Question 1
c. CORRECT Clearly, you also want to deal with emotional issues related to the rape, which is suggested by answer "b." However, you can determine that this is your best "first" intervention because the client may have physical injuries as a result of the rape and these injuries may require immediate medical attention.
Question 2
a. CORRECT This seems to be the best choice. It can be assumed that "ensure" means giving her the names of appropriate referrals near her college.
Question 3
You need to pick the most appropriate therapy. c. CORRECT This is the best choice by process of elimination.
Question 4
a. CORRECT This is a young, anxious child. The idea is not to increase her anxiety by separating her from her mother but, instead, to observe her interactions with her mother. This will help you assess and diagnose the problem.
Question 5
d. CORRECT According to Freud, the paranoid individual "projects" his or her own threatening impulses onto others.
Question 6
b. CORRECT The AAMFT Code of Ethics doesn't directly address this type of situation, but this answer is most consistent with the "spirit" of the Code and with the requirement of Standard 1.8 to "respect the rights of clients to make decisions and help them to understand the consequences of these decisions."
Question 7
a. Incorrect In some instances when a client is suicidal, breaching his confidentiality and notifying a family member is appropriate, if doing so is necessary to prevent the danger. However, we do not know how lethal this man is and, among your choices, this answer is not your best first course of action in this case.
Question 8
a. CORRECT Given the potential crisis with Greg, in-patient treatment in a dual diagnosis setting is the best choice. Generally, a "dual diagnosis setting" specializes in treating substance use disorders along with another mental disorder.
Question 9
The correct answer is: A genogram. This is an excellent tool to use in helping clients become aware of unconscious patterns that they may have inherited from prior generations through the "multi-generational transmission process.
Question 10
Answer B is correct: The DSM-5 distinguishes between three levels of severity of the Substance Use Disorders based on the number of symptoms: mild (2 or 3 symptoms); moderate (4 or 5 symptoms); severe (6 or more symptoms).
Question 11
d. CORRECT This answer addresses all the ethical obligations you would need to consider and fulfill when responding to Stephen's question.
Question 12
When working with clients who differ from you in terms of race, culture, or other important characteristic, the best approach is to address the difference with them in an initial session. c. CORRECT As noted above, this is the best strategy.
Question 13
c. CORRECT You have more than enough information to suspect child abuse, so you must make a report.
Question 14
b. CORRECT It is often true that clients will feel worse as painful feelings emerge once they have begun making progress in therapy. Clients may feel frustrated by not making progress as fast as they had hoped, or by the realization that issues are more complex than they originally thought.
Question 15
b. CORRECT According to family systems theory, a family operates in a way that allows it to maintain its balance or homeostasis, even if this balance is dysfunctional. If an alcoholic family member stops drinking, the balance of the family system is upset. Therefore, other family members will react by encouraging the alcoholic, often in covert ways, to re-establish his drinking behavior, thereby restoring the family's homeostasis.
Question 16
a. CORRECT This answer best captures the "flavor" of the ambivalent and confusing interaction that often occurs between borderlines personalities and their therapists.
Question 17
Discovering evidence of occasions when clients managed to handle challenging situations allows you to assess the resources and strengths of the family (correct choice c).
Question 18
b. CORRECT This is the best answer of those given. Further investigation would help you to determine whether there is reasonable suspicion of child abuse in this case.
Question 19
d. CORRECT Although you would be breaking his confidentiality and the psychotherapist-patient privilege, this situation represents a circumstance in which disclosure would be permissible and necessary to ensure the safety of your client.
Question 20
a. CORRECT Program evaluation should ideally begin with defining what the program's goals are, followed by data collection to determine whether those goals have been met. In order to collect data, one needs to define what is to be measured (e.g., cost or benefits, client satisfaction, effectiveness, quality, etc.), and then define how it is to be measured (e.g., observational methods, descriptive reports, outcome versus baseline measurements, correlational studies, surveys, etc.). Once what data is to be collected and the method to collect it is defined, the evaluation process can proceed. In the final step, that data is analyzed and used to determine if the program goals have been met.
Question 21
a. CORRECT According to Minuchin, enmeshment results when there are diffuse psychological boundaries between individuals or subsystems in a family. Enmeshment produces a loss of autonomy and is characterized by a high degree of resonance and reactivity between individuals. Relationships tend to be undifferentiated and closed.
Question 22
C. CORRECT The presence of hypomanic and depressive episodes is required for the diagnosis of Bipolar II Disorder but not Bipolar I Disorder.
Question 23
B. CORRECT This case illustrates a complementary quid pro quo marital arrangement. To identify the correct answer, you needed to apply your knowledge regarding Jackson's theory to the arrangement in the question. According to Jackson, relationships and communications are either symmetrical or complementary. Symmetrical exchanges are between equals and may lead to difficulties with competition and escalation. Complementary exchanges are based on different levels of relating that fit together. Jackson also described marital complementarity in terms of a "quid pro quo" rule. Quid pro quo literally means something that is given or received for something else.
Question 24
The correct answer is B: not admit to the man that the woman is your client. Perhaps you will eventually tell the client that this man has called, but your first and most important obligation is to protect her confidentiality. Moreover, it would be up to the client (not you) to bring up the fact that she is having an affair (if it is true that she is).
Question 25
a. CORRECT Although ego analysts tend to emphasize current problems over past experience, an important goal of therapy is to help clients identify what things in the present can be altered to correct the harmful effects of the past.
