C-SSWS flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Informed consent elements

A valid consent explains purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, alternatives, and the right to withdraw, and confirms the client's capacity and voluntariness, documented in the record.

Mandated reporting threshold

The legal trigger is reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect, not confirmed proof; the worker reports to the designated agency and documents the report promptly.

Duty to warn

When a client presents a serious threat to an identifiable third party, the clinician may warn the intended victim, notify police, or arrange hospitalization, following state law.

Boundary crossing versus violation

A crossing is a minor, often unavoidable deviation from customary practice that does not harm the client; a violation exploits the relationship or causes harm.

Erikson's identity stage

Adolescence centers on identity versus role confusion, with the virtue of fidelity; successful resolution yields a coherent sense of self across roles and relationships.

Piaget's concrete operations

Roughly ages seven to eleven, children gain conservation, classification, and reversibility, but reasoning remains tied to concrete objects rather than abstract propositions.

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems

Development is shaped by nested systems: microsystem (direct settings), mesosystem (links between settings), exosystem (indirect settings), macrosystem (culture), and chronosystem (time).

Acculturation strategies

Berry's model crosses heritage-culture maintenance with host-culture adoption, producing integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization as four adaptation strategies.

Cultural humility

A lifelong stance of self-critique and openness that redresses power imbalances and builds institutional accountability, rather than claiming mastery of another culture's content.

Biopsychosocial assessment

A structured appraisal of biological, psychological, and social factors, including history, mental status, substance use, family, strengths, and risk indicators.

SMART goals

Service-plan goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, each paired with observable objectives and a review date.

Mental status examination

A structured observation of appearance, behavior, speech, mood and affect, thought process and content, cognition, insight, and judgment, recorded as the baseline for change.

Suicide risk assessment elements

Assess ideation, plan, intent, means, prior attempts, substance use, and protective factors; document each element and the resulting safety actions.

Motivational interviewing OARS

Core skills are open questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries; the clinician elicits and reinforces change talk while avoiding argument and confrontation.

Stages of change

Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and relapse; interventions are matched to the client's current stage rather than applied uniformly.

Transference and countertransference

Transference is the client's projection of past relational patterns onto the worker; countertransference is the worker's emotional reaction to the client, useful when examined.

Solution-focused miracle question

A technique asking the client to describe how life would differ if the problem were solved overnight, generating concrete goals and observable signs of progress.

Group stages

Groups typically move through forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning; norms and cohesion established early shape member participation and outcome.

Crisis equilibrium

A crisis is a temporary loss of equilibrium when usual coping fails; intervention first restores safety and functioning before addressing underlying issues.

Safety planning components

A written plan lists warning signs, coping strategies, social and professional contacts, means restriction steps, and reasons for living, reviewed with the client.

Trauma-informed principles

Practice organized around safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural humility, while anticipating trauma responses without requiring disclosure.

De-escalation techniques

Reduce stimulation, maintain safe distance, use a calm tone, offer simple choices, and avoid arguing with delusions or confronting the person aggressively.

TANF

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families provides time-limited cash assistance with work requirements; eligibility rules and benefit levels are set by each state within federal limits.

SSI versus SSDI

SSI is means-tested for aged, blind, or disabled people with limited income and resources; SSDI requires an insured work history and pays based on earnings record.

Medicare versus Medicaid

Medicare is federal health coverage for people 65 and older and some disabled people; Medicaid is income-based and jointly funded by state and federal governments.

IDEA guarantees

Eligible students receive a free appropriate public education, an individualized education program, and placement in the least restrictive environment with procedural safeguards.

Case versus cause advocacy

Case advocacy secures resources or rights for an individual client; cause advocacy targets policies, systems, or institutions to benefit a broader population.

Community organizing models

Locality development builds participation and consensus, social planning relies on expert analysis, and social action confronts power imbalances through organized conflict.

Power analysis

Mapping decision-makers, their interests, allies, opponents, and leverage points before selecting advocacy tactics and targeting a campaign.

SOAP note format

A progress note organized as Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan, linking reported data, observed findings, clinical judgment, and next steps.

Release of information requirements

A valid release names the client, recipient, specific information, purpose, expiration date, and signature, and may be revoked in writing by the client.

Burnout components

Maslach describes burnout as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization or cynicism, and reduced sense of personal accomplishment, arising from chronic workplace stress.

Vicarious trauma

A cumulative shift in the clinician's beliefs, schemas, and worldview resulting from repeated empathic engagement with clients' traumatic material, distinct from acute stress.