This is probably the strangest week of the year to be thinking about your licensing exam. Half your office is out. Your family's asking what you want for Christmas dinner. You're trying to figure out if you should study or just... not.
And if you're planning to take the ASWB exam in the next few months, you might be feeling guilty about taking time off. Or resentful about not having time off. Or confused about whether you should be doing something productive with these weird in-between days.
Here's what we'd suggest: if you have a few uninterrupted hours this week—and that's a big if—use them to take a baseline practice test.
Not to cram. Not to prove you're ready. Just to find out where you actually stand before you make any decisions about studying, scheduling, or how to spend January.
Most people approach exam prep backwards. They start by reviewing content. They reread textbooks, make flashcards, watch videos about DSM criteria. They spend weeks or months on this before they ever take a practice test.
Then they finally take a practice test and discover their score doesn't reflect all those hours of content review. And they panic.
Here's why that happens: the ASWB exam doesn't test whether you know information. It tests whether you can apply clinical reasoning under pressure. Those are different skills.
You can know every theory, every intervention model, every ethical standard and still struggle with exam questions—because the questions aren't asking you to recite information. They're asking you to prioritize competing demands, identify the FIRST action in complex scenarios, distinguish between assessment and intervention, and make judgment calls about MOST appropriate responses.
You can't know if you can do those things until you try. And you can't build those skills efficiently until you know which ones need work.
That's what a baseline test tells you.
A baseline test isn't about your score. Your score right now doesn't matter. What matters is the information you get about your current skills.
When you take a baseline practice test, you learn:
Which types of questions challenge you. Are you missing recall questions about basic content? That means you need to review knowledge. Are you missing reasoning questions where you have to weigh multiple appropriate interventions? That means you need to practice clinical judgment, not memorize more content.
Where your content gaps actually are. Not where you think they are based on what you studied in school. Where they actually show up on exam-style questions. You might discover you're solid on assessment but weak on intervention planning. Or strong on ethics but uncertain about trauma-informed care approaches.
How you perform under time pressure. You have about 85 seconds per question. Some test-takers finish early. Some feel rushed the entire time. You need to know which camp you're in so you can adjust your preparation strategy.
What your stamina looks like. Can you maintain focus through all 170 questions? Or does your performance drop off around question 100? This isn't a weakness—it's information. And it tells you what kind of practice you need.
How you handle not knowing answers. Some people spiral when they're uncertain. Others can move on and stay composed. Understanding your emotional response to challenging questions helps you develop strategies for test day.
None of this requires you to be "ready." You just need to be honest about where you are right now.
This week has something most weeks don't: contained time blocks.
Maybe you're off work for a few days. Maybe the office is quiet and you can actually focus. Maybe family obligations start Wednesday, but today and tomorrow are open. Maybe you're traveling but you'll have time in the airport or on the plane.
A practice test is self-contained. You need four hours, a quiet space, and a computer. You don't need special materials, study guides, or optimal mental conditions. You just need to show up and answer questions honestly.
Compare that to trying to study this week. If you crack open the Examination Guidebook, you'll read three pages before someone asks if you want pie. If you try to focus on DSM criteria, you'll retain nothing because your brain is tracking whether the turkey's done and when you need to leave for your in-laws.
A practice test is different. It has clear boundaries. Four hours. You're either taking it or you're not. There's no pretending to study while you're mentally somewhere else.
And because it's a baseline test, the stakes are low. You're not trying to prove anything. You're just gathering data.
This is the part where we're supposed to tell you that everyone has time if they just prioritize differently, right?
No. Some of you genuinely don't have four uninterrupted hours this week. You're working retail during the holiday rush. You're managing family dynamics that require your full attention. You're traveling across time zones with small children. You're covering shifts for colleagues who are out.
If that's you, this post isn't meant to make you feel guilty. You don't owe anyone a practice test this week.
But here's what you can do: decide when you will take one. Not "sometime in January when things calm down." An actual date. The first week of January? Second week? Put it on your calendar with a specific time block.
Because whenever you start your actual exam prep—whether that's next week or in six weeks—you need to start with assessment, not content review.
Let's say you take a practice test this week. Here's what to do with the results:
Don't panic about your score. If you're scoring in the 60s or even 50s right now and you haven't started focused prep, that's completely normal. The purpose isn't to pass a practice test today. It's to understand what you need to work on.
Look for patterns in the questions you missed. Are they clustered in certain content areas? Are you missing FIRST/NEXT questions more than BEST/MOST questions? Are you struggling with questions that require ethical judgment? These patterns tell you where to focus your study time.
Notice which questions you could narrow down to two answers. Getting down to two options means your clinical reasoning is working—you're eliminating clearly wrong answers. You just need more practice with the final decision-making step.
Pay attention to your confidence level. Were there questions where you knew the answer immediately? Questions where you had no idea? Questions where you thought you knew but weren't sure? This helps you distinguish between content you've mastered, content you need to review, and content you need to learn from scratch.
Identify your pace. Did you finish with time to spare? Run out of time? Finish exactly when time expired? This tells you whether you need to practice working faster or whether you need to slow down and read more carefully.
In SWTP's practice tests, you get detailed breakdowns of exactly which content areas you're strong in and which need work. You can see your performance across all the major domains—Human Development, Assessment, Intervention, Professional Ethics—and drill down into specific competencies within each area.
That's the information that turns "I should study more" into "I need to focus on crisis intervention questions and ethical decision-making scenarios."
Here's what we're suggesting you do:
If you have four uninterrupted hours this week: Take a full-length practice test. Treat it like the real exam. No looking things up, no breaks to check your phone, no "I'll just pause here and come back later." Get your baseline data so you can make informed decisions about when to schedule your exam and how to use your study time.
If you have two uninterrupted hours: Take one 85-question section. It's not a full test, but it gives you meaningful data about question types, content areas, and your ability to maintain focus. You can take the second section next week.
If you have less than two hours or no quiet space: Don't try to squeeze in a practice test. Instead, schedule when you'll take it. Put it on your calendar for a specific day and time in early January. Block out the full four hours. Protect that time like it's an actual appointment.
If you're completely burned out and need actual rest: Take the rest. You're not going to retain information or build skills when you're depleted. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is recover so you can study effectively later.
None of these options is better than the others. They're just honest responses to different situations.
Once you have your baseline data, you can build a realistic study plan. Not a generic "review all content areas" plan. A specific plan based on your actual performance.
If you're scoring in the low 60s with strong performance on human development questions but weak performance on intervention planning, you know to prioritize practice questions focused on intervention. You don't need to reread theories of attachment. You need to work through scenarios about treatment planning.
If you're scoring in the high 60s but running out of time, you know to practice pacing strategies. You don't need more content. You need more efficiency.
If you're scoring in the 70s, you know you're close. You can take another practice test in a few weeks to confirm consistency and then schedule your exam with confidence.
But none of this clarity is possible until you have baseline data.
The worst feeling in exam prep isn't scoring badly on a practice test. It's sitting in Pearson VUE on exam day, halfway through the test, realizing you're not as prepared as you thought you were.
That feeling—that sinking recognition that you needed more time, more practice, more focused preparation—is preventable.
You prevent it by taking practice tests early, often, and honestly. By using them as diagnostic tools, not as proof that you're ready or not ready. By treating them as information sources, not as judgments.
This week gives you a chance to get that information when the stakes are still low. When you can still adjust your timeline, your study approach, your exam date.
It's a strange week to think about licensing exams. But it might be exactly the right week to find out where you stand.
Take a baseline practice test this week. You'll get detailed results on exactly where you're strong and where you need focused practice—the foundation for everything you'll do in your actual exam prep.
And if this week doesn't work? Schedule it for early January. Just don't skip this step. Everything else you do in your preparation depends on having accurate baseline data.
Right now, get SWTP's online practice exams at a reduced price. Just $39. Get additional savings when buying more than one exam at a time-- less than $30 per exam!
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