ASWB Clinical Exam 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The situation described highlights a lack of congruence in communication. Congruence refers to the alignment between verbal and non-verbal communication. In this scenario, the client's observable distress contradicts their verbal assertion that "everything is fine." This discrepancy indicates that, while the client is expressing one thing verbally, their emotional state and body language tell a different story.

Lack of congruence can often arise from various underlying issues, such as fear of vulnerability, a desire to avoid discussing uncomfortable topics, or even internalized stigma regarding mental health issues. Understanding this conflict is crucial for the social worker, as it can provide insight into the client’s emotional struggles and pave the way for deeper therapeutic conversation.

Other options, while relevant to various psychological concepts, do not accurately describe this particular scenario. For example, denial of psychic conflict suggests a broader avoidance of internal struggles rather than a specific mismatch in communication. The desire to please the social worker might explain the client’s denial but does not fully encapsulate the observed dissonance. Lastly, symptomatology of a psychiatric diagnosis would imply a clear-cut set of symptoms associated with a specific disorder, which does not directly pertain to the phenomenon of mismatched verbal and non-verbal cues in this context