Day 14, 15 key concepts and final revision

Few points to add on at the end of the prep, use this the day before you go to test ....

• while answering the primary thing is to read all the answers put them in order, read specifier the question asks and then choose the answer

• concerns with safety is primary issue for the worker. ethics is one of the reason which we look into for  guidelines in saving clients and making clinical decisions. issues of child abuse, domestic violence, homicide threat, suicide threat. all are important issues where safety and reporting you must be sure of . remember even "neglect" can trigger child abuse report. once you see child abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, neglect) look out for medical evaluation, reporting as key answers. once u see domestic violence look for key words like safety plan. suicide reporting overlaps confidentiality so is homicide threat. the main attitude we need to carry here is "safety of client" being priority. also abuse and neglect of elderly- report to adult protection services, note down key words for self neglect, financial abuse, using restraints, social isolation and abandonment.
• also reporting issues varies with state...so look for choice "according to jurisdiction" procedure
•  suicide and homicide...clarify threat. and if there's plan you have to notify victim and officials and confidentiality overrides here
• suicide...look for key words hopelessness, history of suicide attempts, if assessment hasn't been done, think of assessing the risk
• with respect to confidentiality be very careful. even acknowledging or getting to know someone is coming to treatment to you is a breach of confidentiality.  
• study dsm in terms of how they differ in that class of disorders. childhood disorders differentials and other disorders
• browse through timeline differences for various disorders. try to note down timeline mentioned in question and answer accordingly also note down expression of symptoms by various kind of population..like how in children, how its manifested in elderly
• do not look too much in to medications, just brush through much frequent ones used when you are going through them before test
• note down if its positive or negative questioning style... like which is "NOT" ... you might lose this if you dont pay attention
• always rule out medical condition, substance use for clinical decision making
• someone died being mentioned in question.... think about grief
• persistent belief of having serious illness despite no evidence to prove - hypochondriasis
• psychological condition converted to physical manifestation symptom - conversion disorder
• sensate focus intervention -intervention in sexual intimacy issues without intercourse
• get to know the classification of disorders, you might be tested on this... eg; which of these is not paraphilias
• borderline PD- unstable relationship, social worker need to keep firm boundaries with clients..always discuss feelings in therapeutic relationship context with clients, calling in between appointments as key words
• schizoid PD-  loner, like being alone
• avoidant PD-  lonely, but want to be social
• developmental issues question, always look for misinterpretation of parents, culture issues, immigration issue, psycho education for parents as key words 
• "life review " - intervention with elderly, get information about their life, how they lived, attained, in last stage of erickson's theory, you get to involve them much better in intervention.
• no secrets policy in couples issue to be ensured in couples intervention and treat the common issue they came for and not individual intervention unless domestic violence issue comes up
• DABDA - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance (kubler ross stages of grief)
• TAIIIIGI - trust vs mistrust (birth - 18 month), autonomy vs shame /doubt(18 months- 3 yr), initiative vs guilt (3-6), industry vs inferiority (school 6-12), identity vs role confusion (adolescent developing identity 12-20), intimacy vs isolation (early adulthood 20-40), generativity vs stagnation (creating next generation, parenting 40-65), ego integrity vs despair (meaning  and accomplishment in life,late adult - 65)
• oedipus complex- castration anxiety, electra complex- penis envy
• Seperation anxiety  begins 6-8 months, peaks in intensity 14-18 m, until about 2 and dimnishes
• ASS - Margret Mahlr's staes of development A - autistic (new born- 1 month) S - Symbiotic (fusion with mother, child think its one with mother and not a separate individual 4- 6 wees - 5 month) ,  S- Seperation individuation (Hatching, Practicing, Rapprochement (beginning, crisis, solution))
• SPCF - Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development . S- sensorimotor (birth -2) object permanance , P- Pre operational (2-6) ego centrism , concrete operations stage (6-12) conservation , F- formal operations (12 and above) abstract thinking and concentration
• PSBSS - Maslow's heirarchy of needs P- physiological, S-  safety, B- belonging, S- self esteem, S- self actualization
• PCP - Lawrence kholberg's theory of moral development. stages include Preconventional morality(2-4,obedience and punishment orientation, 4-7 self interest orientation) , Conventional morality(7-10 social conformity, 10-12 law and order orientation) and post conventional morality(teens- social contract orientation, adult- universal ethics orientation)
• AAIPIU- Authoritative parenting(displaying rational control, warmth and responsiveness, promoting independance-assertive, self confident, achievement oriented children), authoritarian parenting(high control and little warmth, hostile, rebellious withdrawn children with low self esteem and poor achievement), indulgent - permissive parenting(warm and caring but provide little control and make few demands, children are indulgent, frustrated, low in achievement), indulgent - uninvolved parenting(less time and effort in parenting, these children have low self esteem, delinquent, rebellious, impulsive, moody, aggressive) - Diana Baumrind parenting styles
• MSE - mental status exam - different domains- appearance, attitude (resistant, eager, over optimistic), behavior, mood and affect (flat, elevated, connected or disconnected presence), speech, thought process, content of thoughts, perceptions, cognition, insight, judgement
• in issue of terminating client, we can never abandon the client, common response to termination is feeling of being fearful to able to handle issues without therapist, crisis around termination doesn require termination, reactions are common.
• Medications important for social workers knowledge include lithium - associated with Bipolar Disorder , has adverse side effects.
• Typical antipsychotics (Psychotic Disorders) • Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) • Haloperidol (Haldol)
• Atypical antipsychotics (Psychotic Disorders) • Risperidone (Risperdal) • Olanzapine  (Zyprexa)  Quetiapine (Seroquel) • Ziprasidone (Geodon) • Aripiprazole (Abilify) 
• SSRI’s (Depression/Anxiety) • Fluoxetine (Prozac) • Citalopram (Celexa) • Sertraline (Zoloft)   Paroxetine (Paxil) • Escitalopram (Lexapro) Mood Stablizers (Bipolar) • Lithium • Divalproex Sodium (Depakote) • Carbamazepine (Tegretol) • Lamotragine (Lamictal) • Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) Benzodiazepines (Extreme Anxiety/Panic) • Clonazepam (Klonopin) • Lorazepam (Ativan) • Alprazolam (Xanax) 
• Stimulants (ADHD) • Methylphenidate  (Ritalin, Metadate, Concerta, Daytrana) • Amphetamine (Adderall) • Dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine, Dextrostat
• get to know the theories. its not tuf. associate the theories with the concepts and developers. some key theories and key words include                                                                                                      behaviorist theory - operant conditioning, classical conditioning , positive and negative reinforcement, punishment,                                                                                                                  CBT - thinking about people and problem,                                                                                        structural family therapy (salvador minuchin)-  system approach -  key concepts- boundries, heirarchy, subsystems, childrens problems are due to boundary between parents and between parents and children, mimesis, structural mapping, raise intensity so system change                                           task centered therapy/ social work practice - 6-8 weeks short term problem solving, concrete plan to intervene, goal oriented.                                                                                                            psychodynamic -  freud's approach, unconscious, defense mechanisms - primitive (denial, regression, projection, reaction formation,  ), mature(displacement,) and advanced defense mechanisms(sublimation - unacceptable feeling is made in a way acceptable, like sarcasm and kidding around, getting hard workout to deal with unwanted sexual impulse), insight and understanding into past is another key word for identifying with psychodynamic approach                                                 feminist the and social learning th-                                                                                                 problem solving model          

       Bowen family therapy -  key concepts differentiation of self, triangulation, multi generational       

        transmission process, emotional reactivity      

•       Experiential family therapy -  carl whittaker, virginia satir- key concepts - honest emotion, supress emotion, mystification, blaming, placating, sculpting, conjoint family drawing, choreography, role playing                  
• never accept bartering, dual relationships, these always come in way of quality of treatment and therapeutic relationship
• alderian psychotherapy appropriate for issues of goal direction, existential psychotherapy for high functioning individuals, 
• boundaries is another important issue. here comes transference (client rings up feelings regard to worker) and counter transference (worker affected by client) issues, dual relationship, overlap in relationship, be clear on value differences and never let it in therapy process, in terms of dilemma go for supervision
• go through ethics before the day of the exam. its very important which guides in your clinical diagnosis or decision making
• what's privilege ? term related to confidentiality in terms of legal context. where the social worker need not reply to the subpoenas other than from judge. however privilege is waived in number of other conditions like self exposed, suing social worker
• concepts about group, most important is stages of group formation. storming, forming , norming- irving yaloms theory, boston model -  , group process, 
• team work -  as a part of multi disciplinary team whats the role for social worker in terms of  coordinating services of client
• advocacy- empowering client on getting services they are entitled to access them themselves. start where the client is. anything about program development has to do with clients need , program evaluation and methods are another area where question is asked. methods of evaluation, best practices, terms associated
• cultural diversity is another important area. navajo community, asian clients,african american, hispanic is few areas included in test. issues of immigration, cultural shock, eye contact, aggressive talk, are certain areas we could be tested.
• Some sclaes/test commonly used: Standford binet intelligence scale, wechsler adult intelligence scale, toni- for multicultural clients, MMPI - minnesota multiphasic personality inventory, 16 personality factor questionnaire, Meyers brigs type indicator, edwards personal preference schedule, DAD, dyadic adjustment scale- for marital adjustment, FES family environment scales, the camberwell family interview, assessment tools for children: childhood autism rating scale, children's depression inventory, Draw a person test, kinetic family drawing, vineland adaptive behavior scales, AUI- alcohol use inventory, 

Day, 13

Practice test practice test practice test.......... there is nothing more you should do for the last 3 days...at least last 2 days...focus on remaining relaxed and control your anxiety. proper diet and sleep very important. Because it's going to affect the way you think during the exam.

Try to have a look at the notes and do not do any kind of referencing job these days. try to stay positive and confident. Its not a big thing. Take several deep breaths whenever you feel the tension building up in the system. 

ASWB practice test is very much recommended so you don't go there unprepared to face the software. it eases you to know the virtual environment you are going to face. Take the exam and review the questions.

try to take a break during the exam, drink juice or snack...you can't take the whole exam in 4 hr at a time. Your brain needs nutrients and atleast water to keep your brain fresh to think through all 4 hr...so have a banana.. and try to take a break if see yourself anxious, unfocused because u r getting tired. 

Do not memorize anything hard, just read through as a story where you understand and involve in the matter you are going through.

Have enough sleep and take public transport to the examination facility and above all i strongly recommend PRAYER :-) it works wonders !!!! if someone wants to pray for you, let them do it, do not turn down the invitation, anyway its not going to harm you.......

Tomorrow is my test........ Will update the blog on more tips and notes. 

All the Best and God Bless !!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 12

Brush through certain concepts to read further and recall necessary test information

1. What is peer review ?
2. Jeff vs redmond case vs social work decision making
3. confidentiality and insurance company
4. what is vicarious liability?
5. timeline difference between MDD and Adjustment disorder with depressed mood and acute stress disorder
6. what is type I error in statistical research?
7. Albert R roberts 7 stage crisis intervention model?
8. difference between conduct disorder and disruptive behavior disorder
9. what are 4 classic "A" s of schizophrenic diagnosis
10. what is Munchausen's Syndrome.?
11. what is sancter's disease
12. what is narcissistic injury?
13. What does the term "overhead" mean in planning program

The hard lesson learnt is....give more than 10 days before the exam to do the practice test. Then you'll know you need additional 10 days for the set of concepts you faced for first time. 

Day 11

1. Anxiety Disorder 
2. Mood Disorder
3. Practice test and additional concepts

Defense mechanisms and disorders - frequently asked question
http://charlessamenowmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Defense-mechanisms-and-Personality-Disorders.pdf

Study therapies in key terms too. like distinct goals for each therapy, key words in each therapy, practice identifying therapy using its key concepts, effective therapy for respective disorders etc. follow example below. you may device one by yourself which is much effective than using those done by others.

Rapid change situation -                          Crisis intervention
children -                                           evaluation by play therapy
depression -                                         cognitive therapy, evaluate for suicide
suicide -                                             look out for plan
threat, homicide -                        look out for plan, inform authorities
domestic violence                              safety plan in absence of abusive partner
intervention with children -                   first medical evaluation
borderline -                                          DBT
emphasis on client  -                               rogerian
grief-                                        kubler ross
fatigue -                                          physical examination exclusion
medical condition -                                                 refer
minor -                                             jurisdictional requirement
religion -                                                 belief and values and their meaning
substance abuse -                              difference in dependence and abuse, support group
seperation individuation -                   Mahlr
develop -                                       frued, erickson , piaget stages of development
personality disorders -                  defenses behind
irrational belief -                             REBT

building your own helps you not only with recall but also confidence.

Day 10

Took ASWB practice test..... scored 96/170...passing score is above 100/150...so the most important thing about preparing for exam is to finish all your study before 2 weeks and then start doing only practice test for next two weeks. You'll  be surprised to find out how much you missed on the way to preparation and the trend to conquer the exam.

1. you will be confused in finding answer for something you already know. eg: you might know the developmental stages in erickson's theory but if asked what is the third stage of the theory and given choices will confuse you in the best way. So revising your factual information after taking each single test will help you retain concepts and be confident of direct answers you can score for sure in the exam.

2. ethics is most important in leading you to decide choosing best answer while answering each question. revise ethics every time. You will not regret.

3. Note down the answers and read on the topic. It helps more than memorizing

4. always spend time on rationale. this will help you to see questions from right perspective.

Concepts to brush through after taking the first set of practice exams:

1. Navajo community and social work issues with service delivery?
2. supervision
3. differences in concepts defense mechanism and  transference and counter transference
4. group types and selection criteria
5. reporting procedure in abuse
6. communication in social work
7. program evaluation steps and types
8. social policy analysis steps
9. working in a team
10. differential diagnosis of anxiety and mood disorders                                                                                         
    
11. abuser victim relationship
12. difference in withdrawal symptoms of various drugs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
13. what is privileged communication : can be broken at certain exceptional situations ref : the practice of social work by charles zastrow pg: 44                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
14. confidentiality related to HIV : name associated testing and anonymous testing : the former involves identity and later involves no identification using a code word or number where names are neither mentioned nor recorded , reporting issues, psychoeducation. same book above . pg : 46... likely to be tested                                                                                                                                                                                                        
15. State regulations pertaining to clinical records (NJ) : http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/chapters/Chapter%2044G%20State%20Board%20of%20Social%20Work%20Examiners.pdf this link also contains several other state regulated activities for Social Workers, this can help those in NJ. Others try to find similar document from your respective state websites.also include: age for minority in various state                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

The social worker shall retain the permanent client record for at least seven years from the date of the last entry, unless otherwise provided by law, or in the case of a minor, until age 25.

This should give you an idea of how you can approach test in one way.

Day 9

Practice Questions and more concepts....

Tip :

When practicing the questions, it is very important to review them in the context of what you missed in it. There are some subtle details like, pointers, age, onset, specifiers which will retain in memory only after repeated exposure to that information. try something lie below which i developed after doing a 50 practice question set. say i received 30/50, am going to point out, find out, explore what i missed in those 30. You may do it for your review so you get familiar with details about the subject.

1. Failure to thrive syndrome :

Nonorganic FTT is often a complex of disordered interaction between a child and caregiver. In some cases, the psychologic basis of nonorganic FTT appears similar to that of "hospitalism," a syndrome observed in infants who have depression secondary to stimulus deprivation. The unstimulated child becomes depressed, apathetic, and ultimately anorexic. Stimulation may be lacking because the caregiver is depressed or apathetic, has poor parenting skills, is anxious about or unfulfilled by the caregiving role, feels hostile toward the child, or is responding to real or perceived external stresses (eg. demands of other children in large or chaotic families, marital dysfunction, a significant loss, financial difficulties).

Poor caregiving does not fully account for all cases of nonorganic FTT. The child's temperament, capacities, and responses help shape caregiver nurturance patterns. Common scenarios involve parent-child mismatches, in which the child's demands, although not pathologic, cannot be adequately met by the parents, who might, however, do well with a child who has different needs or even with the same child under different circumstances.

2. Parenting styles and outcome :

3. What does and doesn MSE evaluate : does not evaluate social relationships

4. core values of social work ?

Service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity and competence. they might ask a question like this 

.All the following are social work core values EXCEPT:

A Self Determination

B Social Justice

C Service

D Integrity

5. What is transtheoritical model ?

The transtheoretical model of behavior change assesses an individual's readiness to act on a new healthier behavior, and provides strategies, or processes of change to guide the individual through the stages of change to Action and Maintenance. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transtheoretical_model

6. Boston Model of Group Development

• pre-affiliation,
• power and control,
• intimacy,
• differentiation, and
• separation.
• http://www.post-polio.org/edu/pphnews/pph4-4d.html

Day 8

Practice questions and Differentials for Mood disorders, anxiety disorders and psychotic disorders....

Tip : try to help as many people as you can when you prepare for you exam. Discussions and sharing of information throws light into different ways of looking at a question you might miss from your perspective.

Always have a day or 2 in reserve to catch up what u miss in your plan days...nice sleep and proper rest is very important in your preparation. Without these two am missing so  much time and energy.

Day 7

1. Theories of Development : ego development, moral development, cognitive development, language development
2. Practice questions
3. Differential diagnosis for childhood disorders, mood, anxiety and psychotic disorders

Always study diagnosis in terms of its differentials rather individual disorders. also revise as often as you can in different ways. By writing or reading or watching videos or make your own. That's fun

ALL THE BEST & GOD BLESS !!!

Day 5

Plan

1. hear audio (you could include topic of your choice)
2. Development theories of Freud and Erickson notes : developmental-theories
3. Somatoform Disorders
4. Person Centered Therapy

Achieved

All 4 and revised 10 topics

Day 4

Plan

1. Delirium, dementia and amnestic disorders
2. Disassociative disorders
3. Object Relations theory
4. Object relations Therapy
5. Practice questions

A good place to start is either DSM to finish 1 and 2 or the following link if going to finish up Object Relations Therapy.

Object relations Theory :

 http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/daniels/objectrelations.html

https://www.ivcc.edu/uploadedFiles/_faculty/_mangold/Klein%20and%20others%20-%20Object%20Relations%20Theory%20Outline%20Notes.pdf

Dementia

Concepts on Dementia 

1. differential diagnosis for diagnosis for Delirium, dementia and amnesia 
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_1QRIcy4fo
3. whats apathy? aphasia? agnosia? apraxia? 
4. types of dementia 
5. what is retrograde and anterograde memory
6. differential diagnosis of dissociative disorder (d.fuge, d.amnesis.d identity disorder and depersonalization disorder)
7. localized amnesia
8. selective amnesia
9. continuous amnesia
10. systematized amnesia

Achieved

Object relations theory and therapy and Dementia, delirium and amnestic disorders.........

Day 3

Prayer - Memorare

Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary, never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thine intercession was never left unaided. inspired by this confidence i fly unto thee O virgin of virgins. To thee do i come , before thee i stand sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the word incarnate, despise not my petitions but hear and answer me. - Amen

Today's plan

1. Existential theory and therapy
2. Schizophrenia and other psychotic Disorders
3. 60 DSM practice questions

Achieved all three

The most important thing to note is the differential diagnosis of Psychotic disorders. You may write them down as you read and understand it and stick the paper in your room to go through before bed daily or whenever you could.

All the best to myself and YOU :-)

Day 2

Plan for day 2 

1. CBT
2. DBT
3. REBT
4. 100 practice questions/ audio listening 50 topics
5. Malingering disorder

Day 1

Plan for Day 1 (Monday)

1. Adjustment Disorder
2. Factitious Disorder
3. BT - Behavioral therapy
4. Cognitive Therapy
5. CBT
6. DBT
7. REBT
8. 100 practice questions

Achieved 

1. Adjustment Disorder
2. Factitious Disorder
3. BT - Behavioral therapy
4. Cognitive Therapy

Pending : 3 

Next day plan  (tooth extraction scheduled :-( not sure if I can do it, anyway let's hope for best)

1. CBT
2. DBT
3. REBT
4. 100 practice questions/ audio listening 50 topics
5. Malingering disorder