LSP Therapeutic Interventions & Treatment Planning 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A therapist using behavioral activation with a depressed client asks the client to track daily activities and rate pleasure and mastery. The PRIMARY purpose of this monitoring is to:
- Identify cognitive distortions linked to depression
- Establish a baseline and identify reinforcing activities to schedule (Correct answer)
- Assess suicide risk through behavioral patterns
- Determine medication compliance
Correct answer: Establish a baseline and identify reinforcing activities to schedule
Activity monitoring in behavioral activation identifies which activities provide mastery and pleasure, informing the scheduling of reinforcing behaviors to counter depression.
Question 2: A psychologist is treating a client with panic disorder using CBT. Interoceptive exposure involves:
- Gradual exposure to panic-inducing external situations
- Deliberately inducing feared bodily sensations to reduce anxiety about them (Correct answer)
- Relaxation training to prevent physical symptoms
- Cognitive restructuring of catastrophic thoughts about panic
Correct answer: Deliberately inducing feared bodily sensations to reduce anxiety about them
Interoceptive exposure deliberately produces bodily sensations that trigger panic (e.g., spinning, hyperventilating) so clients habituate to feared internal cues.
Question 3: Which principle of ethical treatment planning requires that interventions be matched to the client's cultural background and values?
- Nonmaleficence
- Beneficence
- Cultural responsiveness (Correct answer)
- Justice
Correct answer: Cultural responsiveness
Cultural responsiveness requires adapting assessment and treatment to be congruent with the client's cultural values, beliefs, and practices.
Question 4: A client with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is taught to schedule a specific 20-minute daily 'worry time.' The rationale for this intervention is to:
- Eliminate worrying by containing it to a limited period
- Disrupt avoidance and reduce worry's intrusiveness throughout the day (Correct answer)
- Expose the client to feared outcomes
- Reinforce that worrying is a productive problem-solving strategy
Correct answer: Disrupt avoidance and reduce worry's intrusiveness throughout the day
Worry postponement disrupts the automatic habit of worrying throughout the day, reducing its pervasive impact while building a sense of control.
Question 5: A therapist identifies that a client's treatment has stalled despite multiple evidence-based interventions. The MOST appropriate next clinical step is to:
- Increase session frequency without changing approach
- Conduct a functional analysis to identify maintaining factors not yet addressed (Correct answer)
- Refer the client to a different therapist immediately
- Diagnose a new personality disorder to explain non-response
Correct answer: Conduct a functional analysis to identify maintaining factors not yet addressed
A functional analysis examines antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to identify what is maintaining the problem when standard interventions are insufficient.
Question 6: Group therapy for social anxiety typically incorporates behavioral rehearsal. The PRIMARY therapeutic mechanism is:
- Catharsis through public emotional expression
- In vivo exposure to feared social situations with corrective feedback (Correct answer)
- Insight into childhood origins of social fear
- Modeling alone without participant practice
Correct answer: In vivo exposure to feared social situations with corrective feedback
Behavioral rehearsal in group therapy provides real-time exposure to social evaluation with corrective feedback, directly targeting avoidance.
Question 7: A psychologist working in an inpatient psychiatric unit is completing discharge planning. Which factor is MOST critical to address to reduce 30-day readmission risk?
- Ensuring the client has read all psychoeducational materials
- Establishing outpatient follow-up appointments and medication continuity before discharge (Correct answer)
- Completing all therapy goals prior to discharge
- Obtaining family members' agreement with the diagnosis
Correct answer: Establishing outpatient follow-up appointments and medication continuity before discharge
Continuity of care — particularly outpatient follow-up and uninterrupted medication access — is the strongest predictor of reducing psychiatric readmission.
LSP Therapeutic Interventions & Treatment Planning 4
A therapist using behavioral activation with a depressed client asks the client to track daily activities and rate pleasure and mastery.
The PRIMARY purpose of this monitoring is to: