CADC Group Counseling Dynamics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A co-facilitation team disagrees about a group intervention during a session. The best course of action is to:
- Debate the issue openly in front of group members to model conflict resolution
- Defer the discussion to post-session supervision or debriefing (Correct answer)
- The senior counselor overrides the junior without discussion
- Ask group members to vote on which approach they prefer
Correct answer: Defer the discussion to post-session supervision or debriefing
Co-facilitators should resolve professional disagreements in supervision or debriefing, not in front of group members, to maintain a unified therapeutic environment.
Question 2: Which statement about psychoeducational groups in substance use disorder treatment is MOST accurate?
- They focus primarily on processing childhood trauma
- They provide structured information about addiction and recovery skills (Correct answer)
- They are inappropriate for early recovery clients
- They rely exclusively on member-generated content
Correct answer: They provide structured information about addiction and recovery skills
Psychoeducational groups deliver structured information about substance use, its effects, and coping skills, making them especially useful in early treatment.
Question 3: A member in a substance use group begins crying while discussing a relapse. The most therapeutic response is to:
- Change the topic to prevent further distress in the group
- Allow the member to express emotion while providing empathic support (Correct answer)
- Immediately refer the member to individual therapy only
- Ask other members to leave the room
Correct answer: Allow the member to express emotion while providing empathic support
Allowing emotional expression with empathic support validates the member's experience and demonstrates the group's capacity to hold difficult feelings.
Question 4: The concept of 'corrective emotional experience' in group therapy means:
- Correcting distorted thinking through cognitive techniques
- Members experience new, healthier interpersonal responses that differ from past relational patterns (Correct answer)
- The leader corrects members' emotional reactions when inappropriate
- Members are required to express positive emotions only
Correct answer: Members experience new, healthier interpersonal responses that differ from past relational patterns
A corrective emotional experience occurs when members interact in ways that provide a healthier relational experience than what they received in their past.
Question 5: Which of the following is a contraindication for placing a client in a standard outpatient group for substance use disorders?
- Client has a co-occurring anxiety disorder
- Client is in active psychosis and unable to engage in group process (Correct answer)
- Client has previously attended group therapy
- Client is in early recovery within the first 30 days
Correct answer: Client is in active psychosis and unable to engage in group process
Active psychosis impairs reality testing and the ability to engage meaningfully in group process, making standard group participation contraindicated.
Question 6: When facilitating a group session, the counselor notices two members are having a side conversation. The best intervention is to:
- Ignore it so as not to embarrass the members
- Stop the group and ask the two members what they are discussing
- Address the group norm about participation and invite those members to share (Correct answer)
- Remove both members from the session
Correct answer: Address the group norm about participation and invite those members to share
Addressing the participation norm and inviting input redirects the behavior therapeutically without singling out members in a shaming way.
Question 7: Yalom's curative factor of 'altruism' in group therapy occurs when:
- The group leader volunteers extra time with struggling members
- Members gain self-esteem by helping and supporting other group members (Correct answer)
- Members donate to charitable causes as part of their recovery
- The group collectively confronts a member's denial
Correct answer: Members gain self-esteem by helping and supporting other group members
Altruism as a curative factor means that helping others in the group boosts members' own sense of worth and counteracts feelings of worthlessness.
CADC Group Counseling Dynamics 3
A co-facilitation team disagrees about a group intervention during a session.
The best course of action is to: