Last Tips!

Prior blog post has more detailed information about how I studied to pass the ASWB LCSW exam.

Stepping back, I took a bigger picture approach to studying.  I realized that I didn’t need to get too caught up in knowing all the content in the clinical social work world.  The majority of the test is NOT recall, so you don’t have to know everything about every topic.  Most questions are scenarios and you need to correctly answer what you would do FIRST or what would be your NEXT step.

Here’s how I practiced answering those types of questions:

• Rule out answers that are considered breaking confidentiality
• Is the answer I chose respecting client’s self determination?
• Am I meeting the client’s immediate needs, including ensuring their safety?
• Remember – WHO is your client?
• Avoid client abandonment
• One of the first things you need to do is empathize and acknowledge the client’s feelings
• After paying attention to the client’s feelings, you also might need to assess or clarify more about the situation, possibly refer, and sometimes provide education.

I also figured out a couple of test strategies that worked for me.

1.  I read the last sentence first
2. Then I read the second to last sentence
3. Then I skimmed the whole paragraph
4. Last, I fully read the whole paragraph (and also noted keywords)

I found that this method helped me hone in immediately on what the question was asking – the question always found in the last sentence of the paragraph.

When there was a question that I was not sure of, I marked it.  Especially if I thought a question was taking too long, I marked it and came back to it later. 

Whenever I picked an answer that I was not 100% sure on, I told myself “That’s probably an unscored question” and moved on.

Years and years ago, before moving to California, I passed the ASWB LMSW in Illinois pretty easily without studying very much.  Then my confidence was shot by failing the Law & Ethics exam of the LCSW back in 2016.  It was buoyed by passing the Law & Ethics the second time, but I was still worried about failing again, so I took extra efforts to psych myself up.  I journaled about all the work I did to study, reflected on some of the reasons why it didn’t matter right now if I failed, and made detailed plans for night before and day of strategy to feel planful and confident.

I also made plans for how I would celebrate in hope that I would be able to put the plan into action.  Thankfully, I finished the exam and saw that I had passed, I was able to implement my celebration plan as a new LCSW!

How I Studied for the ASWB LCSW exam

Although time running out was a motivating factor for taking both the California Law & Ethics exam and the ASWB LCSW exam, I went about the experiences differently.  After failing the Law & Ethics by one point the first time, I knew I couldn’t do a rush job and be ill prepared for the ASWB exam.  I knew I had to study harder and study better.

It’s hard for many people to find time to study for the LCSW exams, because we’re often working and/or also caring for family members.  In my case I was working part-time and being the primary caregiver for our two young sons.  The older one was in a part-time afternoon preschool and I started to worry that the younger one was going to drop his nap – so I definitely started to make purposeful plans to study during that chunk of time when they were occupied at preschool or napping.

As the exam got to be about a month away, I also had designated study time at home on certain Saturdays, while my husband had solo time with our two sons.  I made sure to have noise-canceling headphones so I could focus and wouldn’t be distracted by noise if they were home.

I again utilized the Social Work Test Prep practice exams.  I knew I would not really study if studying meant reading chapters and articles from somewhere.  I thought practice exams would work better for me—and I was right.

Since learning my lesson about how I improperly studied for the Law & Ethics CA exam using practice exams before, I used the Social Work Test Prep practice exam really differently this time. I utilized the SWTP practice test questions rationales.

The rationales are important. The rationales provide reasons why these three options are wrong, a reason why this one option is correct, and further information on the topic. 

I combed through my own notes and the SWTP rationales from the general practice tests.  While doing so I wrote down by hand the details, definitions, and concepts that I didn’t 100% know.  Then I went through and I typed these up.  I found that the process of doing this twice – once by hand and once typing – helped really get the concept into my brain.  I printed out the typed concepts and reviewed my document several times while studying.

In addition to taking the SWTP practice exams and really utilizing the rationales this time around, I also printed out certain documents (for example, names and categories of medication) and hung them up in the bathroom so I would look at it as I brushed my teeth.  I did the same thing with DSM diagnoses that are frequently confused with each other.

Come back tomorrow for a few more tips and my last blog post on the experience!