Deck 10: Stage Ii: Help Clients Design and Set Problem-Managing Goals

Question 1

Claire feels she should be able to run her business full-time while also taking care of her family; however, she finds the stress of trying to do it all is interfering with her health and well-being. Which of the following does her situation best reflect?

A) A conflict of competing wants
B) A conflict of competing needs
C) A conflict of wants and needs
D) A conflict of wants and goals

Answer 1

A conflict of wants and needs

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of second-order change?

A) Adjustments to the current situation
B) Changing the underlying system
C) Focusing on symptoms
D) Temporary changes

Answer 2

Changing the underlying system

Question 3

Bill had a serious health scare and tells his counselor he has decided to adopt a healthier lifestyle by starting to exercise regularly, quitting smoking, and changing his diet. Research finds that setting goals empowers clients in four main ways. Bill's decision most reflects which of these ways?

A) Goals help clients focus their attention on what is important to them.
B) Goals help clients mobilize and direct their energy to attaining them.
C) Goals help clients have incentives to find strategies to achieve them.
D) Goals help clients to work harder and longer when clear and specific.

Answer 3

Goals help clients have incentives to find strategies to achieve them.

Question 4

Among the three tasks of Stage II, which of the following describes Task II-C-Demonstrate Commitment?

A) Helping the client develop problem-managing possibilities to move from problems to solutions, which in turn helps the client in developing a sense of hope
B) Helping the client to predict the future realistically based on the present situation rather than exploring, imagining, inventing, designing, and developing the future
C) Helping the client craft from among the possibilities a viable change agenda that will manage the problem situation and/or help to develop some unused opportunity
D) Helping the client discover incentives for doing the work needed to achieve desired outcomes; in other words, "What am I willing to pay for what I want?"

Question 5

According to research findings, which of the following is a characteristic of a creative person?

A) A sense of confidence and optimistic attitude
B) A very specifically focused range of interests
C) A marked disposition to be counterdependent
D) A strongly entrenched pattern(s) of behavior

Question 6

Two different clients are both experiencing problems in their careers. Client A has determined that one overriding solution is best; Client B has generated multiple alternatives for possible solutions. Which of the following accurately describes these approaches?

A) Client A's approach uses divergent thinking; Client B's approach uses convergent thinking.
B) Client A's approach uses convergent thinking; Client B's approach uses divergent thinking.
C) Both Client A's approach and Client B's approach use convergent thinking in different ways.
D) Both Client A's approach and Client B's approach use divergent thinking in different ways.

Question 7

Which of these statements is an example of describing the desired future in outcome language?

A) "I want to lose a lot of weight this year."
B) "I want to be thinner so I will look better."
C) "I want to eat less and exercise more."
D) "I want to lose 24 pounds by next year."

Question 8

Adriana says, "I want to have a better relationship with my daughter. I want to become a better listener." Which of the following best describes these two statements in terms of goal setting?

A) The first statement is an instrumental goal; the second statement is an ultimate goal.
B) The first statement is an ultimate goal; the second statement is an instrumental goal.
C) The first statement is a broad aim, whereas the second statement is a specific goal.
D) The first statement is a specific goal, whereas the second statement is a broad aim.

Question 9

Iris is a strict vegan (i.e., she does not consume or use any animal products). She has administrative office experience and has been looking for a better-paying job. She gets two offers. Both pay more than her current job, come from employers with excellent reputations and records, and involve very similar administrative duties. However, the job that pays the most is for a meat-processing company, and the other job is for an animal rescue organization. Which of Egan's guidelines for setting goals is most related to the choice Iris is facing?

A) Establishing goals that make a difference
B) Setting goals that are sustainable
C) Formulating goals that are realistic
D) Choosing goals consistent with her values

Question 10

Egan cites research by Locke and Latham (1984), who concluded which of the following about clients' typical responses to the levels of challenge in goals?

A) The more attainable the goal, the harder a client is motivated to work.
B) The more challenging the goal, the lesser effort the client will exert.
C) The more challenging the goal, the better the resulting performance.
D) The more attainable the goal, the better the resulting performance.

Question 11

Barry, a small-time career criminal and aspiring actor, wants to take an acting class while continuing his current work. He does not see why he cannot do both. His counselor points out that if he gets acting gigs in the future, then a victim of one of his criminal assignments might recognize him from a TV or stage performance. This most illustrates which of the following regarding Egan's goal-setting guidelines?

A) Barry's goal is not realistic.
B) Barry's goal is not prudent.
C) Barry's goal is not flexible.
D) Barry's goal is not specific.

Question 12

Among counseling techniques to increase client self-efficacy, which of the following does so by helping to eliminate obstacles for clients to deploy their resources?

A) Corrective feedback
B) Positive feedback
C) Success as reinforcer
D) Ensuring client skills

Question 13

The three tasks of Stage II, setting goals, are ______ in that they promote _______.

A) static; different stages of change
B) dynamic; discussion of problems
C) static; different varieties of goals
D) dynamic; action to enhance lives

Question 14

Which of the following most accurately represents a question you can help clients ask themselves to evaluate their commitment to the goals they set?

A) Is this goal being imposed upon me by other people?
B) Will I pursue this goal without incentives or rewards?
C) What kind of support do I need in pursuing this goal?
D) Are there too many obstacles in the way of this goal?

Question 15

Which of the following most accurately reflects Egan's discussion of the shadow side of goal setting?

A) Clients are often more comfortable discussing the past than exploring the future.
B) Clients can see themselves as victims of their problems and still commit to goals.
C) Clients who know what their goals are are eager to make demands of themselves.
D) Clients often find that goals can hem them in, but they never find goals liberating.

Question 16

Write down an example of a hypothetical client and a problem situation that the client presents with for counseling. Now describe a change to manage this problem situation that the counselor could help the client make which would represent a first-order change. Then describe a change the counselor could help the client make to manage this problem situation that would represent a second-order change. What is the essential difference between the two? What does Egan say about first- and second-order change? Are they simply opposites, or is there anything between them?

Question 17

What are the three tasks of Stage II? Identify what clients and helpers work on in Tasks II-A, II-B, and II-C. Include examples of questions for counselors to help clients ask themselves about each task. In each task, what do counselors help their clients to accomplish?

Question 18

Name some of the characteristics of the creative person listed by Egan. Now, differentially define convergent and divergent thinking. Which several of the characteristics of the creative person can you best relate to an ability for divergent thinking? Why? Explain how both having or developing these qualities and thinking divergently can benefit the client in the processes of counseling and change.

Question 19

Pick a goal that you want to accomplish. Write an example (one sentence apiece) of each of the following.
A description of only the activities that would be involved in the goal
A description of the future you want relative to the goal, using outcome language
A description of a broad aim related to your goal
A description of a clearer, more specific goal than the broad aim above
A description of how this goal will make a difference in your life
A description of why this goal is realistic
A description of why this goal is prudent
A description of how this goal is sustainable
A description of how this goal is flexible
A description of how this goal is consistent with your values
Finally, conclude with a brief explanation of how you think you could apply your analysis of your goal according to these guidelines to helping clients set their own goals.

Question 20

Discuss the following topics related to helping clients commit to their goals. How is self-efficacy related to commitment? How are client skills related, and what can counselors do about these? What is important about the way that helpers provide corrective feedback? What is important about how helpers provide positive feedback? How can helpers use client successes as reinforcers to increase self-efficacy? How can they use models to help clients increase their own self-efficacy? What is important about providing encouragement to clients? What is the relationship of client fears to client sense of self-efficacy? How do the individual client and the individual therapist's style relate to helping clients overcome their fears?