Think Like the Test

How much information do you need to answer exam questions correctly? In some cases -- not all, but some -- you can get a question correct just with your knowledge of the profession, without needing to know anything from the specific vignette in front of you. These sample questions come from the 2023 version of the NCMHCE Candidate Handbook produced by NBCC. [Detailed, 1,000-word case vignette describing the intake process with a new client.] 1. During the intake, how would you establish a therapeutic relationship with this client? Challenge her irrational thoughts about her self-evaluations. Advise her about how to manage painful experiences. Summarize her emotional struggles and desire for change. Explore areas in which she could improve interpersonal relationships. 2. What long-term goal would guide treatment of the client’s presenting problem? Spend 1 hour each day focusing on what is going right in life. Return to pre-marital levels, or better, for self-confidence and autonomy. Decrease negative thoughts and feelings by half in 6 weeks. Get out of bed before 8 am each morning. For exam prep programs including exam strategy, full-length practice tests, video-based learning, anxiety management, and features no other program has, all at prices up to 50% less than major competitors, check us out at High Pass Education. highpass.com Intro/outro music: "Swampy Lands" by Adam Saban, licensed via Soundstripe.

What does it mean when an exam asks you to think systemically? Two sample questions for the National MFT Exam help explain.

What's your moral framework? That can heavily influence your clinical and ethical decision-making -- but it might not line up well with the approach you're being tested on. This episode is especially true to our title: In deciding right and wrong, to Think Like the Test means to think from a much more rule-based approach than how many clinicians actually work. This question comes from prior edition of our book Preparing for the 2023 California Clinical Social Work Law & Ethics Exam. Your client has health insurance, but the insurance carrier is refusing to cover the client’s therapy because she is seeing you for couple therapy and does not, in your assessment, qualify for a diagnosis of mental illness. You should: Assess the client’s ability to advocate on her own behalf with the insurance company. Offer to include an “insurance diagnosis” on the client’s paperwork to facilitate coverage. Work with the client to develop an alternative plan for payment. Discontinue therapy. Ben Caldwell's license exam prep programs are available here. Intro/outro music: "Swampy Lands" by Adam Saban, licensed via Soundstripe.

What happens when an ethics question -- produced by the actual test developer -- doesn’t actually line up with what the relevant code of ethics says?

Crisis management questions may include multiple options that look good. But there’s often a key word in the question that can help you choose the right answer.

Key words in a question can often help lead you to the correct answer. In this episode, we discuss some to attend to -- and some that you shouldn’t give much weight to.

Carrie Wiita and Ben Caldwell talk through a sample question to start our discussion of test-taking skills, and Carrie comes one step closer to an important life goal.