Passing your National Licensing Exam
Getting licensed can open up incredible opportunities, but the exam can seem daunting. Our podcasts make passing more achievable and even fun. Dr Hutchinson and Stacy’s energy and passion for this content will get you motivated and confident.
We break things down in understandable ways - no stuffiness or complexity and focus on the critical parts you need so your valuable study time counts. You’ll come away feeling like, “I can do this!” Whether it’s nailing down diagnoses, theoretical approaches, or applying ethics in challenging situations, we help you get into a licensed mindset. Knowledge domains we cover in these podcasts include:
Professional Practice and Ethics
Intake, Assessment, & Diagnosis
Areas of Clinical Focus
Treatment Planning
Counseling Skills and Interventions
Core Counseling Attributes
And, of course, the DSM-5-TR.
If you listen, you might surprise yourself at how much you absorb and enjoy it along the way. Take that first step – you’ll gain confidence and valuable skills and feel confident getting ready for your licensing exam!
Passing your National Licensing Exam
Personality Development vs. Personality Disorders
Struggling to differentiate personality development from personality disorders? You're not alone. This episode tackles one of the most challenging distinctions that therapy students face when preparing for licensing exams.
We dive deep into the fundamental nature of personality development—a natural, ongoing process that begins in childhood and continues through adulthood. This development is shaped by genetics, environment, experiences, and relationships, creating unique patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that remain adaptable throughout life. Children raised in supportive environments typically develop confidence and healthy relationship skills, demonstrating the powerful impact of formative experiences on personality formation.
Contrast this with personality disorders—mental health conditions marked by rigid, inflexible, and maladaptive patterns that cause significant distress and impairment. We explore specific examples, including how borderline personality disorder manifests as fear of abandonment and relationship instability, while antisocial personality disorder appears as consistent disregard for others' rights without remorse. The critical differences extend across multiple dimensions: adaptability versus rigidity, functional impact, relationship to cultural norms, and treatment approaches. While personality disorders show remarkable persistence without intervention, specialized therapies offer hope for meaningful improvement, though typically requiring longer-term and more intensive work than other mental health conditions.
Whether you're preparing for a licensing exam or seeking to enhance your clinical understanding, this episode provides the clarity you need to distinguish between healthy personality development and clinically significant disorders. Remember, if you need additional support with exam preparation, Bruce Snipes offers one-on-one tutoring—reach out at brucessnipestutor@gmail.com to boost your confidence and clinical knowledge.
If you need to study for your national licensing exam, try the free samplers at: LicensureExams
This podcast is not associated with the NBCC, AMFTRB, ASW, ANCC, NASP, NAADAC, CCMC, NCPG, CRCC, or any state or governmental agency responsible for licensure.
Hi you fantastic therapists. Today we're gonna help you differentiate personality development from personality disorders. I just received a text from Bruce Snipes, who offers tutoring for students preparing to pass their licensing exam. He let me know that many students have been finding it challenging to differentiate between personality development and personality disorders, and that's completely understandable, as these concepts can sometimes overlap in complicated ways. And, by the way, for those of you wanting additional support, bruce Snipes offers one-on-one tutoring. If you're interested in working with Bruce, you can reach out directly at brucessnipestutor at gmailcom. Okay, let's get to it. Tutor at gmailcom. Okay, let's get to it.
Stacy Frost:Personality development represents the natural ongoing process through which individuals form their unique patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. This development journey begins in childhood and continues through adolescence into early adulthood. It's shaped by an intricate interplay of genetic predispositions. It's shaped by an intricate interplay of genetic predispositions, environmental influences, formative life experiences and interpersonal relationships. As illustrated in the passage, a child raised in a supportive family environment where trust is fostered and conflict is managed constructively, may develop into an adult characterized by confidence, adaptability and the capacity to form healthy relationships. Theories like the Big Five personality traits, such as extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness describe the normal spectrum of personality differences that emerge as people grow and adapt to their surroundings. These traits possess inherent flexibility, enabling individuals to modify their behavior according to various situations. This adaptability helps them effectively manage stress, cultivate meaningful relationships and function productively within society.
Stacy Frost:In contrast, a personality disorder constitutes a mental health condition marked by enduring inflexible and maladaptive patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. These patterns significantly deviate from cultural expectations and generate substantial distress or impairment across social, occupational or other important domains of functioning. Unlike the healthy evolution of personality, where traits can shift and adapt, personality disorders are characterized by rigidity and a lack of flexibility. They typically emerge during adolescence or early adulthood, and intervention often continue throughout the lifespan. The passage illustrates this contrast with specific examples. Someone with borderline personality disorder might experience profound fears of abandonment, unstable interpersonal relationships and impulsive behaviors that repeatedly disrupt both their life and the lives of those around them. Similarly, individuals with antisocial personality disorder consistently disregard the rights of others, often engaging in deception, manipulation or criminal behavior without remorse. Such individuals may repeatedly violate laws, act impulsively and demonstrate a minimal concern for others' safety or well-being.
Stacy Frost:The fundamental difference between personality development and personality disorders extends across multiple critical dimensions that profoundly impact clinical assessment and treatment. In terms of adaptability, normally developed personalities demonstrate psychological flexibility, the ability to adjust responses based on context, learn from experiences and modify behavior when circumstances change. This flexibility allows individuals to navigate life's complexities with resilience. Conversely, personality disorders are characterized by psychological rigidity, fixed patterns that persist regardless of their ineffectiveness or the negative consequences they produce. This inflexibility manifests as the same maladaptive responses repeating across different situations, severely limiting the individual's ability to adapt. Regarding functional impact, healthy personality development facilitates effective functioning across life domains. It enables individuals to maintain employment, develop meaningful relationships, pursue goals and experience satisfaction. In contrast, personality disorders significantly impair functioning, creating persistent difficulties in work performance, relationship stability and overall life satisfaction.
Stacy Frost:The distress experienced by individuals with personality disorders often extends beyond themselves to family members, colleagues and others in their social circles. The relationship with cultural norms represents another crucial distinction. Normal personality development occurs within a cultural context where individuals internalize and express cultural values while maintaining their unique individuality. While personality styles may vary, they generally align with broader cultural expectations. May vary, they generally align with broader cultural expectations. Personality disorders, however, involve patterns that markedly deviate from cultural norms behaviors, thoughts and feelings that significantly diverge from what would be expected in the individual's cultural context, often leading to social rejection, isolation or conflict.
Stacy Frost:Finally, the trajectory and treatability of these conditions differ substantially. Healthy personality development follows a generally progressive path toward greater complexity, integration and maturity. While normal personalities evolve throughout life, personality disorders show remarkable persistence without intervention. Personality disorders show remarkable persistence without intervention, maintaining the same problematic patterns decade after decade. However, contemporary research has challenged earlier pessimism about treating personality disorders, with evidence supporting that specialized approaches like dialectical behavior therapy, schema therapy and mentalization-based treatment can produce meaningful improvements in personality functioning and quality of life, though these changes typically require longer-term, more intensive therapeutic work than other mental health conditions. Well, that's more than you need to know, and thanks for joining me today. Remember it's in there.
