ASWB Clinical cheat sheet

Erikson's eight stages pair each psychosocial crisis with a virtue: trust/mistrust (hope), autonomy/shame (will), initiative/guilt (purpose), industry/inferiority (competence), identity/role confusion (fidelity), intimacy/isolation (love), generativity/stagnation (care), integrity/despair (wisdom).

Piaget's stages are sensorimotor (0-2, object permanence), preoperational (2-7, egocentrism, symbolic play), concrete operational (7-11, conservation, reversibility), and formal operational (11+, abstract and hypothetical reasoning).

Kohlberg's three levels are preconventional (punishment/obedience and instrumental exchange), conventional (interpersonal conformity and law-and-order), and postconventional (social contract and universal ethical principles).

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model orders systems microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem; the chronosystem captures time and life transitions.

Bowlby and Ainsworth describe attachment patterns as secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized; secure attachment predicts better affect regulation later in life.

Vygotsky's zone of proximal development is the gap between independent performance and performance with adult or peer scaffolding; private speech is internalized as inner speech.

Acculturation strategies follow Berry's two axes (heritage retention and host-culture contact): integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization.

Minority stress model (Meyer) holds that prejudice, stigma, and internalized stigma add chronic stress that explains elevated distress in marginalized groups, rather than group identity itself.

Classical conditioning pairs a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus until the neutral stimulus alone elicits the response; operant conditioning shapes behavior through reinforcement and punishment contingencies.

DSM-5-TR substance use disorder requires at least 2 of 11 criteria within a 12-month period; severity is mild (2-3), moderate (4-5), or severe (6 or more).

Major depressive disorder requires 5 or more symptoms for at least 2 weeks, including depressed mood or anhedonia; a manic or hypomanic episode rules out MDD.

A manic episode requires at least 1 week of elevated or irritable mood plus increased goal-directed activity and 3 or more symptoms (4 if mood is only irritable); hypomania requires 4 or more days without marked impairment.

The mental status exam components are appearance, behavior, speech, mood, affect, thought process, thought content, perception, cognition, insight, and judgment.

Suicide risk assessment documents ideation, intent, plan, means access, prior attempts, protective factors, and a safety plan; prior attempt is among the strongest single predictors.

The biopsychosocial formulation integrates biological, psychological, and social contributors and maps them to a multiaxial-style problem list and intervention plan.

Screening instruments map to constructs: PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, AUDIT for alcohol, C-SSRS for suicide risk, and MMSE or MoCA for cognition.

Differential diagnosis of psychosis distinguishes schizophrenia (6 or more months with 1 month active symptoms), schizophreniform (1-6 months), and brief psychotic disorder (1 day to 1 month).

A treatment plan states measurable goals, specific interventions, responsible parties, and a review timeline; goals are written in behavioral, observable terms.

CBT's cognitive model links situation, automatic thought, emotion, and behavior; cognitive restructuring targets distorted thoughts such as catastrophizing and all-or-nothing thinking.

Behavioral activation schedules valued activities to increase reinforcement and reduce avoidance in depression; it is as effective as full CBT for many clients.

Motivational interviewing uses OARS (open questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries) and targets change talk while rolling with resistance rather than confronting it.

The stages of change are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination/relapse; interventions match the client's current stage.

Psychodynamic approaches use transference, countertransference, defense mechanisms, and working alliance as core change mechanisms.

Solution-focused therapy uses the miracle question, scaling questions, and exception-finding to build on existing strengths and prior solutions.

Trauma-focused interventions such as TF-CBT and EMDR combine psychoeducation, coping skills, and structured processing of trauma memories; stabilization precedes processing.

Case management functions include needs assessment, service coordination, advocacy, linkage to resources, monitoring, and documentation of progress toward goals.

Group stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning; cohesion and universality are among the strongest therapeutic factors (Yalom).

Informed consent requires capacity, disclosure of risks and benefits, alternatives, voluntariness, and documentation; consent is ongoing, not a single event.

Confidentiality limits include imminent danger to self or others, suspected child or elder abuse, court order, and written client authorization; each limit is disclosed at intake.

Tarasoff-style duty to protect arises when a client makes a serious threat of violence toward an identifiable victim; actions include warning, notifying police, or hospitalization as law allows.

Boundary crossings are minor deviations that may be clinically useful; boundary violations exploit or harm the client and are always prohibited.

Multiple relationships are discouraged when they risk impairment of objectivity or exploitation; sexual relationships with current clients are prohibited.

Competence requires practicing within training and experience, seeking supervision or consultation when outside it, and pursuing continuing education.

Termination is appropriate when goals are met, the client no longer needs service, or the clinician cannot provide benefit; it requires notice, referrals, and avoiding abandonment.

Mandated reporting of suspected child abuse is triggered by reasonable suspicion, not proof; the report is made to the designated agency within the statutory time frame.

Records are retained per statute and payer rules; minors' confidentiality is limited by guardian rights and state law, and the limits are explained to both parties.