Cognitive Restructuring Techniques Flashcards
7 cards from real CBT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Cognitive Restructuring Techniques flashcards as text
Which technique involves having a client deliberately test whether a feared outcome actually occurs in real life?
Answer: Behavioral experiment
Behavioral experiments directly test the validity of a client's predictions by gathering real-world evidence, making them a powerful cognitive restructuring tool.
A therapist asks a socially anxious client to rate how embarrassed others actually noticed they were during a feared situation. This intervention is called:
Answer: Survey method
The survey method gathers real data from others to test whether the client's belief about how they appear to others is accurate.
When a client says 'I just feel like something terrible is about to happen,' which cognitive distortion is most prominent?
Answer: Emotional reasoning
Emotional reasoning occurs when a person uses their emotional state as evidence for a belief, e.g., 'I feel afraid, therefore danger must be real.'
A therapist uses a pie chart to help a client redistribute responsibility for a negative event among multiple contributing factors. This technique is known as:
Answer: Reattribution
Reattribution uses tools like pie charts to distribute responsibility more accurately, reducing excessive self-blame by acknowledging all causal factors.
In cognitive restructuring, 'examining the advantages and disadvantages' of holding a particular belief is most useful for:
Answer: Increasing motivation to change an unhelpful belief
Evaluating pros and cons of a belief builds motivation for change by making the costs of maintaining the belief explicit.
A CBT therapist instructs a client to generate a list of alternative explanations for a coworker's rude behavior rather than assuming it was personal. This directly targets:
Answer: Mind reading and personalization
Generating alternative explanations counters mind reading (assuming negative intent) and personalization (assuming the behavior was directed at oneself).
Which of the following best distinguishes an automatic thought from a core belief in CBT?
Answer: Automatic thoughts are situation-specific and fleeting; core beliefs are global and enduring
Automatic thoughts are rapid, situation-triggered cognitions, while core beliefs are stable, cross-situational schemas about self, others, and the world.