Diagnosis, and Treatment Planning 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 Diagnosis, and Treatment Planning flashcards as text
Which concept in CBT treatment planning refers to identifying the client's idiosyncratic meaning attached to a specific automatic thought?
Answer: Downward arrow technique to uncover core beliefs
The downward arrow technique follows a chain of 'what does that mean to you?' questions to reveal the underlying core belief driving an automatic thought.
A client meets criteria for both Borderline Personality Disorder and PTSD. Which treatment planning consideration is most critical?
Answer: Establish emotion regulation skills before beginning trauma-focused exposure work
Clients with BPD and PTSD often require a stabilization and skill-building phase (as in DBT-PE) before intensive trauma processing to prevent crises during exposure.
The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) measures fear of anxiety-related sensations. Elevated scores are most associated with which diagnosis?
Answer: Panic disorder
Anxiety sensitivity—fear that anxiety symptoms themselves are harmful—is a core cognitive vulnerability in panic disorder and is directly measured by the ASI.
In CBT treatment planning, 'collaborative empiricism' means:
Answer: Therapist and client jointly test beliefs as hypotheses through experiments and evidence review
Collaborative empiricism is a defining CBT stance where beliefs are treated as testable hypotheses and both client and therapist work as co-investigators.
Which V-code (or Z-code in DSM-5) should be recorded when relational conflict between spouses is a primary focus of clinical attention?
Answer: Z63.0 – Relationship distress with spouse or intimate partner
Z63.0 captures clinically significant relational distress with a partner that is a primary focus of treatment or affects diagnosis and treatment.
A therapist uses the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) at intake. What two dimensions does this scale assess?
Answer: Severity of obsessions and severity of compulsions separately
The Y-BOCS separately rates obsession and compulsion severity across dimensions including time, distress, resistance, and interference, yielding two subscale scores.
When a CBT treatment plan includes 'behavioral experiments,' what is their primary purpose in the diagnostic and treatment process?
Answer: To test the validity of a specific belief by gathering real-world evidence
Behavioral experiments are hypothesis-driven activities designed to gather evidence that supports or challenges a client's maladaptive belief, directly linking diagnosis to intervention.