether answers to those items agree with each other, she should examine the scale's:

• a.Test-retest reliability
• b.Face validity
• c.Content validity
• d.Internal consistency✓

StatPearls describes internal consistency as generating two to three questions that measure the same concept and measuring the correlation among the answers. Test-retest reliability is the tempting choice, but it compares the same people's scores at two different times, not agreement among items.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is BEST described as:

• a.A mindful meditation program✓
• b.A medication for anxiety
• c.A form of guided hypnosis for relaxation
• d.A family therapy model

NCCIH describes MBSR as a program that teaches mindful meditation and includes discussion and strategies for applying it to stressful experiences.

In CDC's program evaluation framework, the people a program serves, the staff who run it and the people who will use the findings are all called:

• a.Control groups
• b.Evaluators
• c.Interest holders✓
• d.Funders

CDC's framework defines an interest holder as any person or organization with an investment in the evaluation, including those served or affected by the program, those planning or implementing it, and those who might use the findings. Funders can be interest holders, but the term covers far more than the people who pay.

Which evaluation type seeks to establish whether a program caused the observed outcomes?

• a.Needs assessment
• b.Process evaluation
• c.Impact evaluation✓
• d.Formative evaluation

CDC describes impact evaluation as comparing outcomes with and without the program to determine whether a causal relation can be established.

In an AB single-system design, what does the B phase represent?

• a.The baseline
• b.The follow-up
• c.The withdrawal
• d.The treatment phase✓

An AB design has two phases, baseline (A) and treatment (B); the baseline serves as the control condition against which treatment is compared.

An agency is choosing between two anxiety scales. Scale X reports a reliability estimate of 0.45 and Scale Y reports 0.85. What does this suggest?

• a.Both scales are equally reliable
• b.Scale Y gives more consistent results✓
• c.Scale X measures more concepts
• d.Scale X is more valid than Scale Y

StatPearls explains that reliability estimates as close to 1 as possible, higher than 0.7, indicate high reliability, while weak correlations suggest the tool may not be reliable. Reading a lower number as greater validity is the trap: reliability is consistency, and a tool that is not reliable cannot be trusted to be valid.

Which research approach explores experiences from the individual's own perspective?

• a.Cross-sectional survey
• b.Randomized controlled trial
• c.Cohort study
• d.Phenomenology✓

StatPearls describes phenomenology as investigating experiences from the individual's perspective.

A research participant wants to stop partway through a study. What does the NASW Code require?

• a.The participant loses agency services
• b.The participant must finish the study
• c.The participant may withdraw without penalty✓
• d.The participant must give a reason

The Code says social workers should inform participants of their right to withdraw from research at any time without penalty.

Which supervision function focuses on reducing job stress and supporting the supervisee?

• a.Administrative
• b.Supportive✓
• c.Evaluative
• d.Educational

The NASW/ASWB standards say supportive supervision decreases job stress that interferes with work performance.

A supervisor can be held responsible for a supervisee's negligent acts under which doctrine?

• a.Duty to warn
• b.Informed consent
• c.Vicarious liability✓
• d.Privileged communication

Vicarious liability involves incorrect acts or omissions by the supervisee that can also be attributed to the supervisor.

A supervisee tells clients at intake that their information will be discussed in supervision. This practice is:

• a.Optional if the supervisor is licensed
• b.Required by supervision standards✓
• c.Needed only for clients under 18
• d.A breach of confidentiality

The NASW/ASWB standards state that supervisees should inform clients during the initial interview that their information is shared in a supervisory relationship.

A social worker helps one client appeal a benefits denial and then works to change the policy that caused many denials. The second activity is:

• a.Resource brokering
• b.Mediation
• c.Case advocacy
• d.Cause advocacy✓

Working to change a policy affecting many people is cause (class) advocacy, consistent with the Code's call to advocate for changes in policy and legislation.

When should discharge planning for a hospitalized patient begin?

• a.After insurance approval
• b.Early in the hospital stay, near admission✓
• c.After the patient requests it
• d.On the day of discharge

Discharge planning prepares a safe transition and continuity of services, which requires time; the Code calls for reasonable efforts to ensure continuity of services.

A family learns about schizophrenia, its treatment and warning signs of relapse in a structured class. This intervention is:

• a.Crisis intervention
• b.Case management
• c.Structural family therapy
• d.Psychoeducation✓

Psychoeducation teaches clients and families about an illness and its treatment; NIMH describes schizophrenia as a serious illness affecting thinking, feeling and behavior.

A social worker suspects that a group member's comments are triggering another member's trauma reactions. Which principle should guide the response FIRST?

• a.Collaboration
• b.Safety✓
• c.Cultural issues
• d.Peer support

Safety is the first of SAMHSA's six trauma-informed principles, and trauma-informed practice seeks to resist retraumatization.