Describe the Coping Skill
Define STOP skill.
Stop
Take a step back
Observe
Proceed mindfully
What is the difference between a thought and an emotion?
An emotion is physiological and psychological response involving feelings, body sensations, and action urges.
A thought is a mental interpretation, belief, or idea.
This neurotransmitter is strongly associated with the brain's reward-learning system and plays a major role in reinforcement and salience.
Dopamine
A client is visibly escalating during group. Their speech is becoming louder and faster.
What should you generally prioritize first? Process the underlying trauma or help reduce immediate physiological / emotional arousal.
Reduce the immediate arousal / stabilize first.
Then, start processing your underlying trauma
"My boss criticized my work, so obviously everyone at work thinks i'm incompetent."
What term is this an example of?
overgeneralization
Define TIPP skill.
Temperature
Intense exercise
Paced breathing
Progressive muscle relaxation
What is emotional dysregulation, and how can it affect behavior?
Emotional dysregulation is difficulty managing or modulating emotional responses.
It can lead to: impulsive behavior, substance use, self harm, aggression, withdrawal, relationship conflict, difficulty thinking rationally while emotionally activated.
This phenomenon occurs when a person experiences symptoms after reducing or stopping a substance following physiological adaptation.
Withdrawal
A friend says, "Nobody here actually cares about me."
Rather than immediately arguing with the statement, identify the theraeutic communication approach most likely to reduce defensiveness.
Validation and empathetic reflection.
"Either I maintain a perfect sobriety forever or I'm a complete failure."
What term is this an example of?
All or nothing thinking
Black and white thinking
Define GIVE skill.
Gentle
Interested
Validate
Easy manner
A person believes, "If I make one mistake at work, I'll definitely get fired and my entire life will fall apart."
This is a cognitive distortion.
catastrophizing
What is negative reinforcement, and how can it maintain substance use?
Negative reinforcement means a behavior increases because it removes or reduces something unpleasant.
A friend repeatedly asks you for reassurance whether they will relapse. Reassurance temporarily calms them, but they return with the same question increasingly often. What behavioral process may be maintaining the cycle?
Reassurance-seeking negatively reinforces anxiety and can become a safety behavior.
What is the difference between empathy and validation?
Empathy: Understanding or attempting to understand someone's emotional experience.
Validation: Communicating that their internal experience is understandable or makes sense in context.
Define FAST skill.
Fair
No apologies
Stick to values
Truthful
A client says, "I know drinking destroys my relationships, but when I don't drink I can't tolerate how I feel."
This is a cognitive distortion.
negative reinforcement
This medication is a partial opioid agonist used in opioid use disorder treatment and has a ceiling effect that contributes to its safety relative to full agonists.
Buprenorphine (Suboxone)
A friend becomes dysregulated after receiving corrective feedback and immediately threatens to leave treatment. They later say, "I wasn't actually angry; I was terrified you were rejecting me."
Identify the likely underlying emotional process and explain why addressing only the outward behavior may be insufficient.
The anger / urge to leave may be a secondary response to fear of rejection / abandonment; effective intervention addresses both the behavior and underlying vulnerability.
A friend says "I don't have a drinking problem because I know people who drink way more than I do."
Identify the cognitive process and explain why comparing severity to someone else's use doesn't establish whether their own use is problematic.
Comparison / minimization
Define DEAR MAN skill.
Describe
Express
Assert
Reinforce
Mindful
Appear confident
Negotiate
Explain emotion mind, reasonable mind, and wise mind
Emotional mind: Behavior is primarily controlled by emotions and urges.
Reasonable mind: Behavior is primarily guided by logic, facts, and rational thinking.
Wise mind: The integration of emotion mind and reasonable mind, making decisions while acknowledging emotions and considering facts.
What is the difference between physical dependance and addiction?
Addiction: A disorder involving compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences, often involving impaired control, craving, and continued use despite problems.
Physical dependance: the body adapts to a substance and may experience withdrawal when it is reduced / stopped.
A friend says, "I don't want to die, but sometimes I wish I could disappear and never wake up."
What is the mistake in assuming this automatically means there is no suicide risk?
Passive suicidal ideation can still indicate significant risk and requires appropriate assessment rather than dismissal based solely on absence of stated intent.
A person views someone as either completely good or completely bad, with little ability to recognize that the same person can have both positive and negative qualities at the same time.
What psychological concept is this?
Splitting
Splitting is a form of black and white thinking where someone has difficulty holding conflicting feelings or perceptions about a person simultaneously.