Counseling Theories and Models Flashcards

A counselor applying Narrative Therapy asks a client to describe a time when they resisted substance use despite significant pressure. This technique is called:

Answer: Identifying a unique outcome

Unique outcomes (or sparkling moments) are exceptions to the problem-saturated story, used in Narrative Therapy to build alternative narratives of competence.

According to Social Learning Theory, which mechanism MOST directly explains why adolescents begin using substances after spending time with peers who use?

Answer: Observational learning and modeling

Bandura's Social Learning Theory holds that people learn behaviors by observing others, with peers serving as powerful models for substance use initiation.

In the context of relapse prevention, Marlatt and Gordon's model identifies 'high-risk situations' as:

Answer: Circumstances that threaten the client's sense of self-efficacy and increase relapse probability

Marlatt's model defines high-risk situations as those that challenge self-efficacy—including negative emotional states, interpersonal conflict, and social pressure to use.

A counselor using Structural Family Therapy would MOST likely focus on:

Answer: Changing dysfunctional family organization, boundaries, and hierarchies

Minuchin's Structural Family Therapy targets the family's organizational patterns—its subsystems, boundaries, and power structures—as the source of dysfunction.

Which of the following BEST describes 'motivational enhancement' as used in substance use counseling?

Answer: Using client-centered techniques to strengthen intrinsic motivation for change

Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) is a client-centered, directive approach that builds intrinsic motivation by exploring and resolving ambivalence.

Existential therapy's concept of 'existential anxiety' in the context of addiction suggests that substance use often serves to:

Answer: Avoid confronting inevitable human concerns such as death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness

Existential therapists like Yalom view addiction as an attempt to escape awareness of the four ultimate concerns—death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness.

A counselor using Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) with a substance-using client would PRIMARILY emphasize:

Answer: Safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural humility

SAMHSA's six principles of Trauma-Informed Care—safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural/historical issues—guide practice to avoid retraumatization.