Deck 8: The Action Arrow That Permeates the Entire Helping Process: Right From the Beginning Help Clients Turn Talk Into Life-Enhancing Action

Question 1

Which of the following best identifies the importance of the action arrow?

A) It highlights the logic of change rather than the fact of the change itself.
B) It highlights talking about change rather than acting to make the change.
C) It highlights acting to make the change rather than talking about change.
D) It highlights acting to make change first and talking about it afterward.

Answer 1

It highlights acting to make the change rather than talking about change.

Question 2

What is the key difference between decisional self-control and protracted self-control?

A) Decisional self-control involves decision-making, whereas protracted self-control does not.
B) Decisional self-control ends conflict in one act, whereas protracted self-control needs ongoing work.
C) Decisional self-control is used for each decision, whereas protracted self-control is used for every behavior.
D) Decisional self-control resists temptation, whereas protracted self-control avoids temptation.

Answer 2

Decisional self-control ends conflict in one act, whereas protracted self-control needs ongoing work.

Question 3

Rebecca wanted to lighten next semester's course load by taking an evening course this semester, but she could not afford to prepay the tuition as the university required. Then she looked online and found the course available at her local community college with lower tuition for area residents. In this example, Rebecca's plan to take the evening course was_______; the university's prepayment requirement was_______; her adjusting her original plan was _______; and her finding the course more affordably elsewhere was _______.

A) a strategy; an unforeseen circumstance; a tactic; logistics
B) logistics; a tactic; an unforeseen circumstance; a strategy
C) an unforeseen circumstance; logistics; a strategy; a tactic
D) a tactic; a strategy; logistics; an unforeseen circumstance

Answer 3

a strategy; an unforeseen circumstance; a tactic; logistics

Question 4

According to your text, which is an accurate observation about implementation intentions?

A) Strong commitment to goals will make specific goal-attaining actions almost automatic.
B) Researchers point out that, unlike actions, good intentions deserve their poor reputation.
C) Researchers find implementation intentions correlate only weakly with goal attainment.
D) Strong specific intentions will make moving to goal-achieving actions almost automatic.

Question 5

Clyde is a therapist who uses a behaviorist model of counseling. He helps his clients identify antecedents, that is, things right before that make a behavior more likely to occur; and positive reinforcements, that is, things right after a behavior that make it more likely to recur. Then Clyde and his clients work together on arranging antecedents and positive reinforcements in their environments to promote desired behaviors. Which of the following ways from your text of helping clients move to action does this most resemble?

A) Help clients identify unused resources that can facilitate action
B) Help clients find incentives and rewards for action
C) Help clients develop action-focused self-contracts
D) Use feedback as a way of helping clients move to life-enhancing action

Question 6

Egan discusses several of the "endless" ways we avoid taking responsibility including passivity, learned helplessness, disabling self-talk, getting trapped in vicious circles, and disorganization. Into which category of obstacles to action does he place these?

A) Inertia
B) Entropy
C) Procrastination
D) Imprudent action

Question 7

Your text cites some common beliefs that make some people reluctant to seek or accept help initially, and that make some clients reluctant to engage in the work required by the helping process. Which of the following statements does not illustrate one or more of these beliefs?

A) Seeking help in counseling is associated with both social and personal stigmas.
B) The emotional pain, shame, and embarrassment will make me feel even worse.
C) Counseling means disclosing all my private secrets but likely will not help much.
D) Counseling will solve most of my problems and then I will lose my motivation.

Question 8

Among the examples of reasons that Egan gives for reluctance and resistance regarding counseling, which of the following is a primary reason for resistance?

A) Hesitancy about doing the hard work of counseling
B) Having lost all hope that they can change their lives
C) Reacting to what they perceive as coercion or abuse
D) Feeling afraid of the intensity of the helping process

Question 9

Which of the following does Egan identify as an unhelpful behavior that helpers should avoid in dealing with client reluctance and resistance?

A) Exploring and overcoming their (the helpers') own reluctance and resistance
B) Giving direction of the helping process to the client to meet a need for power
C) Seeing as normal, accepting, and working with client reluctance or resistance
D) Enlisting reluctant or resistant clients to help other reluctant/resistant clients

Question 10

Egan cites Driscoll's (1984, pp. 91-97) discussion of passive clients and what happens when helpers respond with a passivity of their own. Which of the following is not accurate about this?

A) Therapist passivity keeps the client from shoving all responsibility onto the therapist.
B) Therapist passivity keeps the helper from accepting the wrong kinds of responsibility.
C) Therapist passivity is typically a more effective long-term approach to passive clients.
D) Therapist passivity leaves the client feeling unsupported, impairing their relationship.

Question 11

Your textbook cites the work of Holaday and McPhearson (1997), who distinguish between outcome resilience and process resilience in this chapter. This chapter also defines decisional self-control and protracted self-control, and the distinction between them. To draw an analogy, how do these two pairs relate?

A) Outcome resilience relates to decisional self-control, whereas process resilience relates to protracted self-control.
B) Outcome resilience relates to protracted self-control, whereas process resilience relates to decisional self-control.
C) Both outcome resilience and process resilience relate to decisional self-control, not protracted self-control.
D) Both outcome resilience and process resilience relate to protracted self-control, not decisional self-control.

Question 12

An injured patient says he wanted to give up, but his wife "made me get out of the hospital bed and learn to walk again." This is the best example of which factor contributing to resilience?

A) Using the energy of anger
B) A "belligerent style"
C) Fantasy and hope
D) Social support

Question 13

Regarding your text's discussion of the relationship of resilience to posttraumatic growth, which of the following is most accurate?

A) Posttraumatic growth is the outcome of resilience.
B) Resilience is the outcome of posttraumatic growth.
C) Posttraumatic growth is the outcome of the trauma.
D) Good therapists can help every client achieve both.

Question 14

In Egan's discussion of helping clients manage without a helper, which of the following most accurately reflects a client approach to therapy that he finds acceptable?

A) Most often, counselors help clients make plans for constructive change, and then clients implement the plans.
B) Most often, counselors help clients make, and then implement, plans for change until the changes are "in place."
C) Some clients with serious mental and/or substance abuse disorders may need therapy throughout their lives.
D) Some clients may continue to see a helper only occasionally as they feel the need, but doing this is never effective.

Question 15

Some clients come to understand themselves and their behavior better and realize what they would need to do to change, but they find the price too high. According to Egan, which of the following is not a way that helpers should respond to this?

A) Invite clients to challenge themselves for making changes
B) Help clients progress until they make the choice to change
C) Help clients understand the consequences of not changing
D) Accept that whether to change or not is the client's choice

Question 16

Select 2 of the 13 ways of helping clients move to life-enhancing action that you could pair as therapeutic techniques. See examples below. Describe an example of a client and a problem, and how you as a helper would combine these two ways to help this client.
EXAMPLES OF PAIRS:
• Helping a client overcome procrastination by helping the client identify unused resources that facilitate an action
• Helping a client discover incentives and rewards for action that are meaningful/valuable to the client, and then helping the client develop an action-focused self-contract incorporating those incentives and rewards
• Helping a client find and utilize action-focused social support, and then helping the client find people within these support systems who are willing to challenge the client to act

Question 17

Differentially define reluctance and resistance. What are some motivations for client reluctance? What are some different motivations for client resistance? What are some motivations that can overlap for both reluctance and resistance?

Question 18

Review the "Unhelpful Responses to Reluctance and Resistance" that helpers may make in your textbook. Select two of the ten responses that you think you would be most likely to make as a helper. Then review the list of helpers' self-defeating attitudes and assumptions below that. Select two of the seven attitudes/assumptions that you think you would be most likely to have as a helper. Now review the section that follows on productive approaches to dealing with reluctance and resistance. Select three or four of the ten approaches that you think you would be most successful at adopting. In your essay answer, identify the unhelpful responses and self-defeating attitudes/assumptions you selected. Then identify the approaches you selected, and explain how you could use these to overcome the errors inherent in the unhelpful responses and self-defeating attitudes/assumptions you selected.

Question 19

Review the factors contributing to resilience. Think of one person you have ever known who demonstrated one of these factors. Identify the factor and explain how this person demonstrated it and how it enabled the person to be resilient. Think of someone you have known who demonstrated a lack of one of these factors. Identify the factor and explain how this person demonstrated a lack of it and how this lack made the person less resilient. Now identify a different factor contributing to resilience that you feel you demonstrate. What is it? How has it enabled you to bounce back? Give an example. Finally, identify one factor contributing to resilience that you feel you do not demonstrate as much. What is it? How has it ever interfered with your ability to bounce back?

Question 20

Egan points out that most clients ultimately need to continue their lives without a helper. What is the shadow side of helping related to this observation? What personality characteristics do you think might allow you as a helper to maintain a helping relationship beyond its usefulness? What things can you think of that you could do to correct this?