CRC Counseling Theory 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In behavioral therapy, 'negative reinforcement' involves:
- Presenting an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior
- Removing an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior (Correct answer)
- Withholding a reward to decrease a behavior
- Presenting a pleasant stimulus to increase a behavior
Correct answer: Removing an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior
Negative reinforcement increases a behavior by removing or avoiding an aversive stimulus, such as taking pain medication to remove pain, thereby reinforcing medication-taking behavior.
Question 2: A CRC counselor using a narrative therapy approach would most likely:
- Analyze the client's childhood attachment patterns
- Help the client re-author their life story by externalizing the problem (Correct answer)
- Assign graduated exposure tasks to feared situations
- Explore the client's unconscious conflicts through dream analysis
Correct answer: Help the client re-author their life story by externalizing the problem
Narrative therapy (White and Epston) externalizes problems—treating them as separate from the person—and helps clients re-author their dominant life story to create preferred alternative narratives.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes 'countertransference' in the therapeutic relationship?
- The client projecting feelings about past relationships onto the therapist
- The therapist's emotional reactions to the client influenced by the therapist's own history (Correct answer)
- A technique used to help clients transfer skills from sessions to daily life
- The mutual agreement between therapist and client on treatment goals
Correct answer: The therapist's emotional reactions to the client influenced by the therapist's own history
Countertransference refers to the therapist's emotional reactions to a client that are shaped by the therapist's own unresolved issues, and must be managed to avoid interfering with treatment.
Question 4: Bowen's family systems theory proposes that 'differentiation of self' refers to:
- Physically separating from one's family of origin
- The ability to maintain a clear sense of self while remaining emotionally connected to others (Correct answer)
- Developing unique behavioral patterns distinct from sibling roles
- Achieving independence from cultural and ethnic identity pressures
Correct answer: The ability to maintain a clear sense of self while remaining emotionally connected to others
Bowen described differentiation of self as the capacity to remain emotionally connected to family while maintaining a distinct identity, avoiding both fusion and emotional cutoff.
Question 5: In acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), 'psychological flexibility' is achieved through:
- Eliminating negative thoughts through cognitive restructuring
- Accepting difficult experiences while committing to values-based action (Correct answer)
- Systematic desensitization to anxiety-provoking stimuli
- Unconditional acceptance from the therapeutic relationship
Correct answer: Accepting difficult experiences while committing to values-based action
ACT (Hayes) defines psychological flexibility as the ability to contact the present moment fully and, based on the situation, to change or persist in behavior in service of chosen values.
Question 6: The 'therapeutic alliance' in counseling research is most strongly associated with which outcome?
- The specific techniques used by the therapist
- Treatment success across different theoretical orientations (Correct answer)
- The therapist's level of clinical training and experience
- The client's diagnosis and presenting problem severity
Correct answer: Treatment success across different theoretical orientations
Research consistently shows that the quality of the therapeutic alliance (the bond, goals, and tasks agreement) is one of the strongest predictors of positive treatment outcomes across all modalities.
Question 7: According to Erikson's psychosocial development theory, the primary conflict for adults aged 40-65 is:
- Identity vs. role confusion
- Generativity vs. stagnation (Correct answer)
- Intimacy vs. isolation
- Integrity vs. despair
Correct answer: Generativity vs. stagnation
Erikson's seventh stage (middle adulthood) involves generativity—contributing to society and guiding the next generation—versus stagnation, or self-absorption and lack of growth.
CRC Counseling Theory 4
In behavioral therapy, 'negative reinforcement' involves: