One of the frustrations students face when taking the social work exam is questioning how well the exam measures how “good” of a social worker they are. After all, even if we aim to be evidence-based practitioners, much of the work we do can be highly subjective and relational–hardly something a multiple choice test can… Read More Major Changes Coming to the Social Work Licensing Exams
While it would take years to completely review the depth of psychoanalytic theory and its branches (Freudian/classical, Jungian, Ego Psychology, Object Relations, Self-Psychology…), the social work exam doesn’t expect you to be a fully trained analyst. Psychoanalytic theory can initially seem archaic or “out of use” to many students (A question I hear often: “What… Read More Psychoanalytic Theory and the Social Work Exam
One of the most striking ideas I encountered in all of my graduate school reading assignments was one attributed to Dan Siegel, “We feel, therefore we learn.” (Source) In other words, we must connect to something before we integrate it as part of ourselves. One of my favorite professors loved Dan Siegel and his research and… Read More Learning with Emotion and through Relationship
“You need to make mistakes in rehearsal because that’s how you find out what works and what doesn’t.” – Clarke Peters Some time ago, I had written a post about battling text anxiety. One of the hopeful takeaway points is that if you’ve graduated from your MSW program, you already know this stuff. The test,… Read More Dress Rehearsal: Taking A Full Practice Exam
So, what better day to think about social work than on Thanksgiving! It’s a day where hopefully most of us can take a day for self-care, or go out on the field and do some good work with charitable communities. However, in today’s #TBT post and look at one of the first founding organizations in… Read More Toward a Scientific Method: Social Work and the Charity Organization Societies
While social workers belong to both privileged and oppressed groups, we share common values in our roles as micro and macro advocates. For social workers fortunate enough to be documented, today’s a day to cross the micro to macro divide and learn more about the political process that affect our client’s sociopolitical contexts. For macro… Read More Social [Rock] The Vote
For social workers who work in addictions, motivational interviewing has become the treatment of choice for working with populations in recovery or living with substance use. Motivational interviewing, pioneered by psychologist William R. Millner, Ph.D., and professor Stephen R. Rollnick, Ph.D., also has common ties with Carl Rogers’ person-centered therapy and social work values. Clients… Read More A Crash Course in Motivational Interviewing
We often think of self-care as something we do outside of the workplace. Since self-care encompasses our different dimensions of needs (Check out SUNY Buffalo’s great social work resource on this): physical, psychological, emotional, relational, and spiritual/existential, it makes sense that many of the only places we can meet those needs are outside of school… Read More Top Five Ways To Add Self-Care To The Work And School Week
I recently attended a creative exhibit sponsored by a friend’s nonprofit organization when one of the guests there struck up a conversation with me. Naturally, being in New York, it’s interesting how we often jump to asking someone about what they do before even remembering their name. As social workers, because our field covers a… Read More What Do You Do? Cocktails and Social Work Roles.
From the NASW (1996) Code of Ethics: (c) Social workers should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients or former clients in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the client. In instances when dual or multiple relationships are unavoidable, social workers should take steps to protect clients and… Read More Dual Relationships
The Social Work Exam Tutor 