CASAC Counseling Theories and Practice 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client in early recovery insists their drinking was never really a problem and everyone is overreacting. Which defense mechanism is most prominently displayed?
- Rationalization
- Denial (Correct answer)
- Projection
- Sublimation
Correct answer: Denial
Denial involves refusing to acknowledge the reality of a problem, which is the primary defense mechanism being displayed here.
Question 2: In Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), what does the 'B' in the ABC model represent?
- Behavior
- Beliefs (Correct answer)
- Barriers
- Benefits
Correct answer: Beliefs
In Ellis's ABC model, B stands for Beliefs — specifically the irrational beliefs that mediate between activating events and emotional consequences.
Question 3: A counselor uses role-playing to help a client practice refusing a drink at a party. This technique is most associated with which therapeutic approach?
- Psychoanalytic therapy
- Existential therapy
- Behavioral therapy (Correct answer)
- Person-centered therapy
Correct answer: Behavioral therapy
Behavioral therapy uses skill-building techniques like role-playing and behavioral rehearsal to develop concrete coping responses.
Question 4: Which concept from Adlerian therapy is most relevant when a client with SUD describes feeling inferior to sober peers and overcompensating through bravado?
- Transference
- Inferiority complex (Correct answer)
- Cognitive distortion
- Secondary gain
Correct answer: Inferiority complex
Adler's concept of the inferiority complex describes the experience of deep inadequacy that drives compensatory behaviors.
Question 5: A counselor working from a feminist therapy framework would MOST prioritize which of the following?
- Identifying childhood trauma roots
- Exploring unconscious conflicts
- Examining how social and cultural power structures affect the client (Correct answer)
- Challenging irrational thoughts
Correct answer: Examining how social and cultural power structures affect the client
Feminist therapy emphasizes that personal problems are often rooted in social, cultural, and political power imbalances rather than solely individual pathology.
Question 6: A client reports that whenever they feel anxious, they drink to calm down, and this pattern has become automatic. From a behavioral perspective, the alcohol use is maintained by:
- Positive reinforcement
- Negative reinforcement (Correct answer)
- Positive punishment
- Extinction
Correct answer: Negative reinforcement
Negative reinforcement occurs when a behavior increases because it removes an aversive stimulus — in this case, drinking removes anxiety.
Question 7: In Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the concept of 'dialectics' primarily refers to:
- The tension between acceptance and change (Correct answer)
- The dialogue between therapist and client
- The debate between cognition and emotion
- The conflict between the id and superego
Correct answer: The tension between acceptance and change
DBT's core dialectic is balancing acceptance of the client as they are with the need for change, especially relevant for clients with emotional dysregulation.
CASAC Counseling Theories and Practice 4
A client in early recovery insists their drinking was never really a problem and everyone is overreacting.
Which defense mechanism is most prominently displayed?