ASWB Masters Practice 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker is facilitating a group for adults with depression. One member begins dominating every session with lengthy monologues. The most therapeutic response is to:
- Ask the dominant member to leave the group for the remainder of the session
- Address the pattern directly with the group as a whole to explore its meaning (Correct answer)
- Speak privately with the dominant member before the next session
- Ignore the behavior and redirect to other members
Correct answer: Address the pattern directly with the group as a whole to explore its meaning
Group dynamics are best processed within the group itself; using the behavior as material for exploration benefits all members and maintains the therapeutic milieu.
Question 2: When using motivational interviewing, a social worker who reflects back the client's statement 'I know I should cut down on drinking but I enjoy it' is demonstrating:
- Confrontation of the client's denial
- Rolling with resistance (Correct answer)
- Developing discrepancy
- Affirmation
Correct answer: Rolling with resistance
Rolling with resistance means not arguing with ambivalence but reflecting it back, allowing the client to explore both sides without feeling judged.
Question 3: A social worker in a hospital setting is asked by an insurance company case manager to provide detailed diagnostic information about a client in order to authorize continued hospitalization. The social worker should:
- Decline to share any information because the request lacks legal authority
- Share only the minimum information necessary to secure authorization (Correct answer)
- Provide a full clinical summary to ensure the client receives continued care
- Ask the client to contact the insurance company directly
Correct answer: Share only the minimum information necessary to secure authorization
The minimum necessary standard under HIPAA requires disclosing only what is needed to accomplish the specific purpose, in this case securing authorization.
Question 4: A social worker is seeing a client who is undocumented and reluctant to access public services due to fear of deportation. The MOST appropriate first step is to:
- Reassure the client that social workers are required to report undocumented individuals
- Explain the limits of confidentiality and provide accurate information about the client's rights (Correct answer)
- Refer the client to an immigration attorney before addressing any other needs
- Encourage the client to apply for legal status before seeking services
Correct answer: Explain the limits of confidentiality and provide accurate information about the client's rights
Providing accurate information about confidentiality and legal rights builds trust and allows the client to make informed decisions about accessing services.
Question 5: Which of the following interventions is MOST consistent with an ecological systems perspective?
- Helping a client identify and dispute automatic negative thoughts
- Advocating for workplace policy changes to reduce client stress (Correct answer)
- Exploring the client's unresolved conflicts with parental figures
- Teaching relaxation techniques to manage anxiety symptoms
Correct answer: Advocating for workplace policy changes to reduce client stress
The ecological perspective focuses on the person-in-environment, including systemic and macro-level factors; advocacy for policy change addresses environmental stressors.
Question 6: A client diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder tells the social worker, 'You are the only one who truly understands me — my last therapist was completely useless.' The social worker recognizes this as:
- An accurate reflection of the therapeutic alliance
- Idealization, a hallmark feature of splitting (Correct answer)
- Transference based on attachment to a parental figure
- Evidence that the previous therapist was clinically incompetent
Correct answer: Idealization, a hallmark feature of splitting
Splitting involves seeing others as all-good or all-bad; idealizing the current therapist while devaluing the previous one is a classic presentation.
Question 7: During termination, a client who has made significant progress suddenly begins exhibiting symptoms that had resolved earlier in treatment. This is BEST understood as:
- A sign that treatment goals were not actually met
- Regression as a response to the anticipated loss of the therapeutic relationship (Correct answer)
- Counter-transference on the part of the social worker
- An indicator that the client has developed a new psychiatric disorder
Correct answer: Regression as a response to the anticipated loss of the therapeutic relationship
Regression during termination is common and reflects the client's anxiety about losing the support of the therapeutic relationship, not a failure of treatment.
ASWB Masters Practice 4
A social worker is facilitating a group for adults with depression.
One member begins dominating every session with lengthy monologues.
The most therapeutic response is to: