LCSW Exam: Therapist Development Center with rationale

LCSW Exam: Therapist Development Center with rationale 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 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 across state lines. C. Determine whether the state board of the client's residence allows teletherapy across state lines. D.Continue to provide therapy due to the longstanding relationship established between therapist and client. 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). Brainpower Read More 0:08 / 0:15 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 D. Refer the client for a medical evaluation 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. 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 individual therapist. D. Refer the client to someone who specializes in depression and suicide. 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.