LMSW Treatment and Intervention Planning 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client discloses mid-treatment that they have been experiencing suicidal ideation with a plan. The LMSW should FIRST:
- Continue with the previously established treatment plan
- Conduct a thorough suicide risk assessment immediately (Correct answer)
- Refer to another provider without further discussion
- Document the disclosure and revisit it next session
Correct answer: Conduct a thorough suicide risk assessment immediately
Immediate, thorough suicide risk assessment is the required first response when a client discloses active suicidal ideation with a plan.
Question 2: Behavioral Activation (BA) as a treatment intervention is MOST grounded in which theoretical framework?
- Psychodynamic theory
- Humanistic theory
- Behavioral theory (Correct answer)
- Narrative therapy
Correct answer: Behavioral theory
Behavioral Activation is derived from behavioral theory, targeting depression by increasing engagement in rewarding activities.
Question 3: A client with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is beginning treatment. The gold-standard intervention the LMSW should recommend is:
- Psychodynamic therapy to explore the origins of rituals
- Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) (Correct answer)
- Supportive therapy with no exposure component
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
Correct answer: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the evidence-based gold standard for OCD treatment, supported by extensive clinical research.
Question 4: When using a task-centered approach in treatment planning, the LMSW and client focus on:
- Achieving unconscious insight into past experiences
- Completing specific, agreed-upon tasks to resolve target problems within a time limit (Correct answer)
- Exploring the client's family of origin over an open-ended period
- Pharmacological symptom management
Correct answer: Completing specific, agreed-upon tasks to resolve target problems within a time limit
Task-centered practice is structured around collaboratively identifying problems and completing specific tasks within a defined, brief time frame.
Question 5: A client who recently immigrated presents with symptoms consistent with depression. Before finalizing a treatment plan, the LMSW should:
- Apply the same treatment plan used for all depressive disorders
- Assess for acculturative stress and its role in the client's presentation (Correct answer)
- Recommend the client return to their home country
- Defer treatment until English proficiency improves
Correct answer: Assess for acculturative stress and its role in the client's presentation
Acculturative stress can significantly contribute to or mimic depressive symptoms; culturally competent assessment must account for immigration-related factors.
Question 6: In a family treatment plan, the identified patient (IP) concept is MOST important because it reminds the clinician to:
- Treat only the person who has been diagnosed
- See the individual's symptoms as a product of the family system dynamics (Correct answer)
- Exclude other family members from treatment goals
- Focus intervention solely on the parents
Correct answer: See the individual's symptoms as a product of the family system dynamics
The IP concept in family systems theory holds that one person's symptoms often reflect dysfunction in the broader family system, not just individual pathology.
Question 7: A client in the contemplation stage of change is BEST served by which intervention strategy?
- Developing a detailed action plan immediately
- Providing prescriptive directives to begin behavior change
- Exploring ambivalence and enhancing the client's motivation to change (Correct answer)
- Terminating services due to lack of readiness
Correct answer: Exploring ambivalence and enhancing the client's motivation to change
In the contemplation stage, clients are ambivalent about change, so MI techniques that explore and resolve ambivalence are most effective.
LMSW Treatment and Intervention Planning 5
A client discloses mid-treatment that they have been experiencing suicidal ideation with a plan.
The LMSW should FIRST: