Building Blocks: Pinterest?

If you're prepping for the social work exam on a budget (that's most license-bound people), you need to use every scrap of free help you can get. That's what elevates the hundreds of social work boards on Pinterest from sort-of helpful resource to Building Block (with capital Bs, no less!). Scattered across the Pinternet are lots of wildly helpful charts and such detailing a plethora of exam essentials. Then there are the links to sites including still more valuable (and often free) information. Then there're the Ryan Gosling "Hey, Girl" posts to keep you quickly entertained (no time for TV!). And, additionally, lots of inspirational "Keep Calm and Do Social Work" type of stuff. What's not to like?

Here are some accounts/boards/searches to get started with:

SWTP @ Pinterest; "Social Work Exam" @ Pinterest: ASWB Exam Prep (Group Board) @ Pinterest

Also try searching by the license you're after ("LCSW Exam," "LMSW Exam," and so forth). You'll soon be rolling in concise, visually rich explanations of, say, Erikson's stages. Or Piaget's. Or Freud's. Plus Freud icebergs (the unconscious is below water, get it?), and lots lots lots lots more. Enjoy! And go pass that exam already! You can do it! Good luck!

Building Blocks: NASW Standards of Practice

Feel like you've got your DSM and Code of Ethics down? Here's a building block of social work exam prep that isn't necessarily part of the foundation...but then, that's not what a building block always is. This one's one of the higher floors, one that you might not get to right away: the NASW Standards of Practice.

Over the years, the NASW has generated thousands of words about how best to go about being a social worker and packed them into this series of guideline brochures. Think about it this way: If you're setting out to write exam questions based in best practices, where do you turn? The Code first, of course. Maybe a textbook or two. But eventually, you're going to find yourself at these practice standards So, while knowing everything contained in each of the brochures just isn't going to happen for you, it's worth browsing around and filling in any big gaps in your social work knowledge. Just about everything gets covered. Here are the standards updated in 2013.

• NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Child Welfare

• NASW Standards for Social Work Practice with Clients with Substance Use Disorders

• NASW Standards for Social Work Case Management

• Best Practice Standards in Social Work Supervision

This is the very stuff that shows up over and over on the exam. So, if you have the time, dig in! Enjoy!

Building Blocks: The DSM

Diagnosis is going to show up on the licensing exam. It just is. And there's one big book that has all the diagnostic information you could ever hope to find: the DSM. Which DSM are you supposed to use? Depends upon where and when you're taking the exam. In California, DSM-5 questions will appear in December, 2014. For the rest of the ASWB-exam taking world, the exam will switch to DSM-5 in July, 2015.

The trick with studying diagnosis for the social work exam is that there's far too much information for you to possibly hold in one brain. It takes a giant, small-print book to get it all down. First step may be to throw away the giant volume and instead turn to the Desk Reference version ("The Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-5 (TM)," it's called). It's smaller, more to the point, and still contains more info than you'll likely need for the test.

Another way to approach the DSM is to focus on the big diagnoses. If it doesn't show up in regular social work practice, it's pretty unlikely to show up on the exam. Learn anxiety disorders, depression, personality disorders, childhood disorders. But set aside the obscure, the rare, and the stuff you've just never heard of. If by some chance that stuff shows up on the exam, sigh, take your best guess, and move on. Otherwise, you're overstudying, cramming your brain full of unnecessary facts, and generally making life harder than it needs to be. Got it? Get on it!

Building Blocks: The NASW Code of Ethics

You can't construct your fortress of licensedness without some basic building blocks. ("Fortress of licensedness?" I don't even watch "Game of Thrones.") There are a handful of essential elements that go into social work licensing exam readiness. Let's take a look at a big one: the NASW Code of Ethics.

Think of how exam writers must approach coming up with exam questions. (And, by the way, once you're licensed, you can become an exam writer. The ASWB hires pretty regularly. They just announced new hiring on their Facebook page.) "Okay...social work question...blank page...what am I supposed to ask?" They look at the ASWB's exam outlines (available to you on aswb.org; that's another fortress-building element, come to think. Maybe mortar?). They see there's a big section on assessment and diagnosis. They see there's a big section on ethics. "Ethics!" they think. "I know exactly how to get started on those questions. Computer boot up!"

They open of the NASW Code and get started from the top. Section 1.01, "Social Workers Commitment to Clients." Here's what it says:

Social workers' primary responsibility is to promote the well-being of clients. In general, clients' interests are primary. However, social workers' responsibility to the larger society or specific legal obligations may on limited occasions supersede the loyalty owed clients, and clients should be so advised. (Examples include when a social worker is required by law to report that a client has abused a child or has threatened to harm self or others.)

Okay, so what question would arise from this? Easy! There's even an example ("Examples include..."). A question about reporting abuse and/or threats to self or others. They type. Something about a client situation that may or may not require a report. Something not too obvious. Answers are, in brief, A. Report, B. Report not necessary, plus two "distractors"--answers that are appealing, splitting the difference between the basic "yes" and "no" answers. Like this: C. Wait to see if client continues with behavior before making a report. (Would that ever be the right way to go? Either something's reportable or it's not.) D. Seek supervision (Sometimes this is the right way to go. But as a soon-to-be licensed social worker, you should probably have a handle on reportability questions--at least on the exam.)

And so a licensing exam question is born. You'll see one just like it on the real exam--be surprised if you don't! And now you're ready for it. Yay!