LMSW LMSW Intervention and Treatment Planning Questions and Answers 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker is treating an elderly client experiencing cognitive decline. Which intervention is MOST appropriate for maintaining the client's sense of identity and reducing behavioral disturbances?
- Reality orientation therapy to correct all confused statements
- Reminiscence therapy using life review techniques (Correct answer)
- Prescribing increased sedative medication
- Restricting social interaction to reduce overstimulation
Correct answer: Reminiscence therapy using life review techniques
Reminiscence therapy uses life review to maintain identity, promote dignity, and reduce behavioral symptoms in clients with cognitive decline.
Question 2: A social worker treating an adolescent with oppositional defiant disorder should PRIMARILY include which intervention in the treatment plan?
- Individual psychodynamic therapy only
- Parent Management Training (PMT) combined with behavioral interventions (Correct answer)
- Immediate residential placement
- Pharmacotherapy as the sole intervention
Correct answer: Parent Management Training (PMT) combined with behavioral interventions
Parent Management Training combined with behavioral interventions is the evidence-based approach for ODD, addressing both the child's behavior and parental responses.
Question 3: When implementing a token economy system for a child with ADHD, the social worker is applying which theoretical framework?
- Psychodynamic theory
- Operant conditioning principles (Correct answer)
- Attachment theory
- Gestalt theory
Correct answer: Operant conditioning principles
Token economies are based on operant conditioning, using positive reinforcement (tokens exchangeable for rewards) to increase desired behaviors.
Question 4: A social worker is developing a safety plan for a client who has expressed homicidal ideation toward a specific person. Under the Tarasoff ruling, the social worker is LEGALLY obligated to:
- Maintain confidentiality and focus only on therapeutic intervention
- Warn the identifiable potential victim and notify law enforcement (Correct answer)
- Consult a supervisor and document, but take no further action
- Hospitalize the client immediately without any other steps
Correct answer: Warn the identifiable potential victim and notify law enforcement
The Tarasoff duty to protect requires warning an identifiable potential victim and notifying law enforcement when a client poses a credible threat.
Question 5: A social worker is treating a client with panic disorder using interoceptive exposure. This technique involves:
- Exposing the client to feared external situations gradually
- Deliberately inducing feared physical sensations to reduce anxiety response (Correct answer)
- Using virtual reality to simulate panic-inducing environments
- Teaching clients to avoid physical exercise that elevates heart rate
Correct answer: Deliberately inducing feared physical sensations to reduce anxiety response
Interoceptive exposure involves deliberately inducing feared bodily sensations (e.g., hyperventilation, spinning) to extinguish fear of those sensations.
Question 6: A client presents with persistent low mood, poor concentration, and low self-esteem occurring more days than not for the past 3 years. This presentation is MOST consistent with:
- Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent
- Dysthymia (Persistent Depressive Disorder) (Correct answer)
- Bipolar II Disorder, depressive phase
- Cyclothymic Disorder
Correct answer: Dysthymia (Persistent Depressive Disorder)
Persistent Depressive Disorder (formerly dysthymia) is characterized by chronic depressed mood lasting at least 2 years in adults with associated symptoms.
Question 7: A social worker is conducting a cultural formulation interview with a Latino client experiencing somatic complaints and anxiety. The MOST culturally responsive approach would be to:
- Explain that somatic symptoms are not real and focus on psychological causes
- Explore the client's explanatory model and incorporate cultural beliefs into the treatment plan (Correct answer)
- Use only Western diagnostic categories without modification
- Refer the client to a physician since somatic complaints are not a social work concern
Correct answer: Explore the client's explanatory model and incorporate cultural beliefs into the treatment plan
Exploring the client's explanatory model and integrating cultural beliefs respects cultural context and improves engagement and treatment outcomes.
LMSW LMSW Intervention and Treatment Planning Questions and Answers 5
A social worker is treating an elderly client experiencing cognitive decline.
Which intervention is MOST appropriate for maintaining the client's sense of identity and reducing behavioral disturbances?