MSW Clinical Intervention Strategies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client with PTSD is avoiding all reminders of their trauma. Which evidence-based intervention directly targets avoidance as a core mechanism?
- Motivational Interviewing
- Prolonged Exposure Therapy (Correct answer)
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
- Psychoeducation
Correct answer: Prolonged Exposure Therapy
Prolonged Exposure Therapy systematically reduces avoidance by having clients confront trauma-related stimuli through in vivo and imaginal exposure.
Question 2: During a session, a client discloses that their partner is monitoring all their phone calls and isolating them from family. What is the social worker's FIRST priority?
- Explore the couple's communication patterns
- Assess the client's immediate safety (Correct answer)
- Refer the couple to marital therapy
- Document the disclosure and wait for next session
Correct answer: Assess the client's immediate safety
Safety assessment is always the first priority when indicators of intimate partner violence are present.
Question 3: Which motivational interviewing technique involves reflecting back an amplified version of the client's ambivalence to elicit change talk?
- Double-sided reflection
- Amplified reflection (Correct answer)
- Simple reflection
- Reframing
Correct answer: Amplified reflection
An amplified reflection overstates the client's resistance, often prompting them to argue toward the change side of their ambivalence.
Question 4: A social worker is using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with a client who self-harms. Which DBT skill module specifically addresses tolerating crisis without making situations worse?
- Interpersonal Effectiveness
- Emotion Regulation
- Distress Tolerance (Correct answer)
- Mindfulness
Correct answer: Distress Tolerance
Distress Tolerance skills teach clients to survive crises without engaging in harmful behaviors that worsen the situation.
Question 5: In structural family therapy, the term 'enmeshment' refers to which family dynamic?
- Rigid, disengaged boundaries with little emotional connection
- Overly diffuse boundaries with loss of individual autonomy (Correct answer)
- Triangulation of a child into parental conflicts
- Scapegoating one family member for systemic problems
Correct answer: Overly diffuse boundaries with loss of individual autonomy
Enmeshment describes blurred boundaries where family members are overly involved in each other's lives, limiting individuation.
Question 6: A clinician using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) asks a client to observe their thoughts as passing events rather than facts. This technique is called:
- Cognitive restructuring
- Cognitive defusion (Correct answer)
- Behavioral activation
- Thought stopping
Correct answer: Cognitive defusion
Cognitive defusion creates psychological distance from thoughts by helping clients see thoughts as mental events rather than literal truths.
Question 7: When conducting a biopsychosocial assessment, which domain specifically examines the client's support network, cultural background, and community resources?
- Biological domain
- Psychological domain
- Social domain (Correct answer)
- Spiritual domain
Correct answer: Social domain
The social domain of a biopsychosocial assessment encompasses relationships, culture, socioeconomic status, and environmental resources.
MSW Clinical Intervention Strategies 2
A client with PTSD is avoiding all reminders of their trauma.
Which evidence-based intervention directly targets avoidance as a core mechanism?