You may travelling
ahead. First, you have this free ASWB exam practice question about
flying phobia:
A client seeks therapy to address his phobia about
flying. Every time he gets near an airport, he breaks out in a
sweat, and if he tries to board an airplane, he has a full-blown
panic attack. The MOST effective treatment option is:
A. Exposure therapy
B. Cognitive behavioral therapy
C. Referring the client to a psychiatrist for
anti-anxiety medication he can take when he has to
fly.
D. Psychodynamic psychotherapy
How do you answer?
Let's take the answers one by one, from the bottom.
D. Psychodynamic psychotherapy involves looking into one's past
experiences and conflicts to resolve a current situation. It's a
long-term therapy and often not practical for the treatment of
phobias. There's also little clinical research on its efficacy in
cases of phobia.
C. Medication is a temporary solution at best. It may get the
client through one or two instances when he has to fly, but over
the long term, it makes more sense to work on extinguishing the
irrational fear.
B. Cognitive behavioral therapy is evidence-based treatment for
anxieties and phobias. It's a good answer. But is it the best
offered answer here? The best answer is the more specific answer.
It is...
D. Exposure therapy, in which the client is gradually exposed to
more intense fear-inducing stimuli (discussion, pictures, a visit
to an aiport, and, in time, a flying). Exposure therapy--which sits
under the wide umbrella that makes up all CBT treatments--is the
most effective of the treatments listed.
And you have your answer!
For LOTS more questions from the DSM and all corners of the ASWB
exam outline, sign up for complete, 170-question SWTP practice.
Happy studying and good luck with the exam.
