ASWB Clinical Social Worker 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker suspects a supervisee is impaired due to substance use affecting client care. The supervisor's FIRST obligation is to:
- Report directly to the licensing board
- Ignore it unless a client complaint is filed
- Address the concern directly with the supervisee and take steps to protect clients (Correct answer)
- Terminate the supervisee immediately
Correct answer: Address the concern directly with the supervisee and take steps to protect clients
Supervisors must address impairment directly and ensure client safety before formal reporting steps.
Question 2: A client from a collectivist cultural background defers all treatment decisions to their family. A culturally competent social worker would:
- Insist the client make all decisions independently to build autonomy
- Exclude the family from all sessions to maintain confidentiality
- Explore the client's values and incorporate family involvement if the client consents (Correct answer)
- Document that the client lacks decision-making capacity
Correct answer: Explore the client's values and incorporate family involvement if the client consents
Culturally competent practice respects collectivist values and incorporates family involvement with client consent.
Question 3: What is the primary goal of motivational interviewing (MI)?
- Challenging irrational beliefs to promote cognitive change
- Eliciting and strengthening a client's own motivation for change (Correct answer)
- Teaching behavioral skills to modify maladaptive behaviors
- Uncovering unconscious conflicts driving problematic behavior
Correct answer: Eliciting and strengthening a client's own motivation for change
MI is a collaborative, person-centered approach designed to elicit intrinsic motivation and resolve ambivalence.
Question 4: Under HIPAA, a covered entity may disclose protected health information without authorization for which of the following?
- Marketing purposes if the client is notified
- Mandatory reporting of child abuse to the appropriate authority (Correct answer)
- Sharing with an employer requesting general health status
- Providing information to a family member not listed as an emergency contact
Correct answer: Mandatory reporting of child abuse to the appropriate authority
HIPAA permits disclosure without authorization for mandatory reporting required by law, including child abuse.
Question 5: A client diagnosed with PTSD avoids driving after a car accident. From a cognitive-behavioral perspective, what maintains this avoidance?
- Unresolved grief related to the accident
- Negative reinforcement—avoidance reduces anxiety and prevents fear extinction (Correct answer)
- A biochemical imbalance in the fear response system
- Unconscious guilt about surviving the accident
Correct answer: Negative reinforcement—avoidance reduces anxiety and prevents fear extinction
Avoidance is negatively reinforced when it reduces distress, thereby preventing the extinction of the fear response.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes countertransference?
- The client's emotional reaction to the therapist based on past relationships
- The therapist's emotional reactions to the client that arise from the therapist's own history (Correct answer)
- The client's resistance to therapeutic progress
- A technique used to promote insight in psychodynamic therapy
Correct answer: The therapist's emotional reactions to the client that arise from the therapist's own history
Countertransference refers to the clinician's own feelings and reactions evoked by the client, rooted in the clinician's history.
Question 7: A social worker is asked to testify as a fact witness in a client's custody case. The worker should:
- Refuse to testify under any circumstance to protect confidentiality
- Testify only about information covered by a court order or valid client release (Correct answer)
- Share all clinical observations to help the court make the best decision
- Decline and suggest the client find a different therapist
Correct answer: Testify only about information covered by a court order or valid client release
A fact witness may only disclose information authorized by a court order or client waiver, respecting confidentiality limits.
ASWB Clinical Social Worker 3
A social worker suspects a supervisee is impaired due to substance use affecting client care.
The supervisor's FIRST obligation is to: