Author Question: As long as the client is limiting her behaviors to verbal assaults and harmless physical movements: ... (Read 73 times)

student77 · **on:** Jul 19, 2018

As long as the client is limiting her behaviors to verbal assaults and harmless physical movements:

a. She is placed in seclusion.
b. The acting out may continue.
c. The caregiver is prepared to apply restraints.
d. She is reminded of the inappropriateness of her behavior.

Question 2

A man checks that his doors are locked two or more times each time he leaves home. The door is always found to be locked. Which of the following initial interventions would most likely be useful to this patient?

a. Explaining that his habit is irrational, leads to lateness, and should be discarded.
b. Discussing what the patient was thinking and feeling before checking the door.
c. Requiring the patient to force himself to leave without checking the doors at all.
d. Having him check the doors ten times until he sees the needlessness of checking.

chreslie · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 19, 2018

Answer to Question 1

B
Allow clients to act out as long as they limit their behaviors to verbal assaults and harmless physical movements. However, it is important for the caregiver to maintain control of the situation and set limits on the client's behavior.

Answer to Question 2

B
Cognitive restructuring involves identifying and questioning automatic thoughts and reframing (rewording) them in ways that are more accurate or more based in reality. In this instance, it is likely that the man is thinking that he may have left the door unlocked and that he will be robbed if he does not catch and correct his error. Replacing this thought with a more accurate statement (e.g., while it is possible he has overlooked locking the door, this is almost never the case, and he has never found the door unlocked after checking it once) can allow him to decide to skip the second door check. Noting that the behavior is irrational and has consequences is unlikely to be beneficial. It is likely that on some level, the patient already appreciates the irrationality and problems associated with the behavior (otherwise he would not have complained about it or sought help for it). While one could require him to skip the door checks repeatedly until experience convinces him that no harm would come from doing so, this would heighten his anxiety in the near term and likely would not be as effective as changing the thought that underlies this behavior in the first place. Having him check the door multiple times might be a form of flooding, but this would be more appropriate for reducing phobias than for obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors.