Mixed Deck — All LMSW Topics Flashcards

An African American client tells her social worker that she experiences microaggressions at work daily but fears being labeled 'oversensitive' if she speaks up. The social worker's most appropriate response is to:

Answer: Validate the client's experiences and explore the impact of microaggressions on her well-being

Validating clients' experiences of microaggressions is essential to building trust and practicing in a culturally affirming manner.

In evidence-based practice, after identifying the clinical question, what is the NEXT step?

Answer: Search for the best available evidence

The EBP process follows: formulate question → search evidence → critically appraise → apply → evaluate.

Which of the following is a key characteristic that distinguishes a crisis from general stress?

Answer: Crisis is characterized by a person's perception that usual coping methods are insufficient

A crisis is defined by the subjective experience that one's usual coping strategies are overwhelmed, not by the objective severity of the event alone.

A client calls a crisis hotline stating they have a loaded gun and plan to use it tonight. What is the FIRST priority for the social worker?

Answer: Assess the lethality of the plan and access to means

Lethality assessment including means, plan, and intent is the immediate priority to determine level of danger and appropriate intervention.

A social worker discovers that a colleague is romantically involved with a current client. According to the NASW Code of Ethics, what is the social worker's primary obligation?

Answer: Report the situation to a supervisor or ethics committee

The NASW Code of Ethics requires social workers to take action when they have knowledge that a colleague is engaging in unethical conduct, which includes reporting to appropriate supervisory or ethics bodies.

A social worker learns that a client is not adhering to the agreed-upon treatment plan. The BEST course of action is to:

Answer: Explore barriers to adherence collaboratively and revise the plan if needed

Non-adherence often signals that goals or interventions are not a good fit; exploring barriers collaboratively and adjusting the plan respects client autonomy and improves outcomes.

A mother visits a social worker because she is worried about her child's cognitive development. The child performs academically far worse than her peers. This youngster is recommended by a social worker for diagnostic testing. Which of the following evaluations will the child most likely receive in light of the mother's worries?

Answer: The Wechsler Intelligence Scale

A personality test for the evaluation of psychopathology is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is an effort to group people according to four theoretically separate dimensions that describe personality traits. In order to comprehend a subject's current needs, motives, emotions, and conflicts—both conscious and unconscious—thematic perception testing gives information on a client's perceptions and imagination.

A social worker is treating a client who recently lost a spouse and presents with persistent grief lasting 14 months with significant functional impairment. This is MOST consistent with:

Answer: Prolonged Grief Disorder

Prolonged Grief Disorder (added in DSM-5-TR) involves persistent, impairing grief lasting more than 12 months after the death of a loved one.

A social worker advocates for policy changes to address food deserts in low-income communities. This action best exemplifies which social work principle?

Answer: Social justice

Addressing food deserts through policy advocacy directly targets structural inequity, embodying the social work commitment to social justice.

In Roberts' Seven-Stage Crisis Intervention Model, what is the correct order of the first three stages?

Answer: Assess lethality, establish rapport, identify major problems

Roberts' model begins with assessing lethality and safety, then establishing rapport and the therapeutic relationship, followed by identifying the major problems precipitating the crisis.

A social worker who is experiencing significant personal problems that impair their professional judgment should FIRST:

Answer: Seek personal therapy and consult with a supervisor about impairment

The NASW Code requires social workers to monitor their own impairment and seek help, including consulting supervisors when personal issues affect professional functioning.

The 'dual perspective' framework in community practice helps social workers understand how clients simultaneously navigate:

Answer: Their cultural community and the dominant societal system

Norton's dual perspective recognizes that clients operate within both their immediate nurturing community and the larger, often dominant, societal system.

A meta-analysis synthesizing 15 studies on CBT for depression finds a pooled effect size of d = 0.8. This is interpreted as:

Answer: A large effect

Cohen's d of 0.8 is conventionally classified as a large effect size (small=0.2, medium=0.5, large=0.8).

A youth group is being led by a social worker. One of the group members phones the social worker because she is quite unhappy about something she said in the group being revealed to others in her school by another group member. The social worker's BEST course of action in this circumstance is to:

Answer: Suggest that the upset group member bring up her concern at the next group session

Members of groups are not required by law to protect information shared in groups. However, this disclosure might go against the guidelines the group set for itself. It is proper for the group to deliberate and choose what steps, if any, need to be taken. Such revelations can jeopardize the group's therapy objectives, but any confrontation should take place in a group setting.

When conducting a risk assessment with a client who has made a plan to overdose on medication, which action addresses means restriction?

Answer: Recommend that a trusted person secure or remove the medications from the home

Means restriction — removing or securing access to lethal means such as medications — is one of the most effective evidence-based strategies for suicide prevention.

A college student who is a new client of a social professional is receiving therapy. The social worker spent a considerable amount of time advising the client to cut back on her work so she could concentrate on school after talking with her about her current enrollment at the institution. The social worker wants the client to receive all "A" grades this semester since she makes him think of his daughter when she was at the similar stage of life and the worries he went through at that time. The social worker makes the client want to be happy because he makes her think of her father. Which of the following statements is true about the client?

Answer: Transference

In this case, the client exhibits transference. A client may unintentionally project their feelings, wants, and expectations from previous important relationships onto the therapist or another person in a therapeutic relationship. This behavior is known as transference.

A client with borderline personality disorder is frequently calling the LMSW between sessions in crisis. The MOST appropriate intervention is to:

Answer: Incorporate DBT skills training and crisis coaching as part of the treatment plan

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was specifically developed for BPD and includes skills training and structured crisis coaching protocols to manage between-session crises.

A social worker is treating a veteran with PTSD who avoids driving due to a combat-related IED incident. Which intervention directly targets avoidance behavior?

Answer: Systematic desensitization or prolonged exposure

Systematic desensitization and prolonged exposure directly address avoidance by gradually confronting feared stimuli, reducing PTSD symptoms.

Carol Gilligan critiqued Kohlberg's moral development theory primarily because:

Answer: It was based on male subjects and undervalued care-based moral reasoning

Gilligan argued that Kohlberg's framework, derived from male samples, privileged justice over the ethic of care more characteristic of female moral reasoning.

In feminist social work practice, intersectionality refers to:

Answer: The overlapping systems of oppression (e.g., race, gender, class) that shape lived experience

Intersectionality recognizes that race, gender, class, sexuality, and other identities overlap to create compounding systems of privilege and oppression.