ACT Patient Assessment & Evaluation 3

Question 1

Which ACT process is being evaluated when a therapist asks, 'When you have that thought, does it help you live the life you want?'

Accepted Answer

Cognitive defusion

Answer

Evaluating whether a thought is workable (rather than true or false) is a core defusion assessment question in ACT.

Question 2

During assessment, a client reports, 'I am my depression—it defines who I am.' This statement most strongly indicates a deficit in which ACT process?

Accepted Answer

Self-as-context

Answer

Fusing identity with a diagnosis or emotional state reflects a collapse of self-as-context into conceptualized self.

Question 3

What is the primary purpose of using a timeline or life history review in ACT assessment?

Accepted Answer

To identify patterns of experiential avoidance and pivotal values-based events across a client's life

Answer

A life history review in ACT helps map long-standing avoidance patterns and moments when values were either honored or abandoned.

Question 4

A client completes the Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ). A low importance score paired with a low consistency score in the 'family' domain indicates what?

Accepted Answer

Family is not a priority, so values-behavior alignment in this domain is less clinically urgent

Answer

When importance and consistency are both low, the client may simply not prioritize family, making it a lower intervention priority than high-importance/low-consistency discrepancies.

Question 5

Which client response during assessment indicates good present-moment awareness?

Accepted Answer

'Right now I notice tension in my chest and a thought that I'll fail.'

Answer

Noting current body sensations and thoughts in real time demonstrates flexible, non-judgmental present-moment contact.

ACT Practice Test

ACT Practice Test

ACT Patient Assessment & Evaluation 3