Taking the Written Exam: Formatting, Submission, Review Process

Getting Ready to Take the Exam
Related Fields
Confidentiality and Social Media Guidelines
Closed Book Exam
Day of the Exam
Tips for Writing the Exam
Submitting the Exam
Preparation and Submission of Final Version of Exam
Document Format and Submission
CP Instructions
TEP Instructions
Exam Review and Results

Getting Ready to Take the Exam

In October you will receive instructions for taking the written exam. You will also be sent your Unique Identifier (ID#).

Related Fields

This email is to remind you to double-check and to see if the related field you are planning to use for the written exam is an “approved” related field. The list of “approved” related fields is in both the CP Study Guide and the TEP Study Guide.

If an essay contains a non-approved related field that essay is automatically failed. If you would like to nominate a related field for the “approved” list there is a procedure for that but it is too late for this exam. Only the Board of Directors has the authority to add a related field to the list of “approved” related fields and their next meeting is not until January of next year.

Confidentiality and Social Media Guidelines

In order to assure that your examination is impartially evaluated, avoid including any identifying information in your essays. Avoid comments that would enable a reviewer to identify you, your training institute or trainers, your geographic location or place of employment. You may refer to the type(s) of facility in which you practice (e.g., day treatment program, alcoholism treatment center, etc.) and the population(s) served.

Candidates who take the written exam may not post anything on social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, etc.) regarding the written exam until 72 hours after completing the written exam.

You may not disclose questions on the exam or your responses until after you receive your results on or after February 1. Candidates may only broadly discuss their feelings about the exam and their performance without revealing any specific information about the exam or answers to the essays.

Discussion of the exam questions on social media, prior to their evaluation by the examination reviewers, will jeopardize the integrity of the examination review process. Posting your answers to the exam questions may reveal your identity to the exam reviewers and interfere with your receiving a fair and impartial evaluation of your essays.

Candidates who have high profiles on social media may find it difficult to obtain an impartial evaluator for their on-site examination. All potential on-site examiners provided by the candidate are asked if they would feel comfortable passing the candidate if the on-site exam was adequate or failing the on-site exam if the candidate was less than adequate. Potential on-site examiners have withdrawn because they felt they had too much information about the prospective candidate to impartially evaluate an on-site exam.

Closed-book Exam

This is a closed book exam. You are on your honor to create new essays on the day of the exam to answer the exam questions. You may not look at your notes or any other resources when taking the exam. You may not cut and copy from any document whether printed out or on your computer. This includes copying from any materials you wrote before the exam. You may not search the internet or online for any information regarding definitions for psychodrama terms or answers for your exam.

Day of the Exam

Prior to receiving the exam by email create two separate word documents in advance with a file name based on your unique identifier (id#) followed by the letter a for part i (e.g., 1234a.doc) and b for part ii (e.g., 1234b.doc). If you requested and received approval for time accommodations please follow the unique time accommodations you received for creating and submitting the word documents on the day(s) of your exam.

You will be sent the exam in two separate emails. You will have two hours to write Part I, and three hours to write Part II. For example, if you receive the email with questions for Part I at 10:00 AM, you will return your exam by 12:00 PM.

Put your I.D. on the top of each page. You can type this in by hand, or you can use a header. Center the cumulative page numbers at the bottom of the page.

Begin each question on a new page.

At the end of each exam period attach your document to the email that was sent to you with the questions and return it to us. Failure to return your exam within the time limits may result in your exam being disqualified.

Tips for writing the exam

Relax and allow your creativity/spontaneity to emerge. Enjoy the process. You have completed your training and supervised practicum in psychodrama. Your primary and secondary trainers have endorsed you. You have considerable experience. Take a moment to center yourself and experience your creativity and spontaneity before answering each essay. You are ready to successfully pass this examination!

Read each question carefully before answering. Think about the question before you begin to answer it. Take a minute and organize your thoughts before writing your essay.

Follow the suggested time limits for each section. You must answer all the sections. Take the full time allotted to answer the question. Do not take less or more time then is allotted. Don’t forget to provide definitions and examples to support your essay.

Re-read the question and your answer to make sure you have answered the question. Within the time limit for a question, allow time to re-read the question and your answer to be sure you have answered the question. For example, if you have been asked to describe two (2) methods, be sure you have described two methods.

This is not your final copy. Focus on writing the best essay possible. Strive to be clear, coherent, and organized. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, or grammar. You will be able to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation in a final version of the exam. However, you may not rewrite sentences on your final copies or add new sentences to explain what you meant or to define a term or concept.

Preparation and Submission of Final Version of Exam

As noted above you should focus on writing the best essays possible, and then after the exam day is over you can focus on spelling, punctuation, and grammar. However, you may not rewrite sentences on your final copies or add new sentences to explain what you meant or to define a term or concept.

After submitting your exam essays, on the day of the exam, you will return to the essays you wrote and begin to prepare the final documents for submission to the ABE. This is the time to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation and to format all essays as specified below. Do not add or delete words from your essays or change the meaning in any way.

Document Format and Submission

Page format
  • standard letter size (8-1/2”x11”) paper
  • single-sided only
Text format
  • 12-point font
  • double-spaced
  • “normal” margins (1” for the top, bottom, left and right sides of the page)
    Please don’t waste space by using wider margins, a bigger font or extra spacing between the lines.\
  • Place unique identifier (ID#) in the upper right hand corner of each page. Do not put your name anywhere.
    Below the ID#, place the exam area corresponding with the essay on that page (e.g., History, Philosophy, Methodology, etc.).
    Begin each essay on a new page. Type the question in bold.
  • Insert Page number on bottom line – centered.
  • Use a footer.

CP candidate instructions

  • Save the complete exam in a single file with your unique identifier (ID#) as the file name, e.g., 1234.doc. Number pages consecutively from the first to last page (e.g., from 1 to 27). Center page number at the bottom of each page.
  • Next, save each section of your exam in a separate file. You will have seven (7) files, one each for History, Philosophy, Methodology, Sociometry, Ethics, Research and Evaluation, and Related Fields.
  • Each of the seven files for exam areas should be named with your unique identifier (ID#) and the corresponding area, as in the following examples: 1234 History.doc, 1234 Philosophy.doc, 1234 Methodology.doc, 1234 Sociometry.doc, 1234 Ethics.doc, 1234 Research.doc, 1234 Related Fields.doc
  • In each file, number pages consecutively from the first to the last page (e.g., from 1 to 3). Center page number at the bottom of each page.
    Prepare an email with all eight exam files (the entire exam plus the seven files for each exam area) attached. The subject line should contain the words “Final Written Exam” and your unique identifier (ID#), in the form: “Final Written Exam – 1234”
  • Send the email to nick@abepsychodrama.org no later than October 31.

TEP candidate instructions

  • Each file should be named with your unique identifier (ID#), for example, 1234.doc.
  • Number pages consecutively from the first to the last page (e.g., from 1 to 27). Center page number at the bottom of each page.
    Prepare an email with your exam file attached. The subject line should contain the words “Final Written Exam” and your unique identifier (ID#), in the form: “Final Written Exam – 1234”
  • Send the email to nick@abepsychodrama.org no later than October 31.

Exam Review and Results

Your essays are graded without anyone knowing your identity. The first review of your exam will occur in November and December. The Board of Directors reviews the written examination results at its Winter Board meeting and gives the final review and approval. Any failing evaluations will receive a second review by the Board.

You can expect your results by February 1. If there are any problems, you will be contacted by the Executive Director or a member of the board.

Day of the Exam

You will be sent the exam in two separate emails. You will have two hours to write Part I, and three hours to write Part II. You will also be given fifteen minutes for each part to format and return your essays in one document. For example, if you receive the email with questions for Part I at 10:00 AM, you will return your exam by 12:15 PM; you will receive the email with questions for Part II at 1:00 PM and must return your exam by 4:15 PM.

When you receive the exam email, paste the exam questions into the Word document you prepared in advance with a file name based on your unique identifier (ID#) followed by the letter A for Part I (e.g., 1234A.doc) and B for Part II (e.g., 1234B.doc).

Put your I.D. and the page number on the top of each page. You can type this in by hand, or you can use a header.

Begin each question on a new page.

At the end of each exam period attach your document to the email that was sent to you with the questions and return it to us. Failure to return your exam within the time limits may result in your exam being disqualified.

Tips for writing the exam

Relax and allow your creativity/spontaneity to emerge. Enjoy the process. You have completed your training and supervised practicum in psychodrama. Your primary and secondary trainers have endorsed you. You have considerable experience. Take a moment to center yourself and experience your creativity and spontaneity before answering each essay. You are ready to successfully pass this examination!

Read each question carefully before answering. Think about the question before you begin to answer it. Take a minute and organize your thoughts before writing your essay.

Follow the suggested time limits for each section. You must answer all the sections. Take the full time allotted to answer the question. Do not take less or more time then is allotted. Don’t forget to provide definitions and examples to support your essay.

Re-read the question and your answer to make sure you have answered the question. Within the time limit for a question, allow time to re-read the question and your answer to be sure you have answered the question. For example, if you have been asked to describe two (2) methods, be sure you have described two methods.

This is not your final copy. Focus on writing the best essay possible. Strive to be clear, coherent, and organized. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, or grammar. You will be able to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation in a final printed version of the exam. However, you may not rewrite sentences on your final copies or add new sentences to explain what you meant or to define a term or concept.

Preparation and Submission of Final Printed Version of Exam

Instructions for preparing and submitting the written copies of your exam will be sent in a separate email.

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