ASPPB Intervention Strategies & Treatment Planning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A psychologist is treating a client with panic disorder. Which component is MOST essential in a first-line evidence-based treatment?
- Psychodynamic exploration of early trauma
- Interoceptive exposure exercises (Correct answer)
- Long-term benzodiazepine management
- Supportive reflective listening only
Correct answer: Interoceptive exposure exercises
Interoceptive exposure, which involves inducing and tolerating feared bodily sensations, is a core component of CBT for panic disorder.
Question 2: In motivational interviewing, the acronym OARS refers to which set of core skills?
- Observation, Assessment, Reflection, Summarizing
- Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, Summaries (Correct answer)
- Outcomes, Ambivalence, Resistance, Stages
- Objectives, Actions, Rapport, Support
Correct answer: Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, Summaries
OARS stands for Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, and Summaries — the foundational communication techniques in motivational interviewing.
Question 3: When a treatment plan includes a 'step-down' approach, this refers to:
- Reducing the therapist's level of training over time
- Moving from more intensive to less intensive levels of care as the client improves (Correct answer)
- Decreasing the number of treatment goals each session
- Transitioning from group to individual therapy
Correct answer: Moving from more intensive to less intensive levels of care as the client improves
Step-down care involves progressively reducing treatment intensity as clinical symptoms remit and functioning improves.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the primary goal of behavioral activation in treating depression?
- Identifying and challenging cognitive distortions
- Increasing engagement in rewarding activities to break avoidance cycles (Correct answer)
- Developing insight into unconscious conflict
- Teaching mindfulness-based relaxation techniques
Correct answer: Increasing engagement in rewarding activities to break avoidance cycles
Behavioral activation targets the withdrawal and avoidance patterns that maintain depression by scheduling and reinforcing pleasurable or meaningful activities.
Question 5: A client with PTSD reports avoiding all reminders of the trauma and feels emotionally numb. The psychologist plans prolonged exposure. What is the FIRST phase of this treatment?
- In vivo exposure to avoided situations
- Imaginal reliving of the traumatic memory
- Psychoeducation about PTSD and the treatment rationale (Correct answer)
- Cognitive restructuring of trauma-related beliefs
Correct answer: Psychoeducation about PTSD and the treatment rationale
Prolonged exposure begins with psychoeducation about PTSD symptoms and a clear rationale for why approach rather than avoidance promotes recovery.
Question 6: In DBT, the concept of 'dialectics' most centrally refers to:
- The balance between biological and social causes of disorder
- Synthesizing opposites, particularly acceptance and change (Correct answer)
- Alternating between individual and group therapy formats
- The tension between symptom reduction and insight
Correct answer: Synthesizing opposites, particularly acceptance and change
DBT's dialectical philosophy holds that apparent opposites — especially radical acceptance and the push for change — can be integrated into a synthesis.
Question 7: A psychologist working with an adolescent with social anxiety decides to involve the parents in treatment. Which role is MOST appropriate for parents in CBT for adolescent social anxiety?
- Acting as co-therapists who challenge the teen's distorted thoughts during sessions
- Serving as coaches who support exposure homework and avoid excessive reassurance-giving (Correct answer)
- Providing detailed accounts of the teen's social failures for the therapist to analyze
- Attending all sessions to monitor the therapist's clinical decisions
Correct answer: Serving as coaches who support exposure homework and avoid excessive reassurance-giving
Parents are most effective as coaches who reinforce brave behavior and resist accommodating avoidance, which inadvertently maintains anxiety.
ASPPB Intervention Strategies & Treatment Planning 2
A psychologist is treating a client with panic disorder.
Which component is MOST essential in a first-line evidence-based treatment?