Social Work

On September 26, 2020, Assembly Bill 1145 was signed into law.  For over 10 years in the pursuit of legislative advocacy as an LMFT and as a Gerry Grossman Seminars instructor of BBS exam preparatory and continuing education classes, I have strongly advocated for a change in the law as it pertained to mandated reporting and consensual sex and minors.   In 2010, I wrote an article regarding this subject for CAMFT Therapist magazine to alert mental health professionals to the inequity in the law.  I spoke out regarding this topic at annual CAMFT conferences and at multiple BBS meetings, and walked the halls of the Capital Building advocating at representatives’ offices.

We usually think of diversity as taking into consideration a client’s ethnic or racial background, sexual identity, gender, or perhaps age;  however, it might be useful to consider diversity as any difference between the social worker and a client in which the client might feel that the clinician cannot understand their experience.

Assessment is a major area covered in the social work exams, and it pays to be knowledgeable about what information to gather from clients entering therapy and how to gather that information.  As a social worker, you assess a case to basically answer the question: “What is going on here?”  We use numerous tools to assess and conceptualize a new case.

As you practice exam questions make sure you develop the habit of picking an answer for EVERY question, no matter what.  Flag the questions you guessed on – it’s just as easy to go back to them once they are flagged.  When you’re in study-mode, take as long as you need to work on each question and read every rationale.