Crisis and Trauma Interventions Flashcards

A counselor using Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy for PTSD asks the client to repeatedly recount the traumatic event in detail. The therapeutic rationale for this in vivo imaginal exposure is:

Answer: To activate the fear network and allow new non-threat information to be incorporated, reducing conditioned fear responses

Prolonged Exposure uses emotional processing theory: repeated activation of the fear structure allows new corrective information to modify the trauma memory network.

When assessing homicidal ideation in a client who expresses anger toward a specific person, which piece of information is MOST critical for a Tarasoff duty-to-warn determination?

Answer: Whether the intended victim is identifiable and the threat is credible and serious

Tarasoff duty-to-warn obligations are triggered when there is a serious, credible threat against an identifiable potential victim.

A refugee client presents with trauma related to war exposure. The counselor should be MOST aware of which cultural consideration when applying Western trauma models?

Answer: Western trauma constructs and symptom clusters may not map onto the client's cultural expressions of distress or healing

Cultural idioms of distress, help-seeking norms, and healing practices vary widely; Western PTSD frameworks may pathologize normative cultural responses or miss culturally specific symptoms.

The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) is a structured tool that assesses suicide risk along which two primary dimensions?

Answer: Ideation severity and suicidal behavior history

The C-SSRS evaluates the severity of suicidal ideation (from passive wish to active plan with intent) and tracks actual suicidal behaviors (attempts, interrupted attempts, preparatory acts).

A school counselor responds to a student's suicide and must address the remaining students. Which approach BEST reflects suicide contagion (Werther effect) prevention guidelines?

Answer: Implement targeted mental health check-ins, avoid glamorizing the death, and follow safe messaging guidelines

Safe messaging guidelines recommend avoiding sensationalizing details, limiting method disclosure, and providing mental health resources while supporting grieving students individually.

In Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD, 'stuck points' are BEST defined as:

Answer: Maladaptive beliefs about the trauma and its consequences that maintain PTSD symptoms

Stuck points are unhelpful cognitions (e.g., 'It was my fault,' 'The world is completely dangerous') identified in CPT that sustain PTSD and become targets for cognitive restructuring.

A client who experienced a sexual assault reports feeling 'dirty' and believes 'I should have fought harder.' In the NCMHCE simulation context, the counselor's MOST appropriate next step is to:

Answer: Validate the client's feelings, normalize shame responses in trauma survivors, and gently explore the belief without imposing the counselor's interpretation

Validating the emotional experience and exploring self-blaming beliefs collaboratively respects the client's pace and avoids minimizing or invalidating their internal experience.