Wilkes University NSG 527 Midterm Exam (pdf) | 2026/2027 |
Psychopathology | Psychiatric Nursing
1. Which two individuals are recognized as the American founders of
existential psychotherapy?
A) Fritz Perls and Dan Hughes
B) Rollo May and Irvin Yalom
C) Jean Baker Miller and Judith Jordan
D) William Miller and Stephen Rollnick
Correct Answer: Rollo May and Irvin Yalom
Rationale: Rollo May and Irvin Yalom are recognized as the American
founders of existential psychotherapy. Emmy van Deurzen-Smith is a
prominent existential therapist in the UK. The other options are founders of
other therapeutic modalities: Fritz Perls founded Gestalt therapy, Dan
Hughes developed Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Jean Baker Miller
and Judith Jordan founded Relational-Cultural Therapy, and William Miller and
Stephen Rollnick developed Motivational Interviewing.
2. According to Yalom, the four "givens" of existence are:
A) Death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness
B) Birth, life, death, and rebirth
C) Love, work, play, and rest
D) Anxiety, guilt, freedom, and responsibility
Correct Answer: Death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness
Rationale: Irvin Yalom identified four "givens" or ultimate concerns of
existence: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. These are the
fundamental existential challenges that all humans must confront. The
,therapist helps patients face these existential realities rather than avoid
them.
3. In existential psychotherapy, the three forms of the world are:
A) Umwelt, Mitwelt, and Eigenwelt
B) Id, Ego, and Superego
C) Conscious, Subconscious, and Unconscious
D) Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual
Correct Answer: Umwelt, Mitwelt, and Eigenwelt
Rationale: The three forms of the world in existential psychotherapy are
Umwelt (the natural world, including biological needs and drives), Mitwelt
(the world of one's fellow human beings and relationships), and Eigenwelt
(the relationship to oneself, including self-awareness). Some sources also
include Uberwelt as a fourth form representing the ideal or spiritual world.
4. Normal anxiety in existential therapy is characterized by:
A) Proportionate to the situation, does not require repression, and can be
used creatively
B) Paralyzing and destructive to the individual
C) Always requiring medication for resolution
D) A sign of psychological weakness
Correct Answer: Proportionate to the situation, does not require repression,
and can be used creatively
Rationale: Normal anxiety is proportionate to the situation confronted, does
not require repression, and can be used creatively. It is an unavoidable part
of the human condition that arises from our personal need to survive, to
,preserve our being, and to assert our being. Neurotic anxiety, in contrast,
tends to paralyze the individual and is destructive.
5. A patient in existential therapy states, "I can't stop thinking about what
will happen to my children when I'm gone." The therapist recognizes this as
an expression of which existential given?
A) Freedom
B) Isolation
C) Death
D) Meaninglessness
Correct Answer: Death
Rationale: This statement reflects the existential given of death—the
awareness of the inevitability of death and the wish to continue to be. The
patient's concern about their children after death is a manifestation of
grappling with mortality. The therapist would help the patient explore this
concern rather than avoid it.
6. According to existential psychotherapy, neurotic guilt arises out of:
A) Ethical violations in relationships
B) Fantasized transgressions
C) Real harm done to others
D) Unresolved childhood trauma
Correct Answer: Fantasized transgressions
Rationale: Neurotic guilt feelings generally arise out of fantasized
transgressions. Normal guilt, in contrast, sensitizes us to the ethical aspects
, of our behavior. A person can be freed from neurotic anxiety and guilt only
when they recognize normal anxiety and guilt at the same time.
7. Which existential therapist emphasized that anxiety arises from our
personal need to survive and preserve our being?
A) Emmy van Deurzen-Smith
B) Fritz Perls
C) Rollo May
D) Irvin Yalom
Correct Answer: Rollo May
Rationale: Rollo May emphasized that anxiety arises from our personal need
to survive, to preserve our being, and to assert our being. He distinguished
between normal anxiety (which is proportionate and can be used creatively)
and neurotic anxiety (which is destructive and paralyzing). This distinction is
fundamental to existential psychotherapy.
8. The "I am" experience, or the experience of being known, is referred to in
existential therapy as:
A) The ontological experience
B) The phenomenological experience
C) The existential crisis
D) The intersubjective experience
Correct Answer: The ontological experience
Rationale: The "I am" experience or the experience of being known is
referred to as the ontological experience in existential therapy. Existential
Psychopathology | Psychiatric Nursing
1. Which two individuals are recognized as the American founders of
existential psychotherapy?
A) Fritz Perls and Dan Hughes
B) Rollo May and Irvin Yalom
C) Jean Baker Miller and Judith Jordan
D) William Miller and Stephen Rollnick
Correct Answer: Rollo May and Irvin Yalom
Rationale: Rollo May and Irvin Yalom are recognized as the American
founders of existential psychotherapy. Emmy van Deurzen-Smith is a
prominent existential therapist in the UK. The other options are founders of
other therapeutic modalities: Fritz Perls founded Gestalt therapy, Dan
Hughes developed Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Jean Baker Miller
and Judith Jordan founded Relational-Cultural Therapy, and William Miller and
Stephen Rollnick developed Motivational Interviewing.
2. According to Yalom, the four "givens" of existence are:
A) Death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness
B) Birth, life, death, and rebirth
C) Love, work, play, and rest
D) Anxiety, guilt, freedom, and responsibility
Correct Answer: Death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness
Rationale: Irvin Yalom identified four "givens" or ultimate concerns of
existence: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. These are the
fundamental existential challenges that all humans must confront. The
,therapist helps patients face these existential realities rather than avoid
them.
3. In existential psychotherapy, the three forms of the world are:
A) Umwelt, Mitwelt, and Eigenwelt
B) Id, Ego, and Superego
C) Conscious, Subconscious, and Unconscious
D) Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual
Correct Answer: Umwelt, Mitwelt, and Eigenwelt
Rationale: The three forms of the world in existential psychotherapy are
Umwelt (the natural world, including biological needs and drives), Mitwelt
(the world of one's fellow human beings and relationships), and Eigenwelt
(the relationship to oneself, including self-awareness). Some sources also
include Uberwelt as a fourth form representing the ideal or spiritual world.
4. Normal anxiety in existential therapy is characterized by:
A) Proportionate to the situation, does not require repression, and can be
used creatively
B) Paralyzing and destructive to the individual
C) Always requiring medication for resolution
D) A sign of psychological weakness
Correct Answer: Proportionate to the situation, does not require repression,
and can be used creatively
Rationale: Normal anxiety is proportionate to the situation confronted, does
not require repression, and can be used creatively. It is an unavoidable part
of the human condition that arises from our personal need to survive, to
,preserve our being, and to assert our being. Neurotic anxiety, in contrast,
tends to paralyze the individual and is destructive.
5. A patient in existential therapy states, "I can't stop thinking about what
will happen to my children when I'm gone." The therapist recognizes this as
an expression of which existential given?
A) Freedom
B) Isolation
C) Death
D) Meaninglessness
Correct Answer: Death
Rationale: This statement reflects the existential given of death—the
awareness of the inevitability of death and the wish to continue to be. The
patient's concern about their children after death is a manifestation of
grappling with mortality. The therapist would help the patient explore this
concern rather than avoid it.
6. According to existential psychotherapy, neurotic guilt arises out of:
A) Ethical violations in relationships
B) Fantasized transgressions
C) Real harm done to others
D) Unresolved childhood trauma
Correct Answer: Fantasized transgressions
Rationale: Neurotic guilt feelings generally arise out of fantasized
transgressions. Normal guilt, in contrast, sensitizes us to the ethical aspects
, of our behavior. A person can be freed from neurotic anxiety and guilt only
when they recognize normal anxiety and guilt at the same time.
7. Which existential therapist emphasized that anxiety arises from our
personal need to survive and preserve our being?
A) Emmy van Deurzen-Smith
B) Fritz Perls
C) Rollo May
D) Irvin Yalom
Correct Answer: Rollo May
Rationale: Rollo May emphasized that anxiety arises from our personal need
to survive, to preserve our being, and to assert our being. He distinguished
between normal anxiety (which is proportionate and can be used creatively)
and neurotic anxiety (which is destructive and paralyzing). This distinction is
fundamental to existential psychotherapy.
8. The "I am" experience, or the experience of being known, is referred to in
existential therapy as:
A) The ontological experience
B) The phenomenological experience
C) The existential crisis
D) The intersubjective experience
Correct Answer: The ontological experience
Rationale: The "I am" experience or the experience of being known is
referred to as the ontological experience in existential therapy. Existential
