LMSW LMSW Treatment and Intervention Planning Questions and Answers 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client with borderline personality disorder repeatedly calls the social worker between sessions during moments of distress. Which intervention best balances safety and limit-setting?
- Ignore all between-session calls to enforce boundaries
- Establish a structured crisis plan with designated contact times and emergency resources (Correct answer)
- Encourage the client to call as often as needed to build trust
- Refer immediately to a higher level of care without discussion
Correct answer: Establish a structured crisis plan with designated contact times and emergency resources
A structured crisis plan specifies when and how to reach the worker while also providing emergency resources, balancing safety with therapeutic boundaries.
Question 2: When using Motivational Interviewing, a social worker reflects a client's statement that she wants to quit drinking but enjoys socializing at bars. This reflection of both sides is called:
- Simple reflection
- Double-sided reflection (Correct answer)
- Amplified reflection
- Reframing
Correct answer: Double-sided reflection
A double-sided reflection acknowledges both the client's desire to change and their ambivalence, evoking their own motivation.
Question 3: A social worker is developing a safety plan for a client with passive suicidal ideation. Which element is MOST critical to include?
- A list of the client's stressors
- Means restriction strategies (Correct answer)
- The client's employment history
- Weekly therapy homework assignments
Correct answer: Means restriction strategies
Means restriction — removing or securing lethal means such as firearms or medications — is evidence-based and significantly reduces suicide risk.
Question 4: An adolescent client discloses that her parents are pressuring her to end therapy. The BEST first step is to:
- Discharge the client to honor parental authority
- Contact the parents without the client's knowledge
- Explore the parents' concerns and consider a family session (Correct answer)
- File a complaint against the parents
Correct answer: Explore the parents' concerns and consider a family session
Exploring the parents' concerns and offering a family session can address their reservations while keeping the adolescent engaged in treatment.
Question 5: Which treatment modality is MOST evidence-based for clients diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?
- Psychodynamic therapy
- Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) (Correct answer)
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Correct answer: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Exposure and Response Prevention is the gold-standard, empirically supported treatment for OCD, reducing compulsions by breaking the anxiety-compulsion cycle.
Question 6: A social worker notices a client's treatment goals have not been reviewed in eight months despite minimal progress. The MOST appropriate action is to:
- Continue with the existing plan since the client has not complained
- Conduct a formal treatment plan review and update goals collaboratively with the client (Correct answer)
- Discharge the client for lack of progress
- Consult with a supervisor and then discharge without client input
Correct answer: Conduct a formal treatment plan review and update goals collaboratively with the client
Regular, collaborative treatment plan reviews ensure goals remain relevant, measurable, and aligned with the client's current needs.
Question 7: A trauma-informed approach to treatment planning prioritizes which of the following?
- Rapid exposure to traumatic memories in early sessions
- Building safety and stabilization before processing trauma (Correct answer)
- Focusing exclusively on cognitive distortions
- Minimizing discussion of trauma to prevent re-traumatization
Correct answer: Building safety and stabilization before processing trauma
Trauma-informed care follows a phase-based model in which establishing safety and stabilization precedes trauma processing.
LMSW LMSW Treatment and Intervention Planning Questions and Answers 3
A client with borderline personality disorder repeatedly calls the social worker between sessions during moments of distress.
Which intervention best balances safety and limit-setting?