CBT Anxiety Disorders & CBT Protocols 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which cognitive distortion involves predicting a negative outcome without sufficient evidence, commonly seen in anxiety disorders?
- Overgeneralization
- Fortune-telling (Correct answer)
- Mind reading
- Emotional reasoning
Correct answer: Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the distortion of predicting a negative future outcome as if it were fact, a hallmark of anxious thinking.
Question 2: In CBT for Panic Disorder, interoceptive exposure involves:
- Gradual exposure to feared external situations
- Deliberately inducing feared bodily sensations in a safe setting (Correct answer)
- Cognitive restructuring of catastrophic thoughts about illness
- Relaxation training to reduce physiological arousal
Correct answer: Deliberately inducing feared bodily sensations in a safe setting
Interoceptive exposure deliberately induces feared physical sensations (e.g., dizziness, racing heart) to reduce fear of those sensations.
Question 3: A CBT therapist helping a client with Social Anxiety Disorder addresses 'post-event processing.' This refers to:
- Reviewing session notes after each therapy appointment
- Ruminating on perceived social failures after an interaction (Correct answer)
- Analyzing positive social encounters to build confidence
- Processing trauma linked to early social rejection
Correct answer: Ruminating on perceived social failures after an interaction
Post-event processing is the tendency to ruminate on social situations after they occur, focusing on perceived flaws or mistakes, which maintains social anxiety.
Question 4: Which model best explains the development and maintenance of OCD according to CBT?
- Classical conditioning of neutral stimuli to fear responses
- Misappraisal of intrusive thoughts as meaningful and requiring action (Correct answer)
- Avoidance of anxiety-provoking situations across all domains
- Hyperactivation of the amygdala reducing prefrontal inhibition
Correct answer: Misappraisal of intrusive thoughts as meaningful and requiring action
The cognitive model of OCD holds that obsessions are maintained by misappraising normal intrusive thoughts as highly significant or dangerous.
Question 5: In treating PTSD with CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy), 'stuck points' refer to:
- Traumatic memories that cannot be retrieved during sessions
- Maladaptive beliefs that interfere with natural trauma recovery (Correct answer)
- Avoidance behaviors that prevent trauma narrative completion
- Physical symptoms that persist despite psychological treatment
Correct answer: Maladaptive beliefs that interfere with natural trauma recovery
Stuck points are maladaptive cognitions—such as self-blame or world-danger beliefs—that prevent the natural processing and integration of a traumatic event.
Question 6: Which anxiety disorder is primarily characterized by excessive worry about multiple life domains lasting at least 6 months?
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Correct answer)
- Specific Phobia
Correct answer: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
GAD is defined by persistent, excessive, uncontrollable worry across multiple domains (health, work, relationships) for at least 6 months.
Question 7: A therapist uses 'behavioral experiments' in CBT for anxiety. The primary purpose is to:
- Collect baseline data on anxiety frequency and intensity
- Reinforce relaxation skills through structured practice
- Test the validity of anxious predictions through direct experience (Correct answer)
- Identify avoidance behaviors maintaining the anxiety cycle
Correct answer: Test the validity of anxious predictions through direct experience
Behavioral experiments allow clients to test their anxious predictions empirically, providing direct disconfirmatory evidence against maladaptive beliefs.
CBT Anxiety Disorders & CBT Protocols 2
Which cognitive distortion involves predicting a negative outcome without sufficient evidence, commonly seen in anxiety disorders?