ASWB Licensed Clinical Social Worker 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client with borderline personality disorder repeatedly calls the social worker between sessions in crisis. What is the most appropriate clinical intervention?
- Answer every call to prevent escalation
- Set clear boundaries around between-session contact while validating the client's distress (Correct answer)
- Refer the client to a higher level of care immediately
- Ignore the calls to reinforce appropriate behavior
Correct answer: Set clear boundaries around between-session contact while validating the client's distress
DBT-informed practice supports limit-setting with empathy, teaching distress tolerance rather than reinforcing crisis-driven contact.
Question 2: During a mandated reporting situation, a client discloses abuse but begs the social worker not to tell anyone. How should the clinician respond?
- Honor the client's request to protect the therapeutic alliance
- Explain confidentiality limits and report as required by law regardless of the client's wishes (Correct answer)
- Consult a supervisor before making any decision
- Delay reporting to gather more information
Correct answer: Explain confidentiality limits and report as required by law regardless of the client's wishes
Mandated reporting laws supersede client confidentiality; the clinician must report and should inform the client of this legal obligation.
Question 3: A client presents with persistent sadness, anhedonia, hypersomnia, and increased appetite for six weeks. Which DSM-5 diagnosis best fits?
- Persistent Depressive Disorder
- Major Depressive Disorder with atypical features (Correct answer)
- Bipolar II Disorder, depressive episode
- Adjustment Disorder with depressed mood
Correct answer: Major Depressive Disorder with atypical features
Hypersomnia and increased appetite are atypical features; a six-week duration with anhedonia meets MDD criteria.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of clinical supervision in social work practice?
- To evaluate the supervisee's performance for administrative decisions
- To support professional development and ensure client welfare through reflective practice (Correct answer)
- To provide therapy to the supervisee
- To monitor billable hours and productivity metrics
Correct answer: To support professional development and ensure client welfare through reflective practice
Clinical supervision integrates administrative oversight, educational support, and reflective processing to protect clients and develop competent practitioners.
Question 5: A social worker discovers mid-treatment that a new client is the ex-spouse of a former client. What ethical issue is primarily at stake?
- Dual relationship and potential conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Scope of practice violation
- Informed consent deficiency
- Transference management
Correct answer: Dual relationship and potential conflict of interest
Treating someone closely connected to a former client creates a dual relationship risk that could compromise objectivity and confidentiality.
Question 6: Which therapeutic modality is considered the gold standard evidence-based treatment for PTSD according to major clinical guidelines?
- Psychodynamic therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Prolonged Exposure (PE) (Correct answer)
- Supportive counseling
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Correct answer: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Prolonged Exposure (PE)
VA/DoD, APA, and ISTSS guidelines recommend trauma-focused CBT approaches including PE and EMDR as first-line PTSD treatments.
Question 7: A clinician notices strong negative feelings toward a client who reminds them of a difficult family member. This is best described as:
- Empathic failure
- Countertransference (Correct answer)
- Vicarious trauma
- Projective identification
Correct answer: Countertransference
Countertransference refers to the clinician's emotional reactions to a client, often rooted in the clinician's own unresolved experiences.
ASWB Licensed Clinical Social Worker 2
A client with borderline personality disorder repeatedly calls the social worker between sessions in crisis.
What is the most appropriate clinical intervention?