After five sessions of therapy with a family, everyone, including the therapist, agrees
that things are worse than when the family started therapy. They describe continual
discord at home. The children are trying to get each other in trouble, the parents are
arguing, and there is hardly ever laughter at the dinner table. They come in for their
sixth session and announce that they have decided to terminate treatment. The
therapist should:
Select one:
a. see them all individually
b. reframe this escalation of symptoms as a learning opportunity
c. tell them they may need a psychiatrist
d. allow them to terminate and end the session right then
Give this one a try later!
One of the main points in this vignette is that a system that is changing
frequently experiences more stress than before because its homeostasis
has been disrupted. In other words, things often have to get worse before
they get better. In this case, the therapist should introduce the idea that
change and stress can be positive learning experiences and are not, in
themselves, signs that therapy is not working.Answer B is CORRECT: This
response addresses the issue at hand.Answer A is incorrect: This family may
, be working something out. Therefore, separating them at this point is
contraindicated.Answer C is incorrect: This is probably not true.Answer D is
incorrect: This is playing into the family's resistance to change.
The correct answer is: reframe this escalation of symptoms as a learning
opportunity
The symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder are categorized in three groups in
the DSM-5. These groups are:
Select one:
a. destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, and serious violations of rules.
b. negativistic, defiant, and hostile behavior.
c. deceitfulness or dishonesty, irritability or aggressiveness, and failure to conform to
social norms.
d. angry or irritable mood, argumentative or defiant behavior, and vindictiveness.
Give this one a try later!
Answer D is correct: Angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior,
and vindictiveness are the three categories of symptoms included in the
DSM-5 for Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
Answer A is incorrect: These are three of the four categories of symptoms
included in the DSM-5 for Conduct Disorder (the fourth is aggression to
people and animals).
The correct answer is: angry or irritable mood, argumentative or defiant
behavior, and vindictiveness.
The parents of 6-year-old Anna bring her to therapy. They are very concerned
because she has recently been caught stealing money from her mother's purse and
has brought home items from school that they know are not hers. When they ask Anna
to explain, her answers are not satisfactory. She claims, for example, that she does not
know how her mother's money appeared in her pocket. Useful interventions might
include:
Select one:
a. referral to a pediatrician for evaluation
,b. normalizing the process for the parents, for example, by explaining that many 6-
year-old children have an unclear notion of causality
c. referral for psychological testing
d. consultation with the child's teacher
Give this one a try later!
This question is difficult because it says "useful interventions might" include.
In spite of this wording, your job was to choose the best, or most
important, intervention. Keep in mind Anna's age -- six -- and that her
behavior is not all that atypical.Answer D is CORRECT: Since Anna's stealing
has occurred at school as well as at home, and the teacher is someone who
has had extensive, daily contact with Anna over a period of time, he or she
would be an obvious resource for collecting useful information.Answer A is
incorrect: This is a possibility if you assume that Anna cannot explain her
stealing because she is disoriented or confused, but that's a big leap. While
it is important to explore the potential role of a medical condition or other
physiological effects when making a diagnosis, there is no indication of a
physiological basis for stealing behavior.Answer B is incorrect: Many
children steal occasionally, especially when there is anxiety or tension at
home. However, stealing is really not "normal" and reassuring the parents in
this way might discourage them from continuing treatment. In addition, the
developmental explanation about causality is actually more valid about
children younger than Anna, in what Piaget calls the preoperational stage
(ages 2-7). Actually, it would be the preconceptual substage which begins
around the age of two.Answer C is incorrect: It often is interesting to know
the results of psychological testing, but there is no clear indication about
what you'd be expecting to find in this case.
The correct answer is: consultation with the child's teacher
A client is angry at his neighbor for cutting down a large tree that gave the client
privacy in his backyard. The client is agitated and tense as he describes this event and
says that he and the neighbor had a heated argument about it the day before, in
which the neighbor called him a "loser." The client has a history of poor impulse
control, including stealing and excessive alcohol use. He has been arrested on
several occasions for bar fights, which he initiated, and has spent time in jail. Which of
the following is the BEST predictor of the potential that this client may act violently
toward his neighbor?
, Select one:
a. The nature of the recent provocation
b. The client's poor impulse control
c. The client's agitation and tension
d. The client's past violent behavior
Give this one a try later!
Answer D is correct: All of the factors listed in the answers are indicators of
an increased risk for violent behavior, but the best predictor of future
violent behavior is past violent behavior.
The correct answer is: The client's past violent behavior
The term double bind refers to:
Select one:
a. Repeated physical abuse
b. Intense affiliation
c. Loyalty conflicts
d. Contradictory communication
Give this one a try later!
Answer D is Correct:Choice d is the correct answer. A double bind is a
dilemma in communication. It is a set of contradictory or logically
inconsistent communications from the same person along with an
injunction that the receiver of the communications must not comment on
their inconsistency. A common example is where a parent says "I love you"
to their child while pushing the child off of their lap.
The correct answer is: Contradictory communication
In order to detect how language produces changes in people and provide a more
systematic explanation of how therapists work and how their intervention strategies
help clients reprogram their behavior, mathematician Richard Bandler and linguist
John Grinder studied the linguistic patterns of:
that things are worse than when the family started therapy. They describe continual
discord at home. The children are trying to get each other in trouble, the parents are
arguing, and there is hardly ever laughter at the dinner table. They come in for their
sixth session and announce that they have decided to terminate treatment. The
therapist should:
Select one:
a. see them all individually
b. reframe this escalation of symptoms as a learning opportunity
c. tell them they may need a psychiatrist
d. allow them to terminate and end the session right then
Give this one a try later!
One of the main points in this vignette is that a system that is changing
frequently experiences more stress than before because its homeostasis
has been disrupted. In other words, things often have to get worse before
they get better. In this case, the therapist should introduce the idea that
change and stress can be positive learning experiences and are not, in
themselves, signs that therapy is not working.Answer B is CORRECT: This
response addresses the issue at hand.Answer A is incorrect: This family may
, be working something out. Therefore, separating them at this point is
contraindicated.Answer C is incorrect: This is probably not true.Answer D is
incorrect: This is playing into the family's resistance to change.
The correct answer is: reframe this escalation of symptoms as a learning
opportunity
The symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder are categorized in three groups in
the DSM-5. These groups are:
Select one:
a. destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, and serious violations of rules.
b. negativistic, defiant, and hostile behavior.
c. deceitfulness or dishonesty, irritability or aggressiveness, and failure to conform to
social norms.
d. angry or irritable mood, argumentative or defiant behavior, and vindictiveness.
Give this one a try later!
Answer D is correct: Angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior,
and vindictiveness are the three categories of symptoms included in the
DSM-5 for Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
Answer A is incorrect: These are three of the four categories of symptoms
included in the DSM-5 for Conduct Disorder (the fourth is aggression to
people and animals).
The correct answer is: angry or irritable mood, argumentative or defiant
behavior, and vindictiveness.
The parents of 6-year-old Anna bring her to therapy. They are very concerned
because she has recently been caught stealing money from her mother's purse and
has brought home items from school that they know are not hers. When they ask Anna
to explain, her answers are not satisfactory. She claims, for example, that she does not
know how her mother's money appeared in her pocket. Useful interventions might
include:
Select one:
a. referral to a pediatrician for evaluation
,b. normalizing the process for the parents, for example, by explaining that many 6-
year-old children have an unclear notion of causality
c. referral for psychological testing
d. consultation with the child's teacher
Give this one a try later!
This question is difficult because it says "useful interventions might" include.
In spite of this wording, your job was to choose the best, or most
important, intervention. Keep in mind Anna's age -- six -- and that her
behavior is not all that atypical.Answer D is CORRECT: Since Anna's stealing
has occurred at school as well as at home, and the teacher is someone who
has had extensive, daily contact with Anna over a period of time, he or she
would be an obvious resource for collecting useful information.Answer A is
incorrect: This is a possibility if you assume that Anna cannot explain her
stealing because she is disoriented or confused, but that's a big leap. While
it is important to explore the potential role of a medical condition or other
physiological effects when making a diagnosis, there is no indication of a
physiological basis for stealing behavior.Answer B is incorrect: Many
children steal occasionally, especially when there is anxiety or tension at
home. However, stealing is really not "normal" and reassuring the parents in
this way might discourage them from continuing treatment. In addition, the
developmental explanation about causality is actually more valid about
children younger than Anna, in what Piaget calls the preoperational stage
(ages 2-7). Actually, it would be the preconceptual substage which begins
around the age of two.Answer C is incorrect: It often is interesting to know
the results of psychological testing, but there is no clear indication about
what you'd be expecting to find in this case.
The correct answer is: consultation with the child's teacher
A client is angry at his neighbor for cutting down a large tree that gave the client
privacy in his backyard. The client is agitated and tense as he describes this event and
says that he and the neighbor had a heated argument about it the day before, in
which the neighbor called him a "loser." The client has a history of poor impulse
control, including stealing and excessive alcohol use. He has been arrested on
several occasions for bar fights, which he initiated, and has spent time in jail. Which of
the following is the BEST predictor of the potential that this client may act violently
toward his neighbor?
, Select one:
a. The nature of the recent provocation
b. The client's poor impulse control
c. The client's agitation and tension
d. The client's past violent behavior
Give this one a try later!
Answer D is correct: All of the factors listed in the answers are indicators of
an increased risk for violent behavior, but the best predictor of future
violent behavior is past violent behavior.
The correct answer is: The client's past violent behavior
The term double bind refers to:
Select one:
a. Repeated physical abuse
b. Intense affiliation
c. Loyalty conflicts
d. Contradictory communication
Give this one a try later!
Answer D is Correct:Choice d is the correct answer. A double bind is a
dilemma in communication. It is a set of contradictory or logically
inconsistent communications from the same person along with an
injunction that the receiver of the communications must not comment on
their inconsistency. A common example is where a parent says "I love you"
to their child while pushing the child off of their lap.
The correct answer is: Contradictory communication
In order to detect how language produces changes in people and provide a more
systematic explanation of how therapists work and how their intervention strategies
help clients reprogram their behavior, mathematician Richard Bandler and linguist
John Grinder studied the linguistic patterns of:
