CSAM CSAM Workplace Anger & Conflict Resolution 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In a workplace anger management context, which behavior pattern is most commonly associated with passive-aggressive anger expression?
- Openly confronting a supervisor during a meeting
- Physically threatening a coworker
- Consistently missing deadlines only for projects assigned by a disliked manager (Correct answer)
- Reporting workplace safety violations to HR
Correct answer: Consistently missing deadlines only for projects assigned by a disliked manager
Passive-aggressive behavior expresses anger indirectly through sabotage, deliberate inefficiency, or avoidance rather than direct confrontation.
Question 2: When facilitating anger management with an employee who was referred by their employer, the CSAM specialist's primary ethical obligation regarding progress reports is to:
- Share all session content with the employer upon request
- Obtain a signed release of information from the client before sharing any details (Correct answer)
- Refuse all communication with the employer to protect confidentiality
- Only report to the employer if the client fails to attend sessions
Correct answer: Obtain a signed release of information from the client before sharing any details
A signed release of information is required before any treatment details can be shared with a referring employer, respecting both confidentiality and the client's autonomy.
Question 3: Which conflict resolution style is characterized by high assertiveness and high cooperation, making it the most effective approach for sustainable workplace resolution?
- Avoiding
- Competing
- Collaborating (Correct answer)
- Accommodating
Correct answer: Collaborating
The collaborating style seeks a win-win solution by addressing all parties' interests, producing durable agreements and preserving workplace relationships.
Question 4: A CSAM specialist helping a client manage anger toward a coworker would FIRST recommend:
- Filing a formal HR complaint
- Immediately confronting the coworker publicly
- Identifying and examining the client's own cognitive appraisals of the situation (Correct answer)
- Requesting a transfer to another department
Correct answer: Identifying and examining the client's own cognitive appraisals of the situation
Examining cognitive appraisals — how the client is interpreting the coworker's behavior — is the foundational step before any action, as distorted thinking often fuels disproportionate anger.
Question 5: Workplace bullying is distinguished from ordinary workplace conflict primarily by:
- The fact that it involves physical violence
- Its repetitive, targeted nature intended to harm or intimidate a specific individual (Correct answer)
- Being limited to peer-to-peer interactions
- Occurring only in industries with high-stress environments
Correct answer: Its repetitive, targeted nature intended to harm or intimidate a specific individual
Workplace bullying involves persistent, systematic behavior directed at a specific target, unlike ordinary conflict which is typically situational and mutual.
Question 6: During a workplace anger management intake, a client discloses that they have made threatening comments toward a specific coworker. The CSAM specialist's primary duty is to:
- Keep the disclosure confidential as part of the therapeutic relationship
- Assess the credibility and imminence of the threat and follow duty-to-warn protocols if warranted (Correct answer)
- Immediately terminate treatment and refer elsewhere
- Notify the client's employer without assessing risk level
Correct answer: Assess the credibility and imminence of the threat and follow duty-to-warn protocols if warranted
Duty-to-warn (Tarasoff) obligations require the clinician to assess whether threats are credible and imminent, then take protective action such as warning the identifiable victim if threshold is met.
CSAM CSAM Workplace Anger & Conflict Resolution 1
In a workplace anger management context, which behavior pattern is most commonly associated with passive-aggressive anger expression?