CBT Identifying & Reframing False Beliefs 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The downward arrow technique is primarily used to:
- Reduce physiological anxiety symptoms
- Uncover underlying core beliefs driving surface-level thoughts (Correct answer)
- Create a hierarchy of feared situations
- Track mood fluctuations over time
Correct answer: Uncover underlying core beliefs driving surface-level thoughts
The downward arrow technique repeatedly asks 'What would that mean?' to drill down from automatic thoughts to core beliefs.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of the 'labeling' cognitive distortion?
- 'This situation is terrible and will never improve.'
- 'I failed this test, so I am a total loser.' (Correct answer)
- 'She didn't say hello, so she must hate me.'
- 'I feel anxious, so something bad must be about to happen.'
Correct answer: 'I failed this test, so I am a total loser.'
Labeling assigns a global negative identity label based on a single behavior or event.
Question 3: A client says, 'I feel like a fraud, so I must be one.' This is an example of:
- Magnification
- Emotional reasoning (Correct answer)
- Personalization
- Selective abstraction
Correct answer: Emotional reasoning
Emotional reasoning treats feelings as facts, assuming that because something feels true, it must be true.
Question 4: In CBT, a 'thought record' is used to:
- Monitor medication side effects
- Identify, evaluate, and reframe automatic thoughts (Correct answer)
- Track sleep patterns over time
- Log behavioral activation activities
Correct answer: Identify, evaluate, and reframe automatic thoughts
Thought records help clients identify automatic thoughts, examine evidence, and generate more balanced alternatives.
Question 5: Which statement best describes a 'core belief' in cognitive therapy?
- A passing automatic thought triggered by a specific event
- A deep, global, rigid assumption about oneself, others, or the world (Correct answer)
- A coping behavior developed during childhood
- A belief held only during depressive episodes
Correct answer: A deep, global, rigid assumption about oneself, others, or the world
Core beliefs are deeply held, unconditional assumptions that shape how a person interprets all experiences.
Question 6: When a therapist uses the technique of 'generating alternatives,' they are asking the client to:
- List all the reasons their current belief is true
- Consider other possible explanations for an event beyond their initial interpretation (Correct answer)
- Engage in opposite-action behavioral experiments
- Identify the earliest memory related to a belief
Correct answer: Consider other possible explanations for an event beyond their initial interpretation
Generating alternatives broadens a client's perspective by exploring multiple possible explanations rather than accepting one automatic interpretation.
Question 7: A client takes full responsibility for a team project's failure even though multiple factors contributed. This illustrates:
- Fortune telling
- Selective abstraction
- Personalization (Correct answer)
- Should statements
Correct answer: Personalization
Personalization involves attributing external events disproportionately to oneself without accounting for other contributing factors.
CBT Identifying & Reframing False Beliefs 3
The downward arrow technique is primarily used to: