LMSW LMSW Intervention and Treatment Planning Questions and Answers 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker is conducting a risk assessment for a client with suicidal ideation. Which factor is MOST associated with elevated suicide risk?
- Having a supportive family network
- A previous suicide attempt (Correct answer)
- Passive ideation without a plan
- Mild depressive symptoms recently diagnosed
Correct answer: A previous suicide attempt
A prior suicide attempt is the single strongest predictor of future suicide risk and must be weighted heavily in any risk assessment.
Question 2: During family therapy, the social worker observes a pattern where one child is blamed for all family problems. This is BEST described as:
- Parentification
- Triangulation
- Scapegoating (Correct answer)
- Enmeshment
Correct answer: Scapegoating
Scapegoating occurs when one family member is consistently blamed or held responsible for the family system's dysfunction.
Question 3: A social worker using Narrative Therapy would PRIMARILY help a client by:
- Exploring unconscious conflicts from childhood
- Challenging irrational beliefs and replacing them with rational ones
- Separating the client's identity from their problem through re-authoring (Correct answer)
- Analyzing behavioral reinforcement patterns
Correct answer: Separating the client's identity from their problem through re-authoring
Narrative Therapy externalizes problems and helps clients re-author their life stories, separating their identity from the problem narrative.
Question 4: 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:
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Adjustment Disorder
- Prolonged Grief Disorder (Correct answer)
- Normal bereavement
Correct 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.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes the role of homework assignments in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?
- They are optional tasks used only with motivated clients
- They reinforce skills practiced in session and promote generalization to real-world situations (Correct answer)
- They are used to test whether the client is compliant with treatment
- They replace in-session therapy for clients with busy schedules
Correct answer: They reinforce skills practiced in session and promote generalization to real-world situations
CBT homework assignments help clients practice new skills between sessions, reinforcing learning and promoting generalization to daily life.
Question 6: A social worker discovers mid-treatment that a client's presenting problem of 'depression' is significantly complicated by unresolved trauma. The BEST course of action is to:
- Continue the original depression-focused treatment plan unchanged
- Terminate services and refer the client to a trauma specialist
- Update the treatment plan to incorporate trauma-informed interventions (Correct answer)
- Ignore the trauma history and focus only on symptom relief
Correct answer: Update the treatment plan to incorporate trauma-informed interventions
Treatment plans must be living documents updated as new clinical information emerges, including when trauma is identified as a contributing factor.
Question 7: A social worker is facilitating a psychotherapy group for adults with depression. Which stage of group development is characterized by conflict, power struggles, and testing of the leader?
- Forming
- Storming (Correct answer)
- Norming
- Performing
Correct answer: Storming
The storming stage in Tuckman's model involves conflict and power struggles as group members assert themselves and test boundaries.
LMSW LMSW Intervention and Treatment Planning Questions and Answers 4
A social worker is conducting a risk assessment for a client with suicidal ideation.
Which factor is MOST associated with elevated suicide risk?