LSW EXAM REPORTED QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Which of the following is MOST associated with demonstrating a new behavior?
Select one:
A. Free association.
B. Functional analysis.
C. Behavioral rehearsal.
D. Psychodrama. - Answer-Behavioral rehearsal....Behavioral rehearsal (behavior
rehearsal) is used to help clients learn new behaviors so that they can better cope with
interpersonal situations. The technique relies on demonstrations (modeling, role-
playing) and coaching to provide clients with opportunities to practice the new behavior
in a protected environment before trying it out in the real world.
Which of the following is a major assumption of crisis theory?
Select one:
A. Overwhelming emotions are key motivators for change.
B. Individuals can learn to cope with stress.
C. Internal conflict interferes with problem-solving.
D. Insight must precede change. - Answer-Individuals can learn to cope with
stress...Crisis theory proposes that individuals in crisis will pass through a predictable
response sequence, and that this response can be interrupted or changed through
education and assistance with developing more adaptive coping behaviors. An
important goal of crisis intervention is to help clients learn more effective coping
behaviors so that they will be able to respond more adaptively to future crisis situations.
A social worker determines that a main cause of his client's ongoing struggle with
depression is unresolved grief about the death of her mother many years ago. In
treatment, the social worker focuses on helping the client go through the grieving
process and resolve interpersonal deficits so that she can overcome her loss and
restore her relationships with others. Apparently, the social worker is using:
Select one:
A. rational-emotive behavior therapy.
B. interpersonal therapy.
C. object-relations therapy.
D. reality therapy. - Answer-interpersonal therapy.....Although a client's unresolved grief
can be a focus of many forms of treatment, only one of the therapies listed explicitly
defines grief as a treatment target. Interpersonal therapy (IPT) defines four key problem
areas presented by depressed patients: grief, interpersonal disputes, difficult role
transitions, and interpersonal deficits. These areas are the primary targets of therapy.
Practitioners of IPT view depression and other symptoms as being caused and
maintained by interpersonal problems that are traceable to disturbances during early
,development, especially during the attachment stage. In providing treatment, they
combine a variety of cognitive and behavioral techniques, including encouragement of
affect, communication analysis, modeling, and role-playing.
When leading a crisis counseling group, a social worker is likely to focus on all of the
following EXCEPT:
Select one:
A. helping members express all feelings including those not associated with the crisis.
B. exploring solutions to each member's crisis.
C. helping each member understand his or her crisis situation.
D. exploring social change strategies that can reduce crisis risk in the future. - Answer-
helping members express all feelings including those not associated with the crisis...The
conduct and content of crisis counseling groups are determined by their primary
purpose, which is the resolution of members' crises by means of a group process. In
crisis groups, individual historical information and feelings not associated with the
members' crises are limited in group discussion. Instead, group sessions focus on the
crises identified by the group members. The leader uses techniques similar to those
used in individual crisis intervention, including encouraging members to express
feelings relevant to the crisis event, helping them gain an understanding of the crisis
situation, exploring resources and solutions to the problem, and exploring social change
strategies that might reduce the risk for crisis in the future
A man brings his wife to a busy community medical clinic because she is not feeling
well. The woman dies while waiting to be seen by a physician. The social worker
employed by the clinic is called in by medical staff to meet with the man. What should
the social worker do FIRST?
Select one:
A. Find a private location at the clinic where the man can express his feelings and
collect himself.
B. Offer the man a list of qualified grief counselors.
C. Advocate on behalf of the man by finding out why his wife was not seen sooner.
D. Talk to the man about grief and loss and explain the stages of grie - Answer-Find a
private location at the clinic where the man can express his feelings and collect
himself....This man is probably in crisis. Among the four interventions listed, only this
one involves an effort to immediately evaluate and begin to address the various
emotional and concrete needs the man may have at this time. Social workers in health-
care settings may provide crisis intervention services for patients and patients' families
who experiencing medical crises and/or psychosocial emergencies. This work requires
expertise in areas such as domestic abuse, homelessness, and substance abuse, as
well as skills for intervening effectively in crisis situations, such as helping family
members deal with the death of a patient..
The concept of the "privileged storyteller" is associated with which of the following?
Select one:
A. Solution-focused therapy.
B. Narrative therapy.
,C. Neurolinguistic programming.
D. Brief psychotherapy. - Answer-Narrative therapy....Narrative therapists believe that
each client's description of a problem and its effects on his or her life and relationships
is "privileged" - i.e., even though family members may have a common definition for a
problem, the details about the effects of the problem and each client's experience of the
problem are unique.
The first intervention when using solution-focused therapy with a family is usually:
Select one:
A. discussing how things would be if the problem were already resolved.
B. exploring each clients role in maintaining the problem.
C. exploring the clients reluctance to try new solutions to the problem.
D. identifying causes underlying the problem. - Answer-discussing how things would be
if the problem were already resolved.....Solution-focused therapy is a short-term
approach that seeks to shift clients from a "problem-orientation" to a "solution-
orientation." During the first meeting, the therapist begins asking "goal formulation
questions" designed to initiate goal construction. Goals are defined by the clients, stated
in concrete (behavioral) terms so that clients can see when they are accomplishing the
goals, and focus on presence rather than absence (goals are stated in positive terms).
The formulation of treatment goals is believed to produce a shift in context from
"complaint narratives" to "solution narratives." Answer "A" alludes to the "miracle
question" which is often the first intervention used by a solution-focused therapist.
Miracle questions are designed to stimulate clients' visualizing capacity to reach a goal.
An example is, "Suppose there is a miracle one night and while you're sleeping, the
problem is solved. How would you know? What would be different?" Answers "B," "C,"
and "D" each focus in some way on the cause of the problem: Solution-focused therapy
de-emphasizes the causes of problems and focuses, instead, on helping clients become
"unstuck" and focus on solutions.
A young boy expresses a metaphor during a play therapy session. How would a play
therapist respond to this?
Select one:
A. Encourage the child to express himself more directly.
B. Restate the metaphor and assess the child's reaction to this.
C. Ask the child to describe the meaning of his metaphor.
D. Stay with the metaphor. - Answer-Stay with the metaphor.....When a child in play
therapy expresses a metaphor or other symbol in his play, the therapist will usually just
stay with it, without forcing the child to explain the symbol or express himself in a more
straightforward way. In play therapy, play and play materials are used to encourage a
child's expressive behavior, and a play therapist generally avoids directing the child's
verbal expressions or play activities (unless the child engages in dangerous play
behavior).
A hospital social worker is meeting with an 82-year-old widow who has been diagnosed
with cancer. Her prognosis is poor. The client says that she wants to stop receiving
medical treatment so that she can die peacefully and with dignity, but her children
, disagree with her decision and want her to continue receiving medical treatment. What
should the social worker do?
Select one:
A. Meet with the woman and her children to help them understand each others
preferences and feelings.
B. Verify that the woman has fully considered the consequences of her decision.
C. Contact the womans physician for an opinion.
D. Convey respect for the womans right to make this choice and advise her children to
do the same. - Answer-Meet with the woman and her children to help them understand
each others preferences and feelings.....In this situation, the social worker's role is to
help the family members understand one another's feelings and preferences and then,
ideally, to help the patient's relatives accept or make decisions that reflect not their own
preferences but, rather, those of the person most affected by the decision - the patient.
In structural family therapy, what is the purpose of "unbalancing"?
Select one:
A. To provoke resistance from family members.
B. To reframe the problem.
C. To disrupt the familys homeostasis.
D. To engender insight. - Answer-To disrupt the familys homeostasis.....Structural family
therapists view family dysfunction as resulting from an inflexible family structure that
prohibits a family from adapting to situational and maturational stressors in a healthy
way and believe that improvements in the family process will lead to improvements in
individuals within the family. The primary goal of therapy, therefore, is to restructure the
family. Restructuring techniques (e.g., reframing, blocking) are used to deliberately
unbalance a family's homeostasis (upset the ways in which family members currently
relate to one another) in order to bring about a change in the family's structure. By
undermining the family's existing homeostasis, the therapist creates a crisis that spurs
the system toward the development of a better functioning organization.
A social worker is leading a therapy group made up of female patients who have been
ordered into treatment by the court. The patients all have alcohol use disorder. During a
group meeting, one of the patients asks the social worker if she's currently dating
anyone. How should the social worker respond to this?
Select one:
A. Redirect the focus by inviting the patients to talk about their relationships.
B. Recognize this as an opportunity to build trust and answer the question.
C. Decline to answer the question and reinforce the purpose of the group.
D. Answer the question to reinforce the norm of self-disclosure. - Answer-Decline to
answer the question and reinforce the purpose of the group...Involuntary members can
be forced by court order to attend group meetings, but they can't be forced to interact in
meaningful and productive ways during group sessions. Effective group work with
involuntary clients usually requires a strong group leader who is skilled at confronting
resistant and manipulative behavior. "C" would reinforce proper therapeutic boundaries
and keep the group members focused on their treatment goals
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Which of the following is MOST associated with demonstrating a new behavior?
Select one:
A. Free association.
B. Functional analysis.
C. Behavioral rehearsal.
D. Psychodrama. - Answer-Behavioral rehearsal....Behavioral rehearsal (behavior
rehearsal) is used to help clients learn new behaviors so that they can better cope with
interpersonal situations. The technique relies on demonstrations (modeling, role-
playing) and coaching to provide clients with opportunities to practice the new behavior
in a protected environment before trying it out in the real world.
Which of the following is a major assumption of crisis theory?
Select one:
A. Overwhelming emotions are key motivators for change.
B. Individuals can learn to cope with stress.
C. Internal conflict interferes with problem-solving.
D. Insight must precede change. - Answer-Individuals can learn to cope with
stress...Crisis theory proposes that individuals in crisis will pass through a predictable
response sequence, and that this response can be interrupted or changed through
education and assistance with developing more adaptive coping behaviors. An
important goal of crisis intervention is to help clients learn more effective coping
behaviors so that they will be able to respond more adaptively to future crisis situations.
A social worker determines that a main cause of his client's ongoing struggle with
depression is unresolved grief about the death of her mother many years ago. In
treatment, the social worker focuses on helping the client go through the grieving
process and resolve interpersonal deficits so that she can overcome her loss and
restore her relationships with others. Apparently, the social worker is using:
Select one:
A. rational-emotive behavior therapy.
B. interpersonal therapy.
C. object-relations therapy.
D. reality therapy. - Answer-interpersonal therapy.....Although a client's unresolved grief
can be a focus of many forms of treatment, only one of the therapies listed explicitly
defines grief as a treatment target. Interpersonal therapy (IPT) defines four key problem
areas presented by depressed patients: grief, interpersonal disputes, difficult role
transitions, and interpersonal deficits. These areas are the primary targets of therapy.
Practitioners of IPT view depression and other symptoms as being caused and
maintained by interpersonal problems that are traceable to disturbances during early
,development, especially during the attachment stage. In providing treatment, they
combine a variety of cognitive and behavioral techniques, including encouragement of
affect, communication analysis, modeling, and role-playing.
When leading a crisis counseling group, a social worker is likely to focus on all of the
following EXCEPT:
Select one:
A. helping members express all feelings including those not associated with the crisis.
B. exploring solutions to each member's crisis.
C. helping each member understand his or her crisis situation.
D. exploring social change strategies that can reduce crisis risk in the future. - Answer-
helping members express all feelings including those not associated with the crisis...The
conduct and content of crisis counseling groups are determined by their primary
purpose, which is the resolution of members' crises by means of a group process. In
crisis groups, individual historical information and feelings not associated with the
members' crises are limited in group discussion. Instead, group sessions focus on the
crises identified by the group members. The leader uses techniques similar to those
used in individual crisis intervention, including encouraging members to express
feelings relevant to the crisis event, helping them gain an understanding of the crisis
situation, exploring resources and solutions to the problem, and exploring social change
strategies that might reduce the risk for crisis in the future
A man brings his wife to a busy community medical clinic because she is not feeling
well. The woman dies while waiting to be seen by a physician. The social worker
employed by the clinic is called in by medical staff to meet with the man. What should
the social worker do FIRST?
Select one:
A. Find a private location at the clinic where the man can express his feelings and
collect himself.
B. Offer the man a list of qualified grief counselors.
C. Advocate on behalf of the man by finding out why his wife was not seen sooner.
D. Talk to the man about grief and loss and explain the stages of grie - Answer-Find a
private location at the clinic where the man can express his feelings and collect
himself....This man is probably in crisis. Among the four interventions listed, only this
one involves an effort to immediately evaluate and begin to address the various
emotional and concrete needs the man may have at this time. Social workers in health-
care settings may provide crisis intervention services for patients and patients' families
who experiencing medical crises and/or psychosocial emergencies. This work requires
expertise in areas such as domestic abuse, homelessness, and substance abuse, as
well as skills for intervening effectively in crisis situations, such as helping family
members deal with the death of a patient..
The concept of the "privileged storyteller" is associated with which of the following?
Select one:
A. Solution-focused therapy.
B. Narrative therapy.
,C. Neurolinguistic programming.
D. Brief psychotherapy. - Answer-Narrative therapy....Narrative therapists believe that
each client's description of a problem and its effects on his or her life and relationships
is "privileged" - i.e., even though family members may have a common definition for a
problem, the details about the effects of the problem and each client's experience of the
problem are unique.
The first intervention when using solution-focused therapy with a family is usually:
Select one:
A. discussing how things would be if the problem were already resolved.
B. exploring each clients role in maintaining the problem.
C. exploring the clients reluctance to try new solutions to the problem.
D. identifying causes underlying the problem. - Answer-discussing how things would be
if the problem were already resolved.....Solution-focused therapy is a short-term
approach that seeks to shift clients from a "problem-orientation" to a "solution-
orientation." During the first meeting, the therapist begins asking "goal formulation
questions" designed to initiate goal construction. Goals are defined by the clients, stated
in concrete (behavioral) terms so that clients can see when they are accomplishing the
goals, and focus on presence rather than absence (goals are stated in positive terms).
The formulation of treatment goals is believed to produce a shift in context from
"complaint narratives" to "solution narratives." Answer "A" alludes to the "miracle
question" which is often the first intervention used by a solution-focused therapist.
Miracle questions are designed to stimulate clients' visualizing capacity to reach a goal.
An example is, "Suppose there is a miracle one night and while you're sleeping, the
problem is solved. How would you know? What would be different?" Answers "B," "C,"
and "D" each focus in some way on the cause of the problem: Solution-focused therapy
de-emphasizes the causes of problems and focuses, instead, on helping clients become
"unstuck" and focus on solutions.
A young boy expresses a metaphor during a play therapy session. How would a play
therapist respond to this?
Select one:
A. Encourage the child to express himself more directly.
B. Restate the metaphor and assess the child's reaction to this.
C. Ask the child to describe the meaning of his metaphor.
D. Stay with the metaphor. - Answer-Stay with the metaphor.....When a child in play
therapy expresses a metaphor or other symbol in his play, the therapist will usually just
stay with it, without forcing the child to explain the symbol or express himself in a more
straightforward way. In play therapy, play and play materials are used to encourage a
child's expressive behavior, and a play therapist generally avoids directing the child's
verbal expressions or play activities (unless the child engages in dangerous play
behavior).
A hospital social worker is meeting with an 82-year-old widow who has been diagnosed
with cancer. Her prognosis is poor. The client says that she wants to stop receiving
medical treatment so that she can die peacefully and with dignity, but her children
, disagree with her decision and want her to continue receiving medical treatment. What
should the social worker do?
Select one:
A. Meet with the woman and her children to help them understand each others
preferences and feelings.
B. Verify that the woman has fully considered the consequences of her decision.
C. Contact the womans physician for an opinion.
D. Convey respect for the womans right to make this choice and advise her children to
do the same. - Answer-Meet with the woman and her children to help them understand
each others preferences and feelings.....In this situation, the social worker's role is to
help the family members understand one another's feelings and preferences and then,
ideally, to help the patient's relatives accept or make decisions that reflect not their own
preferences but, rather, those of the person most affected by the decision - the patient.
In structural family therapy, what is the purpose of "unbalancing"?
Select one:
A. To provoke resistance from family members.
B. To reframe the problem.
C. To disrupt the familys homeostasis.
D. To engender insight. - Answer-To disrupt the familys homeostasis.....Structural family
therapists view family dysfunction as resulting from an inflexible family structure that
prohibits a family from adapting to situational and maturational stressors in a healthy
way and believe that improvements in the family process will lead to improvements in
individuals within the family. The primary goal of therapy, therefore, is to restructure the
family. Restructuring techniques (e.g., reframing, blocking) are used to deliberately
unbalance a family's homeostasis (upset the ways in which family members currently
relate to one another) in order to bring about a change in the family's structure. By
undermining the family's existing homeostasis, the therapist creates a crisis that spurs
the system toward the development of a better functioning organization.
A social worker is leading a therapy group made up of female patients who have been
ordered into treatment by the court. The patients all have alcohol use disorder. During a
group meeting, one of the patients asks the social worker if she's currently dating
anyone. How should the social worker respond to this?
Select one:
A. Redirect the focus by inviting the patients to talk about their relationships.
B. Recognize this as an opportunity to build trust and answer the question.
C. Decline to answer the question and reinforce the purpose of the group.
D. Answer the question to reinforce the norm of self-disclosure. - Answer-Decline to
answer the question and reinforce the purpose of the group...Involuntary members can
be forced by court order to attend group meetings, but they can't be forced to interact in
meaningful and productive ways during group sessions. Effective group work with
involuntary clients usually requires a strong group leader who is skilled at confronting
resistant and manipulative behavior. "C" would reinforce proper therapeutic boundaries
and keep the group members focused on their treatment goals
