NR548 Exam 2 Questions and Answers
Graded A+
psychiatric interview - Correct answer-the process by which psychiatric assessment
is conducted
-primary tasks
• building a therapeutic alliance between the PMHNP & client
• obtaining a database of psychiatric info about the client
• establishing a dx
• negotiating a tx plan
Therapeutic Alliance - Correct answer-a feeling that you should create over the
course of the diagnostic interview, a sense of rapport, trust, and warmth
-most important goal of the interview process
-the cooperative working relationship between the therapist and client
• begins during the initial or opening phase of the interview
-fundamental component of successful therapy
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,• Without trust, adherence to treatment recommendations may be compromised
• interview may not elicit the information needed to formulate an appropriate dx &
plan of care without rapport & trust
Creating rapport: tips - Correct answer--Be Yourself
-Be Warm, Courteous, and Emotionally Sensitive
-Actively Defuse the Strangeness of the Clinical Situation
-Give Your Patient the Opening Word
-Gain Your Patient's Trust by Projecting Competence
How to approach threatening topics (sensitive/embarrassing material) - Correct
answer--Normalization
-Symptom Expectation
-Symptom Exaggeration
-Reduction of Guilt
-Use Familiar Language When Asking about Behaviors
Normalization - Correct answer-Introducing Q with some type of normalizing
statement
-two principal ways to do this:
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,1. start the question by implying that the behavior is a normal or understandable
response to a mood or situation
• ex: Sometimes when people are very depressed, they think of hurting themselves.
Has this been true for you?
2. Begin by describing another patient (or patients) who has engaged in the
behavior, showing your patient that she is not alone
• ex: I've talked to several patients who've said that their depression causes them to
have strange experiences, like hearing voices or thinking that strangers are
laughing at them. Has that been happening to you?
Symptom Expectation - Correct answer-communicate that a behavior is in some
way normal or expected
-Phrase your Q's to imply that you already assume the patient has engaged in some
behavior and that you will not be offended by a positive response
-high index of suspicion of some self-destructive activity
-Ex: patient is profoundly depressed and has expressed feelings of hopelessness.
You suspect suicidality, but you sense that the patient may be too ashamed to admit
it. Rather than gingerly asking "Have you had any thoughts that you'd be better off
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, dead?" you might decide to use symptom expectation. "What kinds of ways to hurt
yourself have you thought about?"
*reserve this technique for situations in which it seems appropriate
Symptom Exaggeration - Correct answer-suggesting a frequency of a problematic
behavior that is higher than your expectation, so that the patient feels that their
actual, lower frequency of the behavior will not be perceived by you as being
"bad."
-helpful in clarifying the severity of symptoms
*reserve this technique for situations in which it seems appropriate
Reduction of guilt - Correct answer-seeks to directly reduce a patient's guilt about a
specific behavior in order to discover what they have been doing
-useful in obtaining a hx of domestic violence & other antisocial behavior
Domestic Violence
-"Have you ever been in situations where fights occurred and you were affected?"
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Graded A+
psychiatric interview - Correct answer-the process by which psychiatric assessment
is conducted
-primary tasks
• building a therapeutic alliance between the PMHNP & client
• obtaining a database of psychiatric info about the client
• establishing a dx
• negotiating a tx plan
Therapeutic Alliance - Correct answer-a feeling that you should create over the
course of the diagnostic interview, a sense of rapport, trust, and warmth
-most important goal of the interview process
-the cooperative working relationship between the therapist and client
• begins during the initial or opening phase of the interview
-fundamental component of successful therapy
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1
,• Without trust, adherence to treatment recommendations may be compromised
• interview may not elicit the information needed to formulate an appropriate dx &
plan of care without rapport & trust
Creating rapport: tips - Correct answer--Be Yourself
-Be Warm, Courteous, and Emotionally Sensitive
-Actively Defuse the Strangeness of the Clinical Situation
-Give Your Patient the Opening Word
-Gain Your Patient's Trust by Projecting Competence
How to approach threatening topics (sensitive/embarrassing material) - Correct
answer--Normalization
-Symptom Expectation
-Symptom Exaggeration
-Reduction of Guilt
-Use Familiar Language When Asking about Behaviors
Normalization - Correct answer-Introducing Q with some type of normalizing
statement
-two principal ways to do this:
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
,1. start the question by implying that the behavior is a normal or understandable
response to a mood or situation
• ex: Sometimes when people are very depressed, they think of hurting themselves.
Has this been true for you?
2. Begin by describing another patient (or patients) who has engaged in the
behavior, showing your patient that she is not alone
• ex: I've talked to several patients who've said that their depression causes them to
have strange experiences, like hearing voices or thinking that strangers are
laughing at them. Has that been happening to you?
Symptom Expectation - Correct answer-communicate that a behavior is in some
way normal or expected
-Phrase your Q's to imply that you already assume the patient has engaged in some
behavior and that you will not be offended by a positive response
-high index of suspicion of some self-destructive activity
-Ex: patient is profoundly depressed and has expressed feelings of hopelessness.
You suspect suicidality, but you sense that the patient may be too ashamed to admit
it. Rather than gingerly asking "Have you had any thoughts that you'd be better off
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
, dead?" you might decide to use symptom expectation. "What kinds of ways to hurt
yourself have you thought about?"
*reserve this technique for situations in which it seems appropriate
Symptom Exaggeration - Correct answer-suggesting a frequency of a problematic
behavior that is higher than your expectation, so that the patient feels that their
actual, lower frequency of the behavior will not be perceived by you as being
"bad."
-helpful in clarifying the severity of symptoms
*reserve this technique for situations in which it seems appropriate
Reduction of guilt - Correct answer-seeks to directly reduce a patient's guilt about a
specific behavior in order to discover what they have been doing
-useful in obtaining a hx of domestic violence & other antisocial behavior
Domestic Violence
-"Have you ever been in situations where fights occurred and you were affected?"
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4
