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LCSW Exam: Therapist Development Center
Exam Questions With Correct Answers.
A group for women experiencing depression has been meeting for 3 weeks. Several group
members approach the group leader expressing concern that another group member regularly
interrupts and dominates the conversation. What stage of group formation is the group most
likely in?
A. Forming
B. Storming
C. Norming
D. Performing - Answer✔The correct answer is B: Storming. During this stage it is common for
subgroups to emerge, like the one approaching the leader.
A social worker has been meeting with a client for two years who is about to graduate from
college and move back to her home state. The client wishes to continue therapy with the social
worker via teletherapy. The social worker is only licensed in the state the social worker resides.
What is the FIRST thing the social worker should do?
A. Decline to provide teletherapy because it is illegal to do so across state lines.
B. Determine whether the social worker's state board allows teletherapy acros - Answer✔The
correct answer is B: to determine whether the social worker's state board allows teletherapy
across state lines. If they do, then we could do C after this (if the social worker's state board does
not allow this, then there would be no need to do C, which is why we would do B first). A is
incorrect because that is not a true statement as some states do allow this. D is similarly incorrect
because it does not acknowledge the fact that some states do not allow teletherapy across state
lines. (Even if there is a longstanding relationship).
A social worker meets with a 22-year-old woman who reports she is experiencing increased
feelings of anxiety, agitation, and irritability. What should the social worker do NEXT?A.
Consider a diagnosis of hyperthyroidism
B. Refer the client for a psychiatric evaluation
C. Complete a biopsychosocial assessment
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D. Refer the client for a medical evaluation - Answer✔The correct answer is D, to refer the client
for a medical evaluation. The client reports increased feelings of anxiety, agitation, and
irritability. Before doing anything else, we want to discuss the need for a medical evaluation to
rule out a possibly underlying medical reason for her condition. While we aren't expected to
know any and every medical condition, we are expected to know that a medical referral for new
symptoms is best practice. A is outside of our scope of practice; it wouldn't be our job to
consider this specific medical diagnosis, but to refer her to someone who can rule out this and
any other underlying biological cause for her symptoms. B is incorrect, because while at some
point we may make a referral to a psychiatrist for medication, it is not what we would do FIRST.
C could occur after we do D.
All of the following statements describe defense mechanisms EXCEPT:
A. Conscious behavior used by the client to protect the client from the influence of the therapist.
B. Justifying actions or thoughts to make them seem acceptable when unconsciously they are
not.
C. Rejecting or attributing unacceptable aspects of one's personality to another individual.
D. The process of protecting oneself from anxiety, feelings of guilt, or undesirable thoughts. -
Answer✔The best answer here would be A. If we look at the definition provided above we
notice that B, C, and D all incorporate various aspects of defense mechanisms. On the other
hand, A is discussing conscious behaviors or thoughts, whereas defense mechanisms are on a
more unconscious level. That is why as clinicians we need to help client's identify the various
defense mechanisms they may use and bring them to a conscious level.
A social worker has been meeting with a 28-year-old woman for the past six months to work on
issues of depression and suicidal ideation. The social worker observes that on days that she meets
with this client, later in the day she spends a lot of time thinking about death and her mood is
lower. What should the social worker do FIRST?
A. Use her emotional reaction to explore how the client's suicidal ideation may be impacting
those around her.
B. Seek supervision.
C. Begin meeting with an individ - Answer✔The correct answer is B, to seek supervision. A is
inappropriate because we should not be using countertransference (which is about our emotional
reactions as the therapist) in therapy. Although it is possible that the therapist may begin their
own therapy (C) at some point, this isn't the FIRST thing we would do. Individual therapy is
something that could be discussed in supervision as one way to manage the therapist's
countertransference. D is premature, as the therapist and client have been meeting for 6 months
and have an established relationship. At this point, there is no need to refer out.
A social worker has been meeting with a 28-year-old woman for the past six months to work on
issues of depression and suicidal ideation. The social worker observes that on days that she meets
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with this client, later in the day she spends a lot of time thinking about death and experiences a
lower mood. What is this an example of?
A. Poor Boundaries.
B. Transference.
C. Countertransference.
D. Trauma Response. - Answer✔The correct answer is C, countertransference. The therapist is
having an emotional reaction to what the client is sharing.
A social worker meets with a 14-year-old client who shares with the social worker that she is
pregnant. She does not want her parents to know she is pregnant. The social worker practices in a
jurisdiction where social workers are required to share this information with the parents of a
minor child. What should the social worker do FIRST:
A. Maintain confidentiality per the client's request
B. Maintain confidentiality due to safety issues that may arise if the parents are informed of her
pregnanc - Answer✔The correct answer is C. While we may want to honor our client's self-
determination and her wishes to have confidentiality maintained (A), the question stem specifies
that the social worker practices in a jurisdiction where we must inform the client's parents of her
pregnancy. Despite our own beliefs about this, we are required to follow the law. (B) is incorrect
because nothing in the question stem states that a safety issue is present regarding telling the
parents. While her parents will need to be informed of her pregnancy (D), telling the client about
this (C) should come first. Additionally, we should explore with the client how she wants her
parents to be informed; she may want to be a part of this rather than the social worker disclosing
this on her behalf.
A 32 year-old man seeks treatment from a social worker for ongoing problems with both his
personal and professional functioning. He reports that even though he has been moderately
successful in his career, he continues to feel uncertain about his abilities, feeling as if at any
moment he will be exposed as a fraud. When the social worker inquires about his personal
relationships, he looks down and says that he doesn't really let anyone get close to him.
According to Erikson, this client likely e - Answer✔C, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. The
prevailing characteristic that comes through about the client is his lack of self-assurance. We see
him doubting himself professionally and perhaps also personally. This may explain his tendency
to keep others at arm's length (protecting himself from failure). If the 'building blocks' strategy
doesn't work for you, keeping playing with it and find something that does - it's not important
why it works, only that it helps you remember and apply the information when you need to!
A social work supervisor meets with one of her supervisees for supervision. During this meeting,
the supervisee shares they have become sexually involved with a client. They share they want to
refer the client to another social worker in order to pursue a relationship with them. What is the
FIRST action the supervisor should take?
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A. Immediately report the social worker to the board
B. Assist the supervisee in transferring the client to a different social worker
C. Discuss the ethical violations - Answer✔The correct answer is C, to discuss the ethical
violations that are occurring with the supervisee. While A, B, and D are all possible actions that
the supervisor could take at some point, we should always start by speaking with the social
worker first. The social worker is engaging in unethical behavior, so the supervisor needs to
address the ethical violations the social worker is engaging in. The supervisor may report the
supervisee to their board (A), but it wouldn't occur before talking directly to the supervisee. The
supervisee should absolutely end their relationship with the client. Even once that occurs, the
client should be transferred to a different social worker (B). But again, this wouldn't happen until
first speaking with the supervisee about the ethical violations. If the supervisee isn't willing to
engage in ethical practice, they may decide they're unable to continue providing supervision (D).
This still wouldn't occur until after first speaking with the supervisee.
A woman is referred to a social worker by her EAP. The referral indicates that the woman is
frequently absent from work and has difficulty completing projects. During the initial
assessment, the woman avoids answering questions about her relationship with her spouse. The
woman becomes tearful when asked about her family and social supports. The woman shares
that her husband does not "allow" her to go out in the evening or on weekends. She goes on to
tell the social worker that she is pregnant, b - Answer✔In the item above, the strongest answer is
D, since the stem provides the test-taker with multiple risk factors for domestic violence. Answer
A is incorrect because our priority is to assess for domestic violence. A referral to a doctor for
prenatal care would follow risk assessment and safety planning. Additionally, answer A wrongly
assumes the woman is not receiving prenatal care. Answer B is incorrect as we would need to
rule out domestic violence before considering couples counseling. Couples counseling is
contraindicated if domestic violence is suspected. Answer C is incorrect because issues of safety
warrant immediate attention and this answer disregards the red flags raised in the vignette.
A hospital-based social worker meets with a new client who was admitted following a domestic
assault perpetrated by her boyfriend. The woman shares that her boyfriend, with whom she lives,
was upset because she was texting with a male coworker and went out for drinks with him after
work. She shares that her boyfriend is very insecure and she should have known how this would
affect him due to similar instances in the past. She tells the therapist that her boyfriend felt
terrible about the inciden - Answer✔The correct answer in this LCSW practice question is B. It
is clear that domestic violence exists-the woman was hospitalized following the most recent
incident and indicates similar instances in the past. The client appears to be unaware of the cycle
of violence. It would be important to shed light on this dynamic so the client has an awareness of
the likelihood of future violence and how to identify when it is more likely to occur. In addition,
providing resources to the client would allow her to access support on her own terms. Answer A
pushes the therapist's agenda, as the client has not indicated a desire to locate alternative living
arrangements. Answer C is incorrect because the focus should be on the client, not her boyfriend.
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