MAC Counseling Techniques 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In group therapy for addiction, 'process versus content' refers to the distinction between:
- Evidence-based and non-evidence-based techniques
- What is being discussed versus how members interact while discussing it (Correct answer)
- Structured exercises and open discussion
- Individual goals and group goals
Correct answer: What is being discussed versus how members interact while discussing it
Content refers to the topic being discussed in group, while process refers to the interpersonal dynamics and patterns occurring among members as they discuss it.
Question 2: A counselor working with a client who has cannabis use disorder notices the client intellectualizes their use to avoid emotional exploration. The BEST response is to:
- Match the client's intellectual style and provide psychoeducation
- Gently redirect toward the emotional content underlying the intellectualization (Correct answer)
- Confront the defense mechanism directly and forcefully
- Accept the client's preferred communication style indefinitely
Correct answer: Gently redirect toward the emotional content underlying the intellectualization
Gently and empathically redirecting from intellectualization toward the underlying emotional experience helps clients access and process the feelings that often drive substance use.
Question 3: Which relapse prevention strategy involves helping clients identify warning signs that occur weeks or days before an actual relapse?
- Coping skills training
- Early warning sign identification (relapse road map) (Correct answer)
- Covert sensitization
- Crisis intervention
Correct answer: Early warning sign identification (relapse road map)
Relapse road mapping or early warning sign identification helps clients recognize the gradual behavioral, cognitive, and emotional changes that signal an approaching relapse long before it occurs.
Question 4: A client says their spouse 'makes them' drink when they nag. A counselor applying rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) would address this by:
- Exploring the spouse's communication style
- Challenging the irrational belief that others control one's emotional responses and behaviors (Correct answer)
- Teaching the client assertiveness skills
- Scheduling couples counseling
Correct answer: Challenging the irrational belief that others control one's emotional responses and behaviors
REBT's A-B-C model holds that events (A) do not directly cause consequences (C); rather, irrational beliefs (B) about events do, so the counselor challenges the belief that others control one's drinking.
Question 5: The technique of 'bibliotherapy' in addiction counseling primarily refers to:
- Keeping a journal of substance use patterns
- Assigning readings to supplement therapy and promote self-reflection (Correct answer)
- Reading literature aloud in group therapy
- Using narrative therapy to rewrite one's story
Correct answer: Assigning readings to supplement therapy and promote self-reflection
Bibliotherapy uses assigned books, articles, or recovery literature as a therapeutic adjunct to promote insight, normalize experiences, and reinforce session content between appointments.
Question 6: When a client in recovery repeatedly arrives late to sessions and minimizes its importance, a counselor addressing this pattern therapeutically is working with:
- Transference
- Resistance (Correct answer)
- The client's schedule constraints
- Countertransference
Correct answer: Resistance
Resistance manifests as behaviors that impede the therapeutic process; addressing the latency pattern therapeutically helps the client explore underlying ambivalence about treatment.
Question 7: In Network Therapy for addiction, the client's support network is involved primarily to:
- Replace individual therapy sessions
- Provide accountability and support relapse prevention during and between sessions (Correct answer)
- Enable the therapist to gather collateral information about the client's use
- Conduct family systems therapy
Correct answer: Provide accountability and support relapse prevention during and between sessions
Network Therapy enlists supportive family members and friends as active treatment allies who help the client maintain abstinence and cope with triggers between sessions.
MAC Counseling Techniques 5
In group therapy for addiction, 'process versus content' refers to the distinction between: