Kate's LCSW Journey (Part 2)

Read Part 1 here

I became eligible to take the exams during the transition time from California’s Standard Written exam followed by Clinical Vignette exam (2015 and prior) to the current Law & Ethics exam followed by ASWB Clinical exam (2016 and onward).  I decided to hold off on taking the exams until 2016.  It’s likely that my family will relocate states again, so I thought the nationally-used ASWB Clinical exam would be advantageous to potentially transferring my future license to another state. 

But honestly, it also felt good (in that lazy way, you know what I’m talking about) to procrastinate on studying some more.  I was now pregnant again and found it hard to devote time to studying, plus working, plus parenting.  

(For those of you keeping track, yes!  This story has now gone on for so many years that it includes me giving birth to two [2] children and attaining zero [0] clinical licenses!)

I found my old study materials from the Illinois LMSW exam and laughed when I saw that I was using SWTP’s practice test questions back in 2010, and here I am using them again six years later.  For me, slogging through a massive tutorial trying to cover every possible topic on the LCSW exams sounds too daunting and likely to make my eyes glaze over.  I also know I have good knowledge on certain topics and want to focus on the ones I don’t know. 

Taking practice exams is a great way for me to jump in to the studying process – I took a practice exam without studying, just to gauge my readiness level.  It was a wincing moment when I saw the initial score, but I know that it was going to be improvement from there forward.  I also find the SWTP blog posts focusing on specific content, with a practice question and detailed rationale on the right and wrong answers, to be very memorable for my learning style.

I’m motivated now to take (and pass!) the LCSW exams for several reasons. 

•       I want to ensure I have greater job opportunities in the future that an LCSW will open up for me—I don’t want to be held back by lacking those letters behind my name. 
•       Ideally I want to be able to find a clinical job with a nonprofit that would be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. 
•       I’m motivated because I don’t want this process to drag on for any longer – it’s already been the better part of a decade!
•       I’m also motivated because I know that now that the process has started, I better not let my eligibility lapse.  It would be a major nightmare to reapply for exam eligibility with my out of state background.
•       I’m eager to accomplish my LCSW because as good as procrastination feels, getting a long-overdue task handled and checked off your to-do list feels a million times better. 

Photo credit Pixabay

I know that there are many other readers who can relate to the last point.  What about you out there?  Why are you motivated to take and pass the LCSW exam?  Share via comment below.  Or— submit your own story to be featured to motivate others just like you!

Bonus PS – Read up about motivational interviewing and then practice motivationally-interviewing yourself to get started on your own LCSW test prep!

Kate's LCSW Journey (Part 1)

Photo credit Christy Tyler Photography

My name is Kate and I’m an MSW en route to getting my LCSW.

I graduated from my MSW program in 2010.  While job searching I passed the LMSW in Illinois.  I subsequently acquired all of my clinical hours during my time working as an adoption counselor.  I became eligible to take the Illinois LCSW exam in 2012.

Right around the time that I received my eligibility from the Illinois board and I began to study, it became clear to my family that a move to a different state within the next six months was likely to occur.  Additionally, life happened – I became pregnant and the challenges of working fulltime, being pregnant, figuring out the logistics of a cross-country move, along with general life-living, all got in the way of preparing for the LCSW exam. 

Simply stated, I lost motivation to study and take the exam since I didn’t even know where we would be ending up – west coast or east.  (Who else out there has longed for some sort of a national-level LCSW certification, huh?)

We landed in California and I began the long, arduous process of trying to become exam-eligible in a new state.  Happily, my clinical hours in Illinois were deemed worthy by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.  I had to take some extra courses to meet CA’s state requirements and ensure that the Illinois board submitted a bunch of documentation—even verifying my IL supervisors’ LCSW certifications.

The wait to hear back from CA BBS was long.  I submitted my packet to the BBS in February of 2014 and ultimately got approval in May of 2015.  15 months!  Although it’s typical for a lengthy wait (averaging 6-9 months at that time), the length of my wait time was anomalous. My approval was delayed because of issues getting some information correctly submitted from the Illinois board to California.

My loooong wait to get CA BBS approval to sit for the exams provided, in equal parts, some welcome procrastination from the process as well as some motivation to just get this done already.  Meanwhile, I was able to find a job that does not require LCSW certification.  Phew!

Come back for part 2 which discusses the rest of Kate’s exam-eligibility adventure and read about her motivation to finally prepare for the exams!

Getting Ready for the Social Work Exam for Free

 

Here's a quick roundup of some of the awesome materials available on the world wide wondrous web that cost nothing and will get you ready--or very nearly ready--to take and PASS the social work licensing exam. Free, you say? Free! Check it out:

NASW Code of Ethics. Please don't pay for this! But please do study it! It's a huge part of the exam.

The Social Work Podcast. Jonathan Singer teaches social work in real life. In webland, he teaches some more social work. Sometimes it's interviews with people in the field. Sometimes--early episodes mostly--it's a simple, clear, pretty quick walkthrough of some theory or concept you need to know for the exam. Price: Free.

Free Practice Questions. Posted regularly on the SWTP blog. Also there, not free, complete practice exams. Nice if you can scrape together some cash monies. Otherwise, price: Free.

Study Guide for the Social Work Licensing Exam. You do have to give them your email address so they can market at you a little, but for that (free) you get a pretty thorough 20-something page study guide that will walk you through what to expect on the exam, how to get prepared, and, maybe most importantly, how to keep your calm while getting prepared and taking the exam. Price: Free

Wikipedia. File under, "Not a newsflash." Once, Wikipedia was a semi-reliable source of mostly-great info about lots of topics. It's grown. Now it's a pretty-much-always-reliable source of very great info on just about every topic. Among those topics, the very stuff you need to know to pass the social work exam. Price: Free. (Though it's nice to make a donation or help out with editing, if you can.)

That should keep you busy. There's lots more out there. Especially on the info front (About.com, the Mayo Clinic). Search engines are your friend. Now let exam prep be your friend. Have fun with it. You're going to do great!

Free Exam Questions?! Yes, Those Too

SWTP's now putting up a bunch of ethics-based questions--free questions--on their blog. One free question per NASW Code of Ethics section. As of this writing, 1.01 - 1.10 are up. Looks like more are coming at a two-or-three-questions-a-week pace. That adds up to lots of free exam practice. Here's the first set of ethical standards. Start reading ahead, come up with your own questions, post them in comments even!

1.01 Commitment to Clients

1.02 Self-Determination

1.03 Informed Consent

1.04 Competence

1.05 Cultural Competence and Social Diversity

1.06 Conflicts of Interest

1.07 Privacy and Confidentiality: Clients

1.08 Access to Records

1.09 Sexual Relationships

1.10 Physical Contact

1.11 Sexual Harassment

1.12 Derogatory Language

1.13 Payment for Services

1.14 Clients Who Lack Decision-Making Capacity

1.15 Interruption of Services

1.16 Termination of Services

Free Study Guide?! Yes, Free Study Guide

You're getting ready to take the ASWB exam. You've gotten together your education, your internship hours. Next up, study materials. You see the price tags. You scream.

Social workers--especially social workers who haven't been out of school for long--don't tend to make giant salaries. So why are exam prep programs priced at $200, $300, $800+ dollars? Why does it cost money to get even the most basic information about what to expect on the exam?

Old answer: Because. New answer: Doesn't.

Check out SWTP's free (free?! free!) Study Guide for the Social Work Licensing Exam. It's a great place to launch your exam studies. The guide, a hefty-for-no-money 23 pages long, will help license-bound social workers get oriented. What's on the exam? How's it work? What are the questions like? Already-in-motion exam preppers will benefit from the guide's study tips, test anxiety help, free practice questions, and resource links.

You're not just getting ready to take the ASWB exam. You're getting ready to PASS it! Save the screams for screams of victory.

Congratulations in advance!

Ladies and gentlemen, it's DSM-5!

Years in the making, years in the dreading, it's finally upon us: it's time for DSM-5. July 1, 2015 will forever live in memory as the day ASWB exams made the switch to the new DSM-5. Yes, there are controversies about the manual and its contents. Some practitioners are avoiding the new tome altogether and using ICD codes instead of DSM ones. For social work licensing exam takers, that's not an option. DSM-5 is here and it's on the exam and it's time to get it learned.

Happily, the web is on the case. Check out this Pinterest page for a raft of free DSM-5 explain-the-different-and-get-you-ready resources. A few favorites:

• This DSM-5 sample questions book, free (in part) on Google Books.
• This collection of additional resources at SocialWork.Career.
• These DSM-5 fact sheets from the APA.

However overwhelming it may seem, trust this: you'll get it learned. Most of the 5 is the same or very similar to it's Roman-numeraled predecessor. The big changes are few and summed up in a single article like this one from PsychCentral.

Fear not. It's big, it's new, but it's really no big deal. Have fun with it and good luck on the exam!

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!