Treatment Planning & Protocols Flashcards
7 cards from real ACT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Treatment Planning & Protocols flashcards as text
A treatment protocol for PTSD using ACT differs from trauma-focused CBT primarily in that ACT:
Answer: Targets experiential avoidance of trauma-related internal experiences rather than solely modifying trauma appraisals
ACT for PTSD targets the avoidance of trauma-related thoughts, feelings, and memories rather than primarily restructuring trauma-related cognitions.
Which assessment is most useful at the START of ACT treatment planning to establish a baseline and target area?
Answer: Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ) combined with the AAQ-II
The VLQ identifies discrepancies between stated values and current action, while the AAQ-II measures experiential avoidance — both are core ACT treatment targets.
A client with chronic illness wants to 'not be sick anymore' as their primary goal. An ACT treatment plan would:
Answer: Validate the wish while redirecting toward living a meaningful life within current constraints
ACT validates the desire for symptom relief while shifting the treatment goal toward values-based living that does not depend on symptom resolution.
In ACT protocol, 'willingness' is best described as:
Answer: Actively choosing to have difficult internal experiences in the service of values
Willingness is a chosen stance of openness to private experiences because doing so serves valued directions, not because those experiences are pleasant.
A clinician wants to structure a 12-session ACT protocol for substance use. Which sequencing is most evidence-based?
Answer: Creative hopelessness and values early, defusion and acceptance mid-treatment, committed action throughout
ACT for substance use typically begins with undermining the control agenda (creative hopelessness) and values work, adding acceptance/defusion skills as treatment progresses, with committed action threaded throughout.
In ACT treatment planning for health anxiety, the therapist targets which fusion content most specifically?
Answer: Fusion with stories about illness, danger, and the need to be certain about health
Health anxiety in ACT is understood as fusion with illness narratives and intolerance of uncertainty, making defusion from these stories a central target.
A supervisor reviewing an ACT case notes the trainee is spending most sessions challenging the rationality of client thoughts. This indicates a gap in:
Answer: Understanding that ACT uses defusion rather than cognitive disputation to change thought influence
Challenging thought rationality is a cognitive therapy technique; ACT instead uses defusion to change the function thoughts have over behavior, not their content or validity.