Social Work Test Prep Helping MSWs get through the social work licensing exam. Get closer to your LSW, LCSW, LISW, LICSW (and so on). Free practice exams, tips, tricks, success stories, and tutoring by an experienced tutor.
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Congratulations Cara!
I used Gerry Grossman and liked it a lot – had purchased the AATBS for another state and then went with GG for CA. I took the test yesterday and passed. I thought the classes were very helpful (though expensive) because it limited the info you need to know and gives you great little visual ideas on how to remember a lot of the info with timeframes, ages, etc. I was scoring between 68% and 79% on a full 200 questions practice test and in the high 80′s in individual areas after studying them. I thought the actual test was more abstract, theoretical and integrated knowlege of theory, stage of tx, and DX in one question – the practice test quetsions were a bit more straight forward. I felt I had studied a lot of info I never had to recall and really had to focus hard to make sure I read the questions correctly and then read the answer sets carefully too. It wasnt as hard a I expected in terms of content – I felt ready having used my GG materials but the test requires a lot of critical and intense thinking. I recommend the GG materials and the CD’s were good while driving around – never used the flash card,wound up making my own since I am a doer/visual learner. The exam focussed on CBT, Systems, Bowen, Structural, and a lot of psychodymanic – also know the ‘schiz’ DX’s and their diferentials. Good luck!
This applies only to the CA vignette exam. The thing about the vignette exam is that it’s complicated. Long vignettes, groups of long, similar answers. Typical result while studying: dizziness, confusion, frustration. Solution: Slow down.
You can try just winging it; not recommended. Better to be extremely deliberate with this one. First, adopt a rating system (0-2 if you’re AATBSing, checks, plus/minus, or other symbols if you’re not). Then apply–run practice questions and exams online, rate each answer in each answer set.
Then comes the part you may be tempted to skip: Look at the rationales given by the test-prep course for how they got to the right answer. How did they rate each answer part? Are your zeros (or checks or plus/minuses or whatever) the same as what they came up with? If not, why not? Checking against the test-prep course this way is laborious and not a lot of fun. But it works.
You’re not learning content for the second CA exam. You already know the content–that’s how you got through the first exam. You also know how to get yourself through a long exam–this one’s only half of the first–a mere two hours. What you’re learning this time is how to best approach this very peculiar test. It’s probably unlike any you’ve ever taken. But it’s very doable. You can pass. There are people passing every day.
So: Rate, check ratings, repeat. Result: Less dizziness, more licensure.
Good luck!
A new Social Work Podcast is up: Communities that Care, an interview with Richard Catalano, PhD.
[B]efore we get to the interview, I want you to imagine for a moment how you would work with a pregnant 16-year old sexual abuse survivor who was addicted to crack, semi-illiterate, suicidal, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and whose baby daddy was prostituting her in exchange for drugs. Ok, got your treatment plan figured out? If you’re thinking, “I know I need to address her suicidality first, but after that, I’m not really sure,” then you’d be right, and you’re probably not alone…
As part of your studying process, it can’t hurt to steep yourself in social work conversation and information. You never know what might help you with that one extra correct answer that gets you your license. Alert: The podcast starts playing as soon as you go to the page, so you may want to mute your computer before clicking through at work.
 Gerry Grossman is the founder of Gerry Grossman Seminars, one of the small handful of well-respected exam-prep companies. He talked to SWTP via email about how he came to be who he is and what the company offers.
What’s your background? What do you do now?
I am a Marriage Family Therapist and have been licensed for 25 years. My clinical training primarily focused on working with families and young children. For a number of years as an intern and then as a newly licensed therapist, I worked in a therapeutic pre-school with children who were severely emotionally disturbed or had significant behavioral issues. For the past 26 years, I’ve been conducting an enrichment group at various pre-schools in which I advanced emotional literacy by talking about various feeling states. Children draw pictures of themselves, their families and depict stories that address the feelings that we are discussing. I’m also a trained hypnotherapist and have hypnotized thousands of people, primarily as it relates to the examination process.
When I was preparing for my MFT exam, I was dissatisfied with the nature of the examination services available to me at that time and felt that I could do a better job in meeting the individual needs of students in a more related way that when was offered to me. Over the past 25 years, Gerry Grossman Seminars has trained thousands of therapists for their licensing exams and we provide licensees with live CE presentations as well as educational materials that can be purchased for independent study.
We started training LCSW candidates for their licensing exams eight years ago. Historically, LCSW examinees have not had a high passing rate on their exams. In particular, I remember going to a BBS meeting and it was stated that only 32% of LCSW written candidates had passed their exam that round. LCSW candidates were coming to us out of their frustration and because their MFT colleagues were very satisfied with the services we provide. Initially, I began to tutor LCSWs for their licensing exam. I was struck by the significant overlap between the exams as well as some of the differences. It was my firm belief that if LCSW candidates utilized the comprehensive methodology that is characteristic of our training that they would too pass their exams at the same high rates as our MFT candidates. This has proven to be the case as we have over a 90% passing rate with our LCSW candidates during the last round of the examinations June 1-November 30, 2009.
Currently, we offer a 21 hour LCSW-specific course for Standard Written Exam and a 22 hour LCSW-specific Clinical Vignette Exam. These classes are being offered in Los Angeles, Burlingame, and San Clemente.
We’ve worked very diligently in developing our LCSW specific material: We have a book on Biopsychosocial Assessment, as well as a book on Resource Coordination. Additionally we have audio presentations on both these topics. We have LCSW-specific law and ethic flash cards.
A very important component of our program is the experiential learning that occurs on our test banks. We have LCSW-specific test banks for both the Standard Written and Clinical Vignette exams. Currently we have 6 complete practice exams online for the Written test bank and 8 complete practice exams for the Clinical Vignette.
For the Standard Written Exam, treatment planning and treatment represents 51% of the exam and we are well positioned with the materials we provide. We have theory flash cards, a theoretical comparison chart, audio presentations on Object Relations, Bowen, Experiential, Structural, Cognitive Behavioral, Strategic, Gestalt, Solution Focused and Narrative.
How do you go about writing sample questions? How do you keep tabs on the real exam as it changes over time?
We base our curriculum on the LCSW Standard Written and Clinical Vignette Candidate Handbooks. In a very thorough and methodical manner, we have gone through every item that is in these documents and first created education materials that reflect each behavioral anchor and then once we have developed the materials, base questions off of them. I was heartened by one candidate who called up during his studying process and realized that the progression of our biopsychosocial book mirrored the sequence of the BBS knowledge statements. Although specific exam questions change in each six month period, the objectives of the exam and the percentage emphasis that the exam is testing for remains the same. The exam significantly changes when there is a new occupational analysis a process that occurs between every 5 and 7 years.
A last question: How do you expect the DSM-V rollout will affect the exam–will the BBS rework all its test questions immediately…will GGS?
In the past, when the DSM-III-R was changed to the DSM-IV, it took the BBS a considerable amount of time to implement new questions. So I would predict that the change won’t be immediate. Also, please keep in mind that the DSM-V is scheduled to be released in 2013, so we’ve got lots of time to do other things.
Find Gerry Grossman Seminars on the web: GerryGrossman.com.
From my inbox…to you:
SocialWorkExam.com has reduced the price of it’s Social Work Study Gude for the National Exam bout (PDF) and paperback version by $20 for this month.
Here’s what you get, section by section:
SECTION 1: TEST CONSTRUCTION
SECTION 2: SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY
SECTION 3: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
SECTION 4: THE DSM AND MENTAL HEALTH
SECTION 5: ETHICS ETHICAL CODES
SECTION 6: DIVERSITY
SECTION 7: GROUP THERAPY
SECTION 8: PROFESSIONAL TOPICS
SECTION 9: RESEARCH
SECTION 10: SUPERVISION/MANAGEMENT/HEALTHCARE
SECTION 11: SAMPLE EXAMS
SECTION 12: DEFINITIONS/TERMS
Enjoy.
You may get a “hug” question on the social work exam. Let the Code of Ethics be your guide:
1.10 Physical Contact
Social workers should not engage in physical contact with clients when there is a possibility of psychological harm to the client as a result of the contact (such as cradling or caressing clients). Social workers who engage in appropriate physical contact with clients are responsible for setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries that govern such physical contact.
Congratulations Kel, who posted this in comments:
So for those using AATBS TESTmaster and accompanying materials, I certainly struggled to make sense of what my testmaster scores meant in terms of the actual Clinical licensing test. Here’s what I have to pass on: I studied for probably about 4 full days, took 5 of the TESTmaster tests, with scores that ranged from 57%-68% (first attempt only). So needless to say, despite what others had said, I was extremely nervous about taking the actual exam. However, I am pleased to report that I did FAR better on the actual exam in terms of percentage – I passed easily with a significant margin, with a score in the 80′s on the actual exam. So for those struggling with TESTmaster, it’s great preparation, but the questions rely FAR less on actual information and facts (and randomness), and are generally easier. That said, given the trickiness of this exam, I wasn’t very confident while taking it, and was shocked with my result.
Best luck to all – and don’t be like me and stress out too much!
Have a success story? Other test-prep advice? Share it!
Sleep your way toward social work licensure. From the New York Times:
It turns out that toddlers are not the only ones who do better after an afternoon nap. New research has found that young adults who slept for 90 minutes after lunch raised their learning power, their memory apparently primed to absorb new facts.
Other studies have indicated that sleep helps consolidate memories after cramming, but the new study suggests that sleep can actually restore the ability to learn…
AATBS is running a promotion – 20% off various packages today and tomorrow (Feb 25th and 26th, 2010).
A new Social Work Podcast is up–Suicide and Black American Males: Interview with Sean Joe, Ph.D. Described:
While it is true that suicide was not a leading cause of death for African Americans 40 years ago, today it is the third leading cause of deaths among African Americans 15 – 24 years of age. So why Black American Males specifically? Well, among all racial and ethnic groups, the suicide rate is lowest among Black American females. Given that Black American males, particularly youth, are over-represented in social services, social workers need to be aware of the risk for suicide, and prepared to provide potentially life-saving services. One thing that makes social workers professionals is that we are trained to see things that others do not. Most of us have not been trained to see suicide as an important issue in the Black American community. It is my hope that after hearing today’s guest, Dr. Sean Joe from the University of Michigan, you will be more likely to see suicide among Black American males as an important clinical and programmatic issue.
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