CADC Alcohol and Drug Counselor Core Counseling Theories 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to Marlatt and Gordon's Relapse Prevention model, a 'high-risk situation' is best defined as:
- Any environment where substances are physically present
- A circumstance that threatens the client's sense of control and increases relapse risk (Correct answer)
- A legal situation resulting from substance use
- The period immediately following detoxification
Correct answer: A circumstance that threatens the client's sense of control and increases relapse risk
Marlatt and Gordon defined high-risk situations as any circumstance that threatens the individual's sense of self-control and increases the probability of relapse.
Question 2: In Family Systems Theory applied to addiction, the term 'homeostasis' refers to:
- A balanced diet plan during recovery
- The family's tendency to maintain its established patterns, even unhealthy ones (Correct answer)
- The stable period of recovery after the first year of sobriety
- Equal distribution of responsibilities among family members
Correct answer: The family's tendency to maintain its established patterns, even unhealthy ones
Family homeostasis describes the system's drive to maintain its familiar equilibrium, which can inadvertently sustain addictive patterns.
Question 3: The 'empty chair' technique, commonly used in Gestalt therapy, is designed to help clients:
- Practice refusal skills with an imaginary peer offering substances
- Express feelings toward a significant person or part of themselves (Correct answer)
- Visualize their life without substances using guided imagery
- Role-play asking for help from a sponsor or support person
Correct answer: Express feelings toward a significant person or part of themselves
The empty chair technique allows clients to dialogue with significant others or internal parts of themselves to process unresolved feelings.
Question 4: Existential therapy approaches addiction by helping the client confront:
- The neurological basis of their dependency
- Ultimate concerns such as death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness (Correct answer)
- Irrational beliefs that perpetuate substance use
- Behavioral contingencies that reinforce drug-seeking
Correct answer: Ultimate concerns such as death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness
Existential therapy addresses addiction as an attempt to escape from the anxiety associated with ultimate concerns like death, freedom, and a search for meaning.
Question 5: In Behavioral therapy, 'contingency management' is a technique that involves:
- Helping clients plan for contingencies or emergencies in their recovery
- Using tangible rewards to reinforce abstinence or treatment compliance (Correct answer)
- Analyzing the conditions that first led to substance use initiation
- Managing the client's expectations about treatment outcomes
Correct answer: Using tangible rewards to reinforce abstinence or treatment compliance
Contingency management uses positive reinforcement (e.g., vouchers, prizes) contingent on verified abstinence to increase motivation for sobriety.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'parallel process' in clinical supervision within addiction counseling?
- Running two treatment groups simultaneously with the same curriculum
- Dynamics in the client-counselor relationship mirroring those in the supervisee-supervisor relationship (Correct answer)
- Using two evidence-based theories concurrently to treat a client
- Coordinating treatment between a counselor and a prescribing physician
Correct answer: Dynamics in the client-counselor relationship mirroring those in the supervisee-supervisor relationship
Parallel process occurs when the supervisee unconsciously recreates with the supervisor the relational dynamics they experience with their client.
Question 7: According to Prochaska and DiClemente's TTM, the 'Preparation' stage is characterized by:
- Complete denial of any substance use problem
- Intending to take action soon and making small preparatory changes (Correct answer)
- Having successfully maintained sobriety for 6 months or more
- Experiencing ambivalence without any plan to change
Correct answer: Intending to take action soon and making small preparatory changes
In Preparation, clients intend to take action within the next month and may have already begun making small changes toward their goal.
CADC Alcohol and Drug Counselor Core Counseling Theories 4
According to Marlatt and Gordon's Relapse Prevention model, a 'high-risk situation' is best defined as: