Question time again! A social worker employed at an agency that offers short-term mental health services is treating a client with major depressive disorder who she will be working with for the next six months. Which is the MOST appropriate treatment approach?* A. Insight-oriented therapy. B. Person-centered therapy. C. Cognitive-behavioral therapy. D. Solution-focused brief therapy.
One of the most essential things for succeeding in taking the social work exam and not failing is to memorize absolutely everything. Kidding (I will have a blog post on managing test anxiety shortly)! However, this is an important question for preparing for the exam: What works better, studying the content, or taking as many… Read More Studying Content Versus Taking Practice Exams
Today is Carl Jung’s birthday, and consequently, also the second “birthday” of my LMSW license (one more year until the big “C!”). My introduction to Carl Jung was in a personal growth class we had to take in 10th grade, taught by a Marist Brother at the Catholic high school I attended. I remember being so fascinated… Read More Forever Jung
Social work confession #183736: The bulk of my case management skills come from Google. Ok, not entirely true (Hi, generalist practice professors!), but when I first started out in the field, my knowledge of community resources probably encompassed the radius of three subway stops and know where the nearest Chipotle is. To my defense, there’s… Read More Social Work in the Smartphone Era
I once had a professor in graduate school who told us that all work is clinical work. Whether we are working in case management, residential care, home-visiting, or—even without stretching things too much—macro/policy work, everything we do requires an attuned knowledge and experience of human relationships. In all social work, we are assessing a need,… Read More All Work is Clinical Work
But first, another pop quiz.* A social worker working in an agency notices that her colleague, overwhelmed by personal and professional stressors, has developed a substance abuse problem and has shown up to work with poor concentration and at other times visibly impaired. What is the social worker’s FIRST course of action? A. Report her… Read More Self-Care Saturday
Pop Quiz Time! Q. A client meeting with a social worker for the first time remarks that she felt comfortable during the intake interview because the social worker reminds her of her grandmother, who had a warm and caring disposition, and whom the client was very fond of. Which concept does this BEST illustrate? A.… Read More Just Like Steve: Transference and Countertransference
Sigmund Freud and psychoanalytic theory, both because of their distance in time and development of other psychotherapy theories, are often encased in the glass panels we hold historical old documents and artifacts. However, much of psychoanalytic theory permeates our popular culture (Case in point: how often have we fashioned ourselves as armchair shrinks with our… Read More Founding Mothers and Fathers: Psychoanalytic Theory and the Social Work Exam
Last Thursday, I went to my first-time event for a Meetup group targeted to therapists in New York City. Four social workers, two licensed mental health counselors, and a psychiatric nurse practitioner walked into a bar…complete the joke at your will. Because we are awesome and low-maintenance (and totally not the stereotype of the stuffy… Read More Beyond the Study Group: Fostering Relationships with Peer Social Workers
It’s that time of the year again, and flocks of new social workers have left the safe bosom of academia to look for jobs and jumpstart their careers. But, depending on which state you live in (I’m looking at you, LSWs in New Jersey, trying to be different and all), not before you take the grown-up… Read More Step 1: Get Your Social Work License
The Social Work Exam Tutor 