CART CBT Cognitive Restructuring 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In CBT, what is a 'cognitive distortion' in the context of anger?
- An accurate assessment of a threatening situation
- A biased or exaggerated thought pattern that fuels emotional reactions (Correct answer)
- A deliberate lie told to manipulate others
- A memory suppressed due to trauma
Correct answer: A biased or exaggerated thought pattern that fuels emotional reactions
Cognitive distortions are inaccurate, often automatic thought patterns that intensify emotions like anger beyond what the situation warrants.
Question 2: Which technique involves a client listing evidence for and against an anger-provoking belief?
- Systematic desensitization
- Thought record / evidence examination (Correct answer)
- Flooding
- Free association
Correct answer: Thought record / evidence examination
A thought record prompts clients to weigh evidence for and against a belief, revealing whether it is rational or distorted.
Question 3: A client believes 'Everyone at work hates me' after one colleague ignored them. This is an example of:
- Selective abstraction
- Overgeneralization (Correct answer)
- Magnification
- Personalization
Correct answer: Overgeneralization
Overgeneralization means drawing a sweeping conclusion (everyone hates me) from a single event.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of Socratic questioning in cognitive restructuring?
- To challenge irrational beliefs through guided discovery rather than direct confrontation (Correct answer)
- To teach relaxation skills
- To assign homework without client input
- To diagnose underlying personality disorders
Correct answer: To challenge irrational beliefs through guided discovery rather than direct confrontation
Socratic questioning guides clients to examine and revise their own beliefs through a series of open-ended questions.
Question 5: When restructuring the belief 'I must always be respected or it is unbearable,' the therapist is targeting which Ellis concept?
- Low frustration tolerance (LFT)
- Musturbatory thinking (Correct answer)
- Catastrophizing
- Mind reading
Correct answer: Musturbatory thinking
Albert Ellis identified 'musturbatory' or absolutistic thinking ('must,' 'always') as a core irrational belief type in REBT/CBT.
Question 6: A therapist asks an angry client, 'What is the worst that could realistically happen, and could you cope?' This technique is called:
- Decatastrophizing (Correct answer)
- Behavioral activation
- Thought stopping
- Imagery rescripting
Correct answer: Decatastrophizing
Decatastrophizing helps clients realistically evaluate worst-case scenarios and their ability to cope, reducing catastrophic anger appraisals.
Question 7: Which step comes FIRST in the standard CBT cognitive restructuring sequence?
- Generate alternative thoughts
- Identify the automatic thought (Correct answer)
- Rate emotional intensity after restructuring
- Develop a coping plan
Correct answer: Identify the automatic thought
Identifying the automatic thought is always the first step because restructuring cannot begin until the specific thought driving the emotion is pinpointed.
CART CBT Cognitive Restructuring 2
In CBT, what is a 'cognitive distortion' in the context of anger?