APSW/masters level certification...

[Duaa77]

Hello,

I know this is not exactly the ideal place to posting the following questions, but I have not been able to find any message board/forum that deals with this topic. I have an MSW, and have a job in which I need to obtain certification. I took, and passed, the state certification, and now it is time for me to register and take the masters level certification examine(it's called an APSW exam in my stated). The problem is that I have no idea how to go about studying. I bought the "guide" they sell in their official website, but all it is is a practice exam in which it has questions and gives the answers in the back. Don't get me wrong, I am sure this will be useful, but in the meantime I am struggling to figure out what exactly I should study. I can't find any study guides online, nor is there a lot of information on what terms/information I should study.

 

Any advice would be great!
 

P.S. My focus during my MSW was child welfare, and I didn't really have any classes that were not related to child welfare.

 

[pippapants]

Based on this website, it sounds like you've already taken the state exam and just have to do the ASBW exam now, which everyone takes.  If you're taking it now, you'll need to get super up-to-date materials, because it's going to cover the DSM-V and not the DSM-IV.

I would google "ASBW exam prep" and see what you find.  Are there other students from your program that may have advice?  Or professors?  Most schools of social work can make recommendations for how to get prepared.

[Catlovers141]

If you are studying for the masters level licensing exam, I would highly recommend getting "Social Work ASWB Masters Exam Guide: A Comprehensive Study Guide for Success".  It is essentially a study guide along with a practice exam, and many people swear by it.  It includes tips for how to answer the questions, as well as a review of content areas.

I also attended a day-long training provided by NASW, which was helpful, and the book was included with the cost of the training.

[jillchristine]

The book that I believe Catlovers is talking about is by Dawn Apgar, and she is one of the individuals that teaches the NASW workshops, so she knows what she's doing and the book is extremely helpful. The exam is broken up into four sections and Dawn breaks it all down for you. In addition, there is a practice exam on NASW's website that is so important to take prior to the test. This will show what categories you need to work on and give you an example of how the exam will look on test day. Remember the exam is general, not state-specific so you will need to know a lot of broad information that would be applicable in the "ideal" social work world, not necessarily what you would do or what you should do in your state. 

[Duaa77]

Sorry for my late response everyone! Thank you for your advice. I bought the official practice exam, and though its useful to know the explanations for the answers, I am disappointed that it costs so much and provides nothing to study. 

To be honest I thought the state exam was a bit of a joke because it is open book, and I googled everything(apparently that's what most people do as well). I would assume that if someone has a BSW/MSW they would know how to look for information.

I will look up the book mentioned above.

 

Thanks again!