The NASW Press book “80 Clinical Vignettes for Test Taking, Licensing Exam Prep, and Practical Applications” is written by Liz B. Johnston, PhD, LCSW, associate professor of social work at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo.
Clinical case studies are a fundamental tool for developing “practice wisdom,” the intuitive understanding of client dynamics and core issues in a case, the author says. The book’s collection of 80 real-world-based clinical vignettes offers a diverse range of clinical counseling cases, covering all the major DSM-5-TR diagnostic categories.
The vignettes are based on Johnston’s 40 years of experience working in clinics, medical hospitals and private practice. “After consulting a list of frequently used DSM diagnoses, I wrote two cases for each diagnosis,” Johnston said. “Additional cases were written for less frequently used diagnoses, totaling 80 cases.”
Johnston was inspired to write the book after fellow social workers started asking to borrow her case vignettes. She wrote a study book titled “100 Clinical Vignettes,” which she self-published and sold “until California switched to the national ASWB (Association of Social Work Boards) test,” she said. “Later, I became an ASWB question writer and then served on committees that reviewed exam questions. I gained insight about studying for licensing exams by analyzing cases, diagnoses and questions.”
Johnston submitted an updated version of the book to the NASW Press, where during the editing and publishing process content was modernized, the cases were reduced to 80, and diagnoses were updated to DSM-5-TR. The book includes tips and guidance to pass licensing exams.
NASW Press products are available in print and eBook at NASWPress.org.