SAC Counseling Theories & Techniques 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A SAC counselor helps a student identify and test automatic negative thoughts about failing an exam. Which cognitive technique is being used?
- Behavioral activation
- Cognitive restructuring (Correct answer)
- Paradoxical intention
- Thought stopping
Correct answer: Cognitive restructuring
Cognitive restructuring, a core CBT technique, involves identifying distorted automatic thoughts and replacing them with more balanced, evidence-based thinking.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the 'miracle question' used in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy?
- Asking the client what miracle they believe in
- Asking the client to imagine life without the problem to identify goals (Correct answer)
- Exploring past miracles that resolved similar problems
- Using paradoxical questioning to highlight irrational beliefs
Correct answer: Asking the client to imagine life without the problem to identify goals
The miracle question invites clients to envision a future where their problem is solved, helping the counselor identify concrete, achievable goals.
Question 3: In group counseling, 'universality' as a therapeutic factor refers to:
- Applying the same intervention to all group members
- The group leader's ability to understand all perspectives
- The realization by group members that others share similar problems (Correct answer)
- Universal ethical standards that apply to group work
Correct answer: The realization by group members that others share similar problems
Yalom identified universality as a curative factor in group therapy where members recognize that their struggles are shared by others, reducing isolation.
Question 4: A counselor working from a narrative therapy framework would most likely ask a student to:
- Analyze how childhood experiences created current problems
- Complete a thought record after distressing events
- Identify exceptions to times when the problem dominated their life
- Re-author their life story by examining dominant narratives (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Re-author their life story by examining dominant narratives
Narrative therapy, developed by White and Epston, focuses on externalizing problems and helping clients re-author their life stories with empowering alternative narratives.
Question 5: When a counselor uses 'immediacy' as a technique, they are:
- Addressing what is happening in the here-and-now between counselor and client (Correct answer)
- Providing immediate crisis intervention without delay
- Quickly responding to a student's message within 24 hours
- Using real-time data to track a student's progress
Correct answer: Addressing what is happening in the here-and-now between counselor and client
Immediacy involves the counselor directly addressing the current dynamic occurring in the therapeutic relationship as a way to model open communication.
Question 6: In transactional analysis, which ego state is characterized by rules, judgments, and 'should' statements inherited from parental figures?
- Adult
- Child
- Parent (Correct answer)
- Superego
Correct answer: Parent
Eric Berne's Parent ego state contains internalized rules, values, and behaviors modeled after parental figures, often expressed as 'should,' 'must,' or 'ought.'
Question 7: A student repeatedly tests the counselor by breaking rules and arriving late. A counselor using reality therapy would primarily address this by:
- Analyzing the unconscious motivation behind the acting-out behavior
- Empathizing with the student's feelings about the situation
- Exploring how early childhood experiences led to the behavior
- Focusing on what the student wants and evaluating whether their behavior is helping them get it (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Focusing on what the student wants and evaluating whether their behavior is helping them get it
Reality therapy, developed by Glasser, focuses on current behavior and asks clients to evaluate whether their actions are helping them meet their needs and goals.
SAC Counseling Theories & Techniques 3
A SAC counselor helps a student identify and test automatic negative thoughts about failing an exam.
Which cognitive technique is being used?