Appendix
Answers to YOUR TURN!Exercises
Chapter 1
| Identify Situations, Thoughts, Feelings, Physical Reactions, and Behavior | |
|---|---|
| Situation, Thought, Feeling, Physical Reaction, or Behavior? | |
|
Staying up late and studying |
Situation |
|
No matter what I do, no one likes me. |
Thought |
|
I feel tense all over. |
Physical reaction |
|
Even if I study hard, I will still fail. |
Thought |
|
I am so happy. |
Feeling |
|
My boss hates my work. |
Thought |
|
I am late for work. |
Situation |
Below is how I completed figure 1.4.
- Situation: Boyfriend arrived thirty minutes late, did not let her know he would be late
- Sara’s Thoughts: I hate it, he doesn’t care about me; I am worthless; what else can I do?; he takes me for granted.
- Sara’s Feelings: Depressed, irritated
- Sara’s Physical Reactions: Tense
- Sara’s Behavior: Gives dirty looks, acts cold
Below is how I completed Maria’s symptom maintenance cycle.
Chapter 2
| Raoul’s Stressors and Strengths | ||
|---|---|---|
| Difficulties or Stressors | Strengths or Areas of Resilience | |
|
Family |
No information Children live out of town |
Long-term marriage Wife encouraged him to bowl, suggests caring relationship Close enough relationship with daughter that she noticed his distress and was able to convince him to go for therapy |
|
Friends and Social Contacts |
No information |
No information |
|
Recreation & Organizations |
No information |
Past five years, part of a bowling league |
|
Work or School |
Recently passed over for a promotion Recent poor work evaluation |
Has maintained steady employment for twenty years Works in a demanding area that requires understanding of taxes Previously enjoyed work Risked applying for a promotion History of good work evaluations |
|
Health |
Sleep difficulties Anxiety |
Moderate drinking Health “good” |
|
Finances |
Postponed retirement |
Some indication that financially responsible Planning for retirement |
|
Changes |
Financial worries |
No information |
Chapter 3
| Assess Whether the Goal Is General or Specific and Measurable | |
|---|---|
| Goals | Is This Goal General or Specific and Measurable? |
|
Talk to my boss about getting paid for working overtime |
Specific and measurable |
|
Be less demanding of my friends |
General |
|
Stop smoking by the end of the month |
Specific and measurable |
|
Take better care of my health |
General |
|
Get along better with my parents |
General |
|
Do a pleasant activity with my partner on a weekly basis |
Specific and measurable |
|
Learn better parent management skills for when my eight-year-old has a temper tantrum |
Specific |
Chapter 4
Suzanne’s therapist says, “I would like to give you some homework. I think it would be really helpful if you could try to do some fun things with your children this coming week.”
| Helpful Homework Guidelines | Does Suzanne’s Homework Meet This Guideline? |
|---|---|
|
The homework is developed collaboratively. |
No, the therapist suggested the homework at the last minute. There is no opportunity for Suzanne to have input. |
|
The homework is specific and concrete. |
No, no clear idea what Suzanne will do. |
|
The homework is related to the session. |
Yes, Suzanne had been talking about her feelings related to not doing fun things with her children and indicated she would like to start again. |
|
The homework is doable. |
We don’t know, as there is no specific task. |
Chapter 5
| Examples of Situations | Facts about the Situation | Client’s Thoughts about the Situation |
|---|---|---|
|
Instead of doing homework, I was lazy and went out with friends. |
Instead of doing homework, client went out with friends. |
I was lazy. |
|
My boss told me I did a good job, but he didn’t really mean it. |
Boss said client did a good job. |
He didn’t really mean it. |
|
My child is not normal; he is not crawling at age five months. |
Client’s child is not crawling. |
My child is not normal. |
|
The huge mess my husband left in the kitchen. |
Not clear what the husband did; therefore, you don’t have any facts. You would need to gather facts. |
My husband left a huge mess in the kitchen. |
Chapter 6
- He didn’t give Andrew his bath.
- This is a fact. It is true that her husband did not give Andrew his bath. This thought is not an evaluation but a statement of fact.
- No matter what I do, it won’t make a difference.
- This thought is about the future. She thinks the future will be the same as the present.
- He doesn’t care about me or the kids.
- This thought is a judgment about her husband. Therefore, it is about others.
- You can’t count on men.
- This is a general rule about men. Therefore, it is about others.
- I’m a completely inadequate mother.
- This thought is a negative judgment about herself. Therefore, it is about self.
- Why do I have to do everything in the house?
- I ended with a trick question. This is a question. We are going to look at questions in more detail. However, for this exercise, there are a number of implied thoughts that you would want to help your client make explicit. It is a thought about self, as Suzanne is really saying, “I have to do everything in the house,” but it is also a thought about others, as the implication is “My husband does nothing.”
The correct answer is in bold.
- Cameron is feeling furious. What might he be thinking?
- Our team will never have another chance to play in the semi-finals.
- That guy is an animal; he should be punished; it’s unfair. This thought is most likely to lead to feeling furious. It is about rules being broken, and being treated unfairly.
- If we lose, it is all my fault.
- Annette is feeling disappointed. What might she be thinking?
- I will never get a decent job; my life is over.
- They should have hired me; what idiots!
- I had hoped to get the job, but at least I was second choice. This thought is most likely to lead to disappointment. Disappointment is related to sadness, but it is not a strong feeling. The other thoughts are too extreme for disappointment.
- Orly is feeling guilty. What might he be thinking?
- I am a bad friend; I should have gone; I bet I hurt Roy’s feelings. This thought is most likely to lead to guilt as it is about breaking a moral rule.
- My friend is probably furious at me.
- I bet Roy will not want to be my friend anymore.
- If I don’t get this job, my life will be over.
Cognitive distortion: catastrophizing
- To be a good therapist, you have to give it your all and be there 100 percent of the time for your clients.
Cognitive distortion: shoulds
- I’m sure that no one will ever want to hire me after this last fiasco of a job interview.
Cognitive distortion: overgeneralizing
- If I don’t help all of my clients, I am an inadequate therapist.
Cognitive distortion: polarized thinking
- I know that my last client canceled because she thinks I’m a bad therapist.
Cognitive distortion: personalizing and mind reading
- A colleague told me he wondered if the group check-in should be a bit shorter next time. That was a terrible mistake I made in the first group.
Cognitive distortion: magnifying; could also be catastrophizing
Chapter 8
Below are some questions you could ask.
- Can you tell me about your relationship with John?
- Are there ways that John shows he cares about and respects you? (If Cynthia did not mention their sexual relationship) In your sexual relationship, are there ways John shows he cares about and respects you?
- How do Mike and Chris treat you? Can you give me some examples?
- Have Mike and Chris ever made any comments indicating that they respect you? Could you give me examples?
- When you think of the evidence from John, Mike, and Chris, what does it tell you about your belief that men are only interested in you for sex?
Chapter 10
| Mayleen’s Understand Your Depression worksheet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Increased Since Life Changes or Stressors | Decreased Since Life Changes or Stressors | |
| Activities I enjoy or that provide pleasure or mastery |
Taking care of mother Going to mother’s doctor’s appointments (mixed: enjoy as sense of purpose and consistent with values, but do not enjoy activity) |
Stopped sculpting |
| Activities I do not enjoy |
Driving to see mother Looking after the house TV |
|
| Exercise |
Stopped exercise |
|
| Spending time with friends |
Stopped seeing many friends No friends when with mother |
|
| Spending time with family |
More time with mother |
|
| Leisure or hobbies | ||
| Smoking, overeating, alcohol or drug use | ||
| Routines related to eating and sleeping | ||
| Suggested Activity | Developed Collaboratively | Specific and Concrete | Doable | Naturally Reinforcing | Regular Routine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Run three times a week for an hour |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes, if she could do it |
Yes |
Run three times a week for an hour. This is a concrete plan, and it is naturally reinforcing because Anna likes to run. It could also be part of a routine. The problem is that it is probably not doable. Very few people could go from no exercise to running for an hour three times a week. Plus, if she has not exercised in a while, an hour of running may be physically too much. In conclusion, it is not a good plan.
- A more effective plan: To develop a more effective plan, you would start with asking Anna what she would like to add to her life and how she would like to change the period of time around 5:00 p.m. If running was of interest to Anna, it would be important for her to start slowly. Depending on how long it has been since Anna has exercised, it might make sense to start with walking, or a combination of walking and running.
| Task | Specific and Concrete? | Doable? | Time-Limited and Specific Time for Task? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cynthia:
Reorganizing the filing system |
No. Not clear what the criteria are for a systematic filing system; first action is not clear |
Not sure who will do this and what exactly the person/people will do; hard to know if it is doable |
No time limit given; will Cynthia work for 10 minutes or the whole day? No specific time for task |
| Richard:
Make a list of food I want to cook |
Yes, this is a specific task. |
Yes, though you would have to check |
Yes, a time limit was set, but no specific time was specified when the task would be done |
| Alexandra:
Explore options for work |
No, it is not clear how Alexandra would explore her options for work. |
Because as task is unclear, hard to know if it is doable |
No time limit and no specific time set for task |
Chapter 11
| Task | Specific and Concrete? | Action the Client Can Do? | In Client’s Control? | Conclusion: Is This an Effective Task? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Stand in front of the elevator in my building for 5 minutes every day |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Look at photos on the Internet of cars similar to the one that hit me |
No. We do not know which photos he will look at. There is a great range of cars that are “similar” to the one that hit the client. |
Yes |
Yes |
No, because it is not sufficiently concrete and specific |