A woman you have been seeing is terminating therapy early because she is going away to
college soon. What should you do?
Select one:
a.Ensure she gets therapy in her new location.
b.Try to do as much as possible with her before she moves.
c.Do occasional phone sessions with her after she leaves for school.
d.Tell her to come back and see you during school breaks.
ANSWER
A. The correct answer is A.
Ensuring that the client gets therapy in her new location would be the best choice of the op-
tions provided. It clearly states that the client is needing to terminate therapy early, there-
fore implying that treatment goals are not yet achieved. By ensuring that the client gets
therapy in her new location can also include that referrals have been provided.
Answer B: Rushing or cramming services in a fast manner would not be appropriate for the
client.
Answer C: Phone sessions could be appropriate to continue after she leaves for school, how-
ever, the best choice would be to help the client get set up with services at her new location.
Answer D: The question implies that services are still needed and termination is occurring
early, therefore telling the client to come back during school breaks would not be appropri-
ate.
A woman who was just raped calls you in crisis and then comes to your office that day. She
tells you that she does not want to press charges. You should first
Select one:
1
,a.report the rape to the police
b.maintain her confidence and deal with the issues therapeutically
c.suggest a doctor's examination
d.ask her for details about the rape
ANSWER
C. The correct answer is C.
Clearly, you as a therapist will want to help her process the emotional issues related to the
rape as suggested in option B. However, you can determine that suggesting a doctor's exami-
nation is the best "first" intervention because the client may have physical injuries as a result
of the rape, and these injuries may require immediate medical attention.
Answer A: This would not be an appropriate response. It would violate the client's confiden-
tiality, and a therapist is not required to make this report.
Answer B: Although the therapist will maintain her confidence and help her process the is-
sues therapeutically, suggesting a doctor's examination should occur first.
Answer D: Although the therapist will help the client process the situation, asking for details
about the rape may not be appropriate, especially as a "first" intervention as is asked in the
question.
The Johnson family comes to you for therapy. They have three children: Bill, age 15, Sally age
9, and Michael, age 7. Bill is rebellious and hostile at home. At school, he has been truant
and fighting with teachers and peers. In the initial interview, you notice that the mother
seems to dominate the family. You have to intervene several times when the family "gangs
up" on Bill, as they seem to think that he is the source of all of their problems. After the sec-
ond session, the mother asks you to see Bill alone, since "he is the one with the problem".
You agree to do this for a few sessions, but explain that, after this, you will want to see the
whole family again. Before your third session with Bill, the mother calls and says that Bill's
behavior has not improved, and that therapy is not working. What would have been the
most appropriate therapy in the above case?
Select one:
a.Immediate problem-solving via a careful
ANSWER
C. The correct answer is C.
2
, It seems that Bill has been identified by the family as the identified patient, or the one " with
the problem." What we know in family therapy is that the identified patient's symptoms are
often an expression of the family's dysfunction and are being maintained in some way by the
family system. Reframing, or relabeling Bill's behavior would help the family view the issues
in more positive ways.
Answer A: This intervention would further label the client as the identified patient, and en-
courage the family to continue seeing the problems as they previously have.
Answer B: This would further label the client as the identified patient and the family would
not get the systemic therapy that is needed.
Answer D: This could be a possible intervention if the therapist was utilizing a strategic ap-
proach. This intervention would also be more appropriate in sessions after a therapeutic re-
lationship was established. In this scenario, that has not yet occurred.
A mother brings in her daughter, age five, for play therapy. The daughter has been clingy and
anxious. The mother tried to enroll the daughter in preschool, but the child cried all day and
had to be taken home. This also happened the second time she tried to take her to pre-
school. The mother tells you that her daughter has" always been sensitive" but that things
have been worse lately because of the tension between the mother and the child's father,
who does not live with them. The best way to diagnose the problem would be to
Select one:
a.directly observe interactions between the mother and daughter
b.ask the mother what she observes in the daughter
c.observe the child's themes in play
d.ask the child what she thinks is wrong with her
ANSWER
A. The correct answer is A.
Observing the interactions between the mother and daughter will help you to assess and di-
agnose the problem.
Answer B: The mother has already shared what she believes to be going on, and although
this is helpful, it will be more telling to see the observations and interactions.
3
college soon. What should you do?
Select one:
a.Ensure she gets therapy in her new location.
b.Try to do as much as possible with her before she moves.
c.Do occasional phone sessions with her after she leaves for school.
d.Tell her to come back and see you during school breaks.
ANSWER
A. The correct answer is A.
Ensuring that the client gets therapy in her new location would be the best choice of the op-
tions provided. It clearly states that the client is needing to terminate therapy early, there-
fore implying that treatment goals are not yet achieved. By ensuring that the client gets
therapy in her new location can also include that referrals have been provided.
Answer B: Rushing or cramming services in a fast manner would not be appropriate for the
client.
Answer C: Phone sessions could be appropriate to continue after she leaves for school, how-
ever, the best choice would be to help the client get set up with services at her new location.
Answer D: The question implies that services are still needed and termination is occurring
early, therefore telling the client to come back during school breaks would not be appropri-
ate.
A woman who was just raped calls you in crisis and then comes to your office that day. She
tells you that she does not want to press charges. You should first
Select one:
1
,a.report the rape to the police
b.maintain her confidence and deal with the issues therapeutically
c.suggest a doctor's examination
d.ask her for details about the rape
ANSWER
C. The correct answer is C.
Clearly, you as a therapist will want to help her process the emotional issues related to the
rape as suggested in option B. However, you can determine that suggesting a doctor's exami-
nation is the best "first" intervention because the client may have physical injuries as a result
of the rape, and these injuries may require immediate medical attention.
Answer A: This would not be an appropriate response. It would violate the client's confiden-
tiality, and a therapist is not required to make this report.
Answer B: Although the therapist will maintain her confidence and help her process the is-
sues therapeutically, suggesting a doctor's examination should occur first.
Answer D: Although the therapist will help the client process the situation, asking for details
about the rape may not be appropriate, especially as a "first" intervention as is asked in the
question.
The Johnson family comes to you for therapy. They have three children: Bill, age 15, Sally age
9, and Michael, age 7. Bill is rebellious and hostile at home. At school, he has been truant
and fighting with teachers and peers. In the initial interview, you notice that the mother
seems to dominate the family. You have to intervene several times when the family "gangs
up" on Bill, as they seem to think that he is the source of all of their problems. After the sec-
ond session, the mother asks you to see Bill alone, since "he is the one with the problem".
You agree to do this for a few sessions, but explain that, after this, you will want to see the
whole family again. Before your third session with Bill, the mother calls and says that Bill's
behavior has not improved, and that therapy is not working. What would have been the
most appropriate therapy in the above case?
Select one:
a.Immediate problem-solving via a careful
ANSWER
C. The correct answer is C.
2
, It seems that Bill has been identified by the family as the identified patient, or the one " with
the problem." What we know in family therapy is that the identified patient's symptoms are
often an expression of the family's dysfunction and are being maintained in some way by the
family system. Reframing, or relabeling Bill's behavior would help the family view the issues
in more positive ways.
Answer A: This intervention would further label the client as the identified patient, and en-
courage the family to continue seeing the problems as they previously have.
Answer B: This would further label the client as the identified patient and the family would
not get the systemic therapy that is needed.
Answer D: This could be a possible intervention if the therapist was utilizing a strategic ap-
proach. This intervention would also be more appropriate in sessions after a therapeutic re-
lationship was established. In this scenario, that has not yet occurred.
A mother brings in her daughter, age five, for play therapy. The daughter has been clingy and
anxious. The mother tried to enroll the daughter in preschool, but the child cried all day and
had to be taken home. This also happened the second time she tried to take her to pre-
school. The mother tells you that her daughter has" always been sensitive" but that things
have been worse lately because of the tension between the mother and the child's father,
who does not live with them. The best way to diagnose the problem would be to
Select one:
a.directly observe interactions between the mother and daughter
b.ask the mother what she observes in the daughter
c.observe the child's themes in play
d.ask the child what she thinks is wrong with her
ANSWER
A. The correct answer is A.
Observing the interactions between the mother and daughter will help you to assess and di-
agnose the problem.
Answer B: The mother has already shared what she believes to be going on, and although
this is helpful, it will be more telling to see the observations and interactions.
3
