As we have been discussing recent changes made with ASWB, another change effective January 2025 was that the SW licensure exams now include questions related to DSM-5-TR. They were previously using DSM-5 without the updated text revisions. Click here to see a post from AATBS about the differences and updates from DSM-5 to DSM-5-TR then scroll below that to see a suggestion of one way to study disorders...
https://aatbs.com/dsm-5-tr-changes
Common questions pertaining to disorders found on the exam include similar ones such as “A client comes into your office….presents with a few symptoms….then what is the MOST likely DSM-5-TR diagnosis", based on only the symptoms mentioned in the vignette. Then, a lot of times, you will see that all four options will include similar disorders. Therefore, you need to recognize the differences between similar disorders. My biggest recommendation with this is to study similar disorders together. This will simplify studying and make for easier organization and retrieval in your brain.
For example:
On the front of a flash card–group Bipolar I and Bipolar II together
On the back of that same flash card–list the symptoms of both of these disorders.
That way you are able to recognize the differences between the two similar disorders.Â
Other examples of similar disorder to group together include:
Brief Psychotic Disorder, Schizophreniform, Schizophrenia on one note card...
Mood Disorders on one note card...
Acute Stress Disorder and PTSD on one note card...
Personality Disorders on one note card...
Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
And so on….
What are some other ways to study disorders? Share your ideas and what you have found to be helpful below!