LSW Exam Prep 2023 with 100% correct answers

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs ... Problem solving process engagement, assessment, planning, intervention, evaluation, and termination - EAPIET - Identify which stage of the process you are at; if the question is about the first session or meeting with a client, the activities of a social worker should be focused on engagement, "when gathering information on the problem" indicates assessment or "when developing the contract" indicates planning. If the age of a client or others is included... it is usually relevant to selecting the correct response choice. For example, having an imaginary friend at age 4 is very different than having one at age 34. Imaginary friends in childhood are an extension of pretend play and part of Piaget's pre-operational stage. However, having one in later life might be an indicator of psychosis resulting from a hallucination or delusion. Systems Theory Important to this theory is the concept that when one thing changes within a system, the whole system is affected. Systems tend toward equilibrium and can have closed or open boundaries. Terms: entropy - closed, disorganized, stagnant; using up available energy equifinality - arriving at the same end from different beginnings suprasystem - an entity that is served by a number of component systems organized in interacting relationships Family Systems Theory Family is more than the sum of its members - aims to understand causes of behaviors from looking at interactions. The family is an interactional system whose component parts have constantly shifting boundaries and varying degrees of resistance to change. Families must fulfill a variety of functions for each member, both collectively and individually, if each member is to grow and develop. Families strive for a sense of balance or homeostasis!! Families are seen as being goal oriented. The concept of equifinality refers to the ability of the family system to accomplish the same goals through different routes. Boundaries should be flexible and able to change over time. Interdependence - Individual family members and the subsystems comprised by the family system are mutually influenced by and are mutually dependent upon one another. What happens to one family member, or what one family member does, influences other family members. Genograms - good tool relevant to this theory. Family Therapy Approaches The family is the unit of attention for diagnosis and treatment. Social roles and interpersonal interaction are the focus of treatment. The goal is to interrupt the circular pattern of pathological communication and behaviors and replace it with a new pattern that will sustain itself without the dysfunctional aspects of the original pattern. Key clinical issues include: Establishing a contract with the family, examining alliances within the family, identifying where power resides, determining the relationship of each family member to the problem, seeing how the family relates to the outside world, assessing influence of family history, ascertaining communication patterns, identifying family rules that regulate patterns of interaction, determining meaning of presenting symptom in maintaining family homeostasis, examining flexibility of structure and accessibility of alternative action patterns, finding out about sources of external stress and support. Strategic Family Therapy It is active, brief, directive, and task-centered. Strategic family therapy is more interested in creating change in behavior than change in understanding. Based on the assumption that families are flexible enough to modify solutions that do not work. Therapy focuses on problem resolution by altering the feedback cycle or loop that maintains the symptomatic behavior. The social worker's task is to formulate the problem in solvable, behavioral terms and to design an intervention plan to change the dysfunctional family pattern. Pretend technique—encourage family members to "pretend" and encourage voluntary control of behavior. First-order changes—superficial behavioral changes within a system that do not change the structure of the system Second-order changes—changes to the systematic interaction pattern so the system is reorganized and functions more effectively Relabeling—changing the label attached to a person or problem from negative to positive so the situation can be perceived differently; it is hoped that new responses will evolve Paradoxical directive or instruction—prescribe the symptomatic behavior so a client realizes he or she can control it; uses the strength of the resistance to change in order to move a client toward goals