CHAPTER 15:

1. Name the 3 major categories of treatments.

2. List 5 reasons why people who require therapy may not receive it.
3. What does the HPCSA (Health Profession Council of South Africa) require all professionals in
the field of psychology to complete before being eligible to register as an independent
practitioner?
4. What do clinical and counselling psychologists specialise in?
5. What is psychoanalysis as a therapy treatment, and how did Freud use it to treat patients?
6. What is dream analysis?
7. What is transference?
8. What are some central features of modern psychodynamic therapies?
9. What does client-centred therapy entail, and what 3 conditions should client-centred
therapists provide to create a supportive atmosphere?
10. How should a therapeutic climate make clients and patients feel?
11. Discuss group therapy.
12. Discuss couples (marital) therapy.
13. What 2 common goals do family and couples therapists share?

SLK110 CHAPTER 15 PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR SEMESTER 1 EXAM

15.3 and 15.4

Multiple Choice Section:

1. What is the primary goal of behaviour therapy? (1)

A. To help clients achieve deep insights about their unconscious conflicts
B. To eliminate maladaptive behaviours through learning and conditioning
C. To explore the root causes of childhood trauma
D. To strengthen the therapeutic alliance between client and therapist
2. Which of the following is NOT a component of social skills training? (1)
A. Modelling
B. Behavioural rehearsal
C. Shaping
D. Systematic desensitisation
3. What is the main goal of cognitive therapy? (1)
A. To identify and correct habitual thinking errors
B. To eliminate phobic responses through exposure
C. To improve interpersonal skills through role-playing
D. To reduce anxiety by building an anxiety hierarchy
4. What is the purpose of exposure therapies? (1)
A. To teach clients to avoid anxiety-arousing situations
B. To confront clients with feared situations in a controlled setting
C. To replace maladaptive behaviours with socially acceptable ones
D. To identify and challenge automatic negative thoughts
5. What is the role of modelling in social skills training? (1)
A. To help clients confront their fears directly
B. To teach clients to detect and challenge negative thoughts
C. To provide clients with examples of appropriate social behaviours
D. To create a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations
6. What is cognitive bias modification? (1)
A. A technique to directly change automatic biases in thinking
B. A method to reduce phobic responses through relaxation
C. A process of practising social techniques in structured exercises
D. A strategy to build an anxiety hierarchy for systematic desensitisation
7. What is the primary assumption of behaviour therapy? (1)
A. Behaviour is a product of unconscious conflicts
B. Behaviour is determined by genetic predispositions
C. Behaviour is a result of past conditioning and can be unlearned
D. Behaviour is shaped by cultural and societal norms
8. What is the main focus of systematic desensitisation? (1)
A. To teach clients to avoid anxiety-provoking situations
B. To weaken the association between a conditioned stimulus and anxiety
C. To improve interpersonal skills through role-playing
D. To identify and challenge negative automatic thoughts
9. Which of the following disorders has been successfully treated with cognitive therapy? (1)
A. Depression
B. Obsessive-compulsive disorder
C. Autism spectrum disorder
D. Schizophrenia
10. Which of the following is a common side effect of anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax? (1)
A. Increased energy
B. Weight loss
C. Improved memory
D. Drowsiness
11. What is the primary purpose of antipsychotic drugs? (1)
A. To treat anxiety disorders
B. To reduce psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions
C. To elevate mood in patients with depression
D. To stabilise mood swings in bipolar disorder
12. Which class of antidepressants is most commonly prescribed today? (1)
A. Tricyclic antidepressants
B. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
C. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
D. Benzodiazepines
13. What is a major risk associated with long-term use of traditional antipsychotic drugs? (1)
A. Kidney failure
B. Tardive dyskinesia
C. Seizures
D. Severe weight loss
14. What is the primary purpose of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)? (1)
A. To induce controlled seizures for therapeutic purposes
B. To treat mild anxiety
 C. To stabilise mood swings in bipolar disorder
D. To improve memory and cognitive function
15. Which of the following is a common short-term side effect of ECT? (1)
A. Improved memory
B. Retrograde amnesia
C. Weight gain
D. Increased energy levels

Longer Questions:

16. Briefly list and explain the techniques used in social skills training and how they contribute to
improved interpersonal functioning. (6 marks)
17. Cognitive therapy focuses on correcting habitual thinking errors that contribute to
psychological disorders. Identify one type of thinking error commonly seen in depression
and explain how cognitive therapy helps individuals challenge this error. (2 marks)
18. Briefly explain the use of antipsychotic drugs focusing on which disorders they are mainly
used to treat, what these drugs do for treatment and mention a risk associated with taking
these drugs. (6 marks)
19. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of first-generation and second-generation
antipsychotic drugs. (4 marks)

CHAPTER 15 (part 1) ANSWERS:

1. Insight therapies, behavioural therapies and biomedical therapies.

2. People may require therapy and may not receive it because the health system is
overburdened, there is a lack of mental health resources, there is a lack of knowledge about
therapy, individual perceptions on what therapy entails and who needs it and social stigma
against needing treatment for mental health.
3. The HPCSA requires all professionals with the psychology field to complete a national board
exam with a minimum pass mark of 75% before being eligible to register as an independent
practitioner.
4. Clinical psychologists and counselling psychologists specialise in the diagnosis and treatment
of psychological disorders and everyday behavioural problems. Clinical psychologists focus
on the treatment of psychological disorders, while counselling psychologists focus on work,
career and adjustment problems in people who are not suffering from serious disorders.
5. Psychoanalysis is an insight therapy that emphasises the recovery of unconscious conflicts,
motives and defences using free association and transference. Freud mostly treated
neuroses (anxiety -dominated disturbances) with psychoanalysis and he believed they were
caused by unconscious conflicts.
6. Dream analysis involves the therapist interpreting the symbolic meaning of the client’s
dreams.
7. Transference occurs when clients relate to their therapists in ways that mimic critical
relationships in their lives.
8. Some central features of modern psychodynamic therapies include; a focus on emotional
experience, an exploration of efforts to avoid distressing thoughts and feelings, discussion of
past experiences, analysis of interpersonal relationships, etc.
9. Client-centred therapy emphasizes providing a supportive emotional climate for clients who
help determine the direction of their therapy. To create a supportive atmosphere the client-
centred therapist should provide genuineness through honest communication,
unconditional positive regard as acceptance of the client, and accurate empathy in
understanding the client’s point of view.
10. A therapeutic climate should be warm, supportive and a safe place for clients to confront
their short comings without feeling threatened.
11. Group therapy is the simultaneous treatment of several clients in a group. There are usually
4 to 12 participants with 6 to 8 being the ideal. Therapists should screen participants to see
who would benefit from group therapy, as some problems are suited to group therapy such
as addiction problems whereas others are not. In group therapy, members share viewpoints,
problems and coping strategies as well as providing acceptance and emotional support and
encouragement for one another.
12. Couples or marital therapy includes both partners in a committed, intimate relationship and
focuses on relationship issues. It attempts to help partners clarify their needs and desires in
the relationship and to enhance communication and tolerance of differences.
13. Couples and family therapies share the common goals of understanding patterns of
interactions that produce distress and to help couples and families improve their
communication and move towards healthier patterns of interactions.
Answers(part 2)

Multiple Choice Section:

1. B
2. D
3. A
4. B
5. C
6. A
7. C
8. B
9. A
10. D
11. B
12. C
13. B
14. A
15. B

Longer Questions:

1. Briefly list and explain the techniques used in social skills training and how they contribute to
improved interpersonal functioning:

1. Technique 1 – Modelling: Clients observe socially skilled individuals and

imitate appropriate behaviour (e.g., eye contact, active listening).

2. Technique 2 – Behavioural rehearsal: Clients practice social interactions

through structured role-playing exercises with corrective feedback.

3. Technique 3 – Shaping: Gradual improvement in social interactions by

starting with simpler situations and progressing to more complex ones.

2. Cognitive therapy focuses on correcting habitual thinking errors that contribute to

psychological disorders. Identify one type of thinking error commonly seen in depression
and explain how cognitive therapy helps individuals challenge this error.

o Any of the following three:

 Thinking Error 1 – Personalization: Depressed individuals blame themselves

for negative events without considering external factors.

 Thinking Error 2 – Selective abstraction: Focusing only on negative details

while ignoring positive experiences.

 Thinking Error 3 – Catastrophic thinking: Making exaggerated negative

predictions about the future (e.g., "I'll never succeed").

 Treatment approach: Cognitive therapy helps clients detect automatic

negative thoughts, engage in reality testing, and replace irrational beliefs
with more balanced perspectives.
3. Briefly explain the use of antipsychotic drugs focusing on which disorders it is mainly used to
treat, what these drugs do for treatment and mention a risk associated with taking these
drugs.
Antipsychotic drugs:

o Which disorders they are mainly used to treat: Schizophrenia and severe mood
disorders with delusions.

o What the drugs do: Reduce psychotic symptoms like hallucinations and confusion.

o Associated risk: Tardive dyskinesia, a neurological disorder causing involuntary

movements (more common in first-generation antipsychotics).

4. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of first-generation and second-generation

antipsychotic drugs.

o First-generation antipsychotics:

 Advantages: Decrease dopamine activity, helping reduce hallucinations and

delusions.

 Disadvantages: Higher risk of tardive dyskinesia, muscle rigidity, tremors.

o Second-generation antipsychotics:

 Advantages: Similar effectiveness but lower risk of movement disorders.

Helps treatment-resistant patients who do not respond to first-generation
drugs.

 Disadvantages: Increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular problems.