ASWB Clinical Trivia 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client diagnosed with borderline personality disorder frequently calls the therapist between sessions in crisis. The BEST clinical response is to:
- Provide a cell phone number for 24/7 access
- Set clear boundaries around between-session contact while developing a crisis plan (Correct answer)
- Refer the client to a higher level of care immediately
- Ignore calls to extinguish attention-seeking behavior
Correct answer: Set clear boundaries around between-session contact while developing a crisis plan
Maintaining consistent, clear limits while collaboratively building a crisis plan addresses BPD crisis behavior without reinforcing maladaptive patterns.
Question 2: Which defense mechanism involves attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to another person?
- Displacement
- Projection (Correct answer)
- Rationalization
- Reaction formation
Correct answer: Projection
Projection is the unconscious attribution of one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or impulses onto another person.
Question 3: A social worker discovers that a colleague is billing Medicaid for services not rendered. The FIRST action should be:
- Confront the colleague privately and give them a chance to self-report
- Report immediately to law enforcement
- Document observations and report to the appropriate supervisor or ethics board (Correct answer)
- Ignore the situation to avoid workplace conflict
Correct answer: Document observations and report to the appropriate supervisor or ethics board
Fraud must be reported through appropriate channels; documenting and reporting to a supervisor or licensing board is the ethical first step.
Question 4: In motivational interviewing, 'rolling with resistance' means the clinician should:
- Challenge the client's ambivalence directly
- Avoid arguing and reflect the client's perspective without confrontation (Correct answer)
- Agree with all client statements to build rapport
- Redirect the conversation to a different topic
Correct answer: Avoid arguing and reflect the client's perspective without confrontation
Rolling with resistance involves accepting and reflecting the client's perspective rather than arguing, which reduces defensiveness.
Question 5: Which axis of the former DSM-IV multiaxial system captured psychosocial and environmental stressors?
- Axis I
- Axis II
- Axis IV (Correct answer)
- Axis V
Correct answer: Axis IV
Axis IV documented psychosocial and environmental problems that may affect diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis.
Question 6: A client reports hearing voices telling him he is worthless. This symptom is BEST classified as:
- A visual hallucination
- An auditory hallucination (Correct answer)
- A delusion of grandeur
- Disorganized thinking
Correct answer: An auditory hallucination
Hearing voices that are not externally present is an auditory hallucination, a common positive symptom of psychotic disorders.
Question 7: The therapeutic concept of 'unconditional positive regard' was introduced by:
- Sigmund Freud
- Albert Ellis
- Carl Rogers (Correct answer)
- Aaron Beck
Correct answer: Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers introduced unconditional positive regard as a core condition for therapeutic change in person-centered therapy.
ASWB Clinical Trivia 2
A client diagnosed with borderline personality disorder frequently calls the therapist between sessions in crisis.
The BEST clinical response is to: