PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR THE ADVANCED
PRACTICE PSYCHIATRIC NURSE KATHLEEN
WHEELER ESSENTIAL STUDY QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
◉ What is the duty to protect established by Tarasoff?
Answer: The obligation to warn an identifiable potential victim
when a serious threat is made.
◉ What are the criteria for involuntary hospitalization?
Answer: Mental illness plus danger to self, danger to others, or grave
disability.
◉ What is meant by 'means restriction counseling'?
Answer: Counseling that focuses on negotiating temporary off-site
storage or safe keeping of lethal means.
◉ What are warning signs versus risk factors in suicide assessment?
Answer: Warning signs are proximal and behavioral, while risk
factors are statistical and long-range.
,◉ What is the importance of documenting reasoning in safety
assessments?
Answer: It provides a defensible rationale for clinical decisions
beyond just stating risk levels.
◉ What is the highest-risk transition point for suicidal patients?
Answer: The first days to weeks after psychiatric hospital discharge.
◉ What should be included in a mental status exam?
Answer: Assessment of appearance, behavior, speech, mood, affect,
thought processes, and cognition.
◉ What does the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview assess?
Answer: The patient's explanatory model of their distress and
cultural identity.
◉ What is the significance of interpersonal patterns in assessment?
Answer: They reveal repeating relationship themes that are crucial
for psychodynamic formulation.
◉ What is the role of ego strength in psychotherapy?
Answer: It influences how supportive or expressive the therapy
should be.
, ◉ What is the importance of assessing strengths and supports?
Answer: They help identify coping mechanisms that can be utilized
in therapy.
◉ What is the standard for level-of-care decisions in psychotherapy?
Answer: The least restrictive environment that maintains safety.
◉ What is the origin of psychodynamic psychotherapy?
Answer: It is a modern, briefer, and more flexible descendant of
psychoanalytic theory developed by Freud.
◉ What does 'psychic determinism' imply in psychodynamic theory?
Answer: It suggests that nothing mental is random; all thoughts and
behaviors have underlying causes.
◉ How does the unconscious influence behavior according to
psychodynamic theory?
Answer: Most of what drives behavior is outside of awareness,
making the unconscious real and powerful.
◉ What role do early experiences play in adult personality?
PRACTICE PSYCHIATRIC NURSE KATHLEEN
WHEELER ESSENTIAL STUDY QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
◉ What is the duty to protect established by Tarasoff?
Answer: The obligation to warn an identifiable potential victim
when a serious threat is made.
◉ What are the criteria for involuntary hospitalization?
Answer: Mental illness plus danger to self, danger to others, or grave
disability.
◉ What is meant by 'means restriction counseling'?
Answer: Counseling that focuses on negotiating temporary off-site
storage or safe keeping of lethal means.
◉ What are warning signs versus risk factors in suicide assessment?
Answer: Warning signs are proximal and behavioral, while risk
factors are statistical and long-range.
,◉ What is the importance of documenting reasoning in safety
assessments?
Answer: It provides a defensible rationale for clinical decisions
beyond just stating risk levels.
◉ What is the highest-risk transition point for suicidal patients?
Answer: The first days to weeks after psychiatric hospital discharge.
◉ What should be included in a mental status exam?
Answer: Assessment of appearance, behavior, speech, mood, affect,
thought processes, and cognition.
◉ What does the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview assess?
Answer: The patient's explanatory model of their distress and
cultural identity.
◉ What is the significance of interpersonal patterns in assessment?
Answer: They reveal repeating relationship themes that are crucial
for psychodynamic formulation.
◉ What is the role of ego strength in psychotherapy?
Answer: It influences how supportive or expressive the therapy
should be.
, ◉ What is the importance of assessing strengths and supports?
Answer: They help identify coping mechanisms that can be utilized
in therapy.
◉ What is the standard for level-of-care decisions in psychotherapy?
Answer: The least restrictive environment that maintains safety.
◉ What is the origin of psychodynamic psychotherapy?
Answer: It is a modern, briefer, and more flexible descendant of
psychoanalytic theory developed by Freud.
◉ What does 'psychic determinism' imply in psychodynamic theory?
Answer: It suggests that nothing mental is random; all thoughts and
behaviors have underlying causes.
◉ How does the unconscious influence behavior according to
psychodynamic theory?
Answer: Most of what drives behavior is outside of awareness,
making the unconscious real and powerful.
◉ What role do early experiences play in adult personality?
