CBT Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the CBT exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 CBT Exam Format at a Glance
📚 CBT Topics to Study (71)
✍️ Sample CBT Questions & Answers
1. According to Beck's model, 'intermediate beliefs' sit between automatic thoughts and core beliefs and typically take which form?
Intermediate beliefs are conditional rules, attitudes, and assumptions (e.g., 'If…then…' statements) that mediate between core beliefs and automatic thoughts.
2. Which V-code (or Z-code in DSM-5) should be recorded when relational conflict between spouses is a primary focus of clinical attention?
Z63.0 captures clinically significant relational distress with a partner that is a primary focus of treatment or affects diagnosis and treatment.
3. In behavioral activation, what does the term 'avoidance' primarily refer to?
Avoidance in BA refers to behaviors that temporarily reduce distress but reinforce depressive cycles by preventing engagement with rewarding activities.
4. In CBT for Panic Disorder, interoceptive exposure involves:
Interoceptive exposure deliberately induces feared physical sensations (e.g., dizziness, racing heart) to reduce fear of those sensations.
5. A client with Specific Phobia of blood-injection-injury (BII) type requires a modified exposure protocol because:
BII phobias involve a unique vasovagal fainting response, so applied tension technique is added to exposure to prevent syncope.
6. Which of the following is an example of the cognitive distortion known as 'personalization'?
Personalization involves incorrectly attributing external events to oneself, taking unwarranted personal responsibility or blame.