Values + Ethics
35-36%of exam
Assessment + Planning
32-33%of exam
Intervention + Practice
32%of exam
Quick Facts
- Exam
- ASWB licensing
- Format
- Multiple choice
- After Aug 3
- 122 total questions
- Scored
- 110 scored
- Time
- 4 hours
- Fees
- $230 or $260
- Delivery
- Pearson VUE
- Retake
- 90-day wait
Ethics Check
Legal, ethical, client, consult, document
LawCodeClient welfareConsultDocument
Confidentiality vs Reporting
Confidentiality
- Protect privacy
- Use releases
- Share minimum
Reporting
- Abuse concerns
- Serious threat
- Legal duty
Privacy yields to safety
Ethics Picker
- Info request→Check release(Scope limits)
- Boundary issue→Assess harm(Document rationale)
- Client choice→Support autonomy(Assess capacity)
- Colleague impaired→Follow protocol(Protect clients)
- Competence gap→Consult refer(Scope limit)
- Termination risk→Transition plan(Avoid abandonment)
Ethics Priorities
- Safety
- Protect life
- Law
- Know limits
- Ethics code
- Guide conduct
- Supervision
- Consult early
- Documentation
- Record rationale
- Competence
- Stay within scope
- Integrity
- Avoid deception
Confidentiality
- Informed consent
- Explain limits
- Release
- Written permission
- Minimum necessary
- Share least
- Duty warn
- Protect target
- Mandated report
- Report abuse
- Privilege
- Court protection
- Records
- Secure access
Boundaries + Justice
- Dual role
- Role conflict
- Gift
- Assess meaning
- Self-disclosure
- Client benefit
- Termination
- Planned transition
- Bias
- Check assumptions
- Access
- Remove barriers
- Advocacy
- Address systems
FIRST Action
F-I-R-S-T: Facts, Immediacy, Risk, Safety, Team
Facts firstImmediacyRiskSafetyTeam consult
Assessment vs Intervention
Assessment
- Clarify facts
- Identify risk
- Formulate needs
Intervention
- Act on plan
- Apply method
- Coordinate care
Know before doing
Risk Picker
- Suicide cue→Direct risk assessment(Intent plan means)
- Targeted threat→Protective action(Law plus consult)
- Child harm→Mandated report(Safety first)
- Elder exploitation→Mandated steps(Jurisdiction rules)
- Acute psychosis→Higher care(Safety capacity)
- Medical confusion→Medical coordination(Rule out cause)
Assessment Core
- Engagement
- Build rapport
- BPS
- Whole context
- MSE
- Current functioning
- Risk
- Safety status
- Strengths
- Protective factors
- Collateral
- Consent-bound data
- Culture
- Meaning context
Risk Scan
Intent, plan, means, time, past, protection
IntentPlanMeansTimeHistoryProtection
Risk vs Diagnosis
Risk
- Immediate safety
- Intent means
- Protective factors
Diagnosis
- Pattern criteria
- Rule-outs
- Clinical formulation
Safety before labels
Risk Assessment
- Intent
- Desire to act
- Plan
- Specific method
- Means
- Access available
- Timeframe
- Immediacy
- History
- Prior attempts
- Protection
- Reasons living
- Safety plan
- Concrete steps
Diagnosis + Planning
- DSM
- Diagnostic criteria
- Rule-out
- Check alternatives
- Medical cause
- Coordinate care
- Substance cause
- Differentiate effects
- Goals
- Measurable outcomes
- Objectives
- Specific steps
- Baseline
- Starting measure
Resources + Systems
- Triage
- Match acuity
- Referral
- Link service
- Eligibility
- Program rules
- Discharge
- Transition needs
- Medication
- Effects context
- Barriers
- Access gaps
- Support
- Natural helpers
Practice Flow
Engage, assess, plan, intervene, evaluate
EngageAssessPlanInterveneEvaluate
Counseling vs Case Management
Counseling
- Therapeutic change
- Skills insight
- Clinical goals
Case management
- Service linkage
- Coordination
- Resource access
Therapy vs linkage
Intervention Picker
- Crisis state→Stabilize(Ground safety)
- Automatic thoughts→CBT(Thought record)
- Ambivalence→MI(Elicit change)
- Emotion dysregulation→DBT skills(Tolerance regulation)
- Family conflict→Systems work(Interaction cycles)
- Resource gap→Case management(Link services)
Intervention Methods
- Crisis
- Stabilize first
- CBT
- Thought behavior link
- DBT
- Skills regulation
- MI
- Resolve ambivalence
- SFBT
- Exceptions scaling
- Trauma-informed
- Avoid retrauma
- Family systems
- Interaction patterns
CBT vs MI
CBT
- Thought patterns
- Behavior change
- Homework practice
MI
- Ambivalence
- Change talk
- Autonomy support
Restructure vs evoke
Case Management
- Coordination
- Align providers
- Advocacy
- Secure services
- Follow-up
- Verify linkage
- Level care
- Match intensity
- Teach-back
- Confirm understanding
- Harm reduction
- Reduce risk
- Continuity
- Warm handoff
Process vs Outcome
Process
- Delivery fidelity
- Attendance
- Implementation
Outcome
- Client change
- Goal progress
- Measured results
How vs results
Evaluation + Supervision
- Process eval
- Implementation quality
- Outcome eval
- Goal achievement
- Reliability
- Consistent measure
- Validity
- Measures target
- Single-subject
- Client over time
- Consultation
- Expert input
- Impairment
- Protect clients
Common Traps
Rapport vs safety
Rapport matters ≠ Safety overrides
Consent vs full disclosure
Consent has scope ≠ Disclose minimum
Autonomy vs capacity
Honor choice ≠ Assess capacity
Diagnosis vs medical cause
DSM guides ≠ Medicine may explain
Best vs possible
Many are plausible ≠ One fits sequence
Referral vs abandonment
Referral links ≠ Abandonment drops
Last Minute
- 1.Weights: 35-36 / 32-33 / 32
- 2.After Aug 3: 122 questions
- 3.Four hours still applies
- 4.Ethics first; assess facts
- 5.Safety beats rapport
- 6.Consent limits sharing
- 7.Mandatory reporting breaks confidentiality
- 8.Assess before intervention
- 9.Direct suicide questions are appropriate
- 10.Goals must be measurable
- 11.Rule out medical causes
- 12.Document consultation rationale
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