CSAM Counseling Strategies & Interventions 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A counselor employing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) would encourage an angry client to:
- Eliminate angry feelings through cognitive restructuring
- Accept anger as a feeling without letting it dictate behavior, and act according to personal values (Correct answer)
- Suppress anger and replace it with positive emotions
- Avoid all situations that trigger anger
Correct answer: Accept anger as a feeling without letting it dictate behavior, and act according to personal values
ACT emphasizes psychological flexibility: accepting emotions without fusion and committing to value-driven action rather than reactive behavior.
Question 2: When setting a safety plan with an anger management client who has made threats, the counselor should include:
- A promise from the client not to act on anger
- Emergency contacts, de-escalation steps, and specific warning signs for the client and identified persons (Correct answer)
- Only internal coping strategies
- A referral to psychiatric medication only
Correct answer: Emergency contacts, de-escalation steps, and specific warning signs for the client and identified persons
A comprehensive safety plan addresses warning signs, coping strategies, support contacts, and steps to protect identified third parties.
Question 3: A counselor uses 'perspective-taking exercises' where an angry client considers the viewpoint of the person who triggered them. This strategy primarily targets:
- Physiological arousal
- Empathy deficits and attributional biases (Correct answer)
- Communication skills
- Impulse control
Correct answer: Empathy deficits and attributional biases
Perspective-taking reduces hostile attribution bias by helping clients consider alternative explanations for others' behavior.
Question 4: Which of the following is an example of a 'coping self-statement' used in anger management?
- 'I will never get angry again.'
- 'I can handle this. Getting angry won't help me here.' (Correct answer)
- 'This situation is completely unfair and unacceptable.'
- 'I must control everyone around me.'
Correct answer: 'I can handle this. Getting angry won't help me here.'
Coping self-statements are realistic, calming phrases clients rehearse to replace anger-escalating internal dialogue.
Question 5: When a counselor assigns between-session homework in anger management, the PRIMARY purpose is to:
- Test whether clients are following treatment protocols
- Facilitate generalization of skills from session to real-life contexts (Correct answer)
- Reduce the number of sessions needed
- Demonstrate the counselor's expertise
Correct answer: Facilitate generalization of skills from session to real-life contexts
Homework promotes transfer of learning, allowing clients to practice and apply skills in their natural environment.
Question 6: A client repeatedly interrupts with 'but they started it' when discussing anger episodes. The counselor BEST responds by:
- Agreeing that the other party is responsible
- Validating the feeling while refocusing on the client's own choices and responses (Correct answer)
- Confronting the client for being defensive
- Ending the session due to non-compliance
Correct answer: Validating the feeling while refocusing on the client's own choices and responses
Validation followed by redirecting to personal responsibility supports engagement while maintaining a change-focused stance.
Question 7: In anger management, 'stress inoculation training' (SIT) developed by Meichenbaum involves three phases. Which phase involves rehearsing coping skills through imagery and role-play?
- Conceptualization phase
- Skills acquisition and rehearsal phase (Correct answer)
- Application and follow-through phase
- Assessment and baseline phase
Correct answer: Skills acquisition and rehearsal phase
The skills acquisition and rehearsal phase teaches and practices coping strategies using imaginal and behavioral rehearsal methods.
CSAM Counseling Strategies & Interventions 5
A counselor employing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) would encourage an angry client to: