TF-CBT CERT CERTIFIED QUALITY EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
DETAILED ANSWERS
29. In the situation presented above, is the following true or
false? It may be helpful to prepare the parent to have a joint
session so that she can directly "provide permission" for the
child to talk about the abuse in therapy. It would also be
important for the parent to acknowledge the feelings the child
may have experienced in the past (e.g., fear, sadness, worry)
when the mother became upset and/or reacted negatively.
True
False
A 14-year old girl named lisa presents to therapy with her
mother who is very concerned about her after an acquaintance
rape by a 17 year-old boy. Lisa says she does not want therapy
and will not provide any information about the distress she is
experiencing. She denies having any problems. When given the
ucla ptsd ri, she fills it out in 5 minutes will all "no's" for
trauma exposure and does not endorse any symptoms of ptsd.
Her mother fills out the ucla ptsd ri-parent version which
yields a high score on the severity index . Her mother reports
that lisa has disruptions in sleep and eating, increased anxiety,
avoidance of going out of the house past 5pm, and notices that
her daughter cries in her room several times a day and has
angry, irritable outbursts. The mother indicates that lisa needs
therapy and wants the therapist to convince her daughter to
come back again.
30. The therapist should:
,A) persuasively present the 20 reasons lisa should come back
to therapy the following week.
B) try to find out about some interests/hobbies lisa has and
have her share about them and work to establish rapport. Let
lisa know you would love to learn more about her life
perspective (what is going well, what could be better) and the
therapist could help her meet her personal goals by coming to
therapy. Ask her to give it a try.
C) tell the mother to consider waiting 4-6 weeks to determine
if lisa's symptoms will improve without therapy. If lisa
continues to have significant ptsd symptoms, suggest to the
mother that she take lisa to a physician for a medication
evaluation prior to starting therapy.
D) refer this child for a general support group as she may be
much more likely to discuss her feelings about the abuse in
this context.
An 11-year-old boy has been referred to you for tf-cbt. You
have reports from his social worker indicating exposure to
extreme domestic violence in which his mother was killed and
physical abuse by his father. There is also a police report
providing details about the domestic violence. The boy is now
living with a maternal aunt. During the intake process, the
client reports zero traumatic events.
31. What would be the appropriate next step?
A) you do not go forward with tf-cbt as there is no clear
trauma history. You refer the child instead for play therapy.
, B) since children readily disclose trauma, the reports from the
social worker and the police must be wrong. Offer general
mental health treatment for behavioral problems.
C) close the referral; this child clearly does not need therapy.
D) normalize the avoidance with the child and acknowledge
that you know what he was exposed to based on the reports
that were provided. Begin psychoeducation.
Ricardo is a 4-year-old boy who is living in foster care due to
his mother's severe drug abuse and multiple other trauma
experiences (neglect, physical abuse, suspected sexual abuse
by one or more of the mother's paramours). He has lived in his
current foster home for about two months and his foster
mother describes behavioral problems, not making friends in
the foster home or at preschool, and being "cranky". The foster
mother's biggest concern is that ricardo becomes aggressive
for no reason, often hitting or biting other children.
32. Although ricardo has experienced many traumas, when you
ask him to identify the "worst" thing that has happened to him,
he says "being taken away from mommy". This can be
considered as a potentially traumatic event in young children.
A) true
B) false
Rosa was referred to individual treatment after an assault
incident by an acquaintance at a party. She returned home one
evening bruised and shaken up by what appeared to be a very
traumatic event; however, her parents felt like she was not
DETAILED ANSWERS
29. In the situation presented above, is the following true or
false? It may be helpful to prepare the parent to have a joint
session so that she can directly "provide permission" for the
child to talk about the abuse in therapy. It would also be
important for the parent to acknowledge the feelings the child
may have experienced in the past (e.g., fear, sadness, worry)
when the mother became upset and/or reacted negatively.
True
False
A 14-year old girl named lisa presents to therapy with her
mother who is very concerned about her after an acquaintance
rape by a 17 year-old boy. Lisa says she does not want therapy
and will not provide any information about the distress she is
experiencing. She denies having any problems. When given the
ucla ptsd ri, she fills it out in 5 minutes will all "no's" for
trauma exposure and does not endorse any symptoms of ptsd.
Her mother fills out the ucla ptsd ri-parent version which
yields a high score on the severity index . Her mother reports
that lisa has disruptions in sleep and eating, increased anxiety,
avoidance of going out of the house past 5pm, and notices that
her daughter cries in her room several times a day and has
angry, irritable outbursts. The mother indicates that lisa needs
therapy and wants the therapist to convince her daughter to
come back again.
30. The therapist should:
,A) persuasively present the 20 reasons lisa should come back
to therapy the following week.
B) try to find out about some interests/hobbies lisa has and
have her share about them and work to establish rapport. Let
lisa know you would love to learn more about her life
perspective (what is going well, what could be better) and the
therapist could help her meet her personal goals by coming to
therapy. Ask her to give it a try.
C) tell the mother to consider waiting 4-6 weeks to determine
if lisa's symptoms will improve without therapy. If lisa
continues to have significant ptsd symptoms, suggest to the
mother that she take lisa to a physician for a medication
evaluation prior to starting therapy.
D) refer this child for a general support group as she may be
much more likely to discuss her feelings about the abuse in
this context.
An 11-year-old boy has been referred to you for tf-cbt. You
have reports from his social worker indicating exposure to
extreme domestic violence in which his mother was killed and
physical abuse by his father. There is also a police report
providing details about the domestic violence. The boy is now
living with a maternal aunt. During the intake process, the
client reports zero traumatic events.
31. What would be the appropriate next step?
A) you do not go forward with tf-cbt as there is no clear
trauma history. You refer the child instead for play therapy.
, B) since children readily disclose trauma, the reports from the
social worker and the police must be wrong. Offer general
mental health treatment for behavioral problems.
C) close the referral; this child clearly does not need therapy.
D) normalize the avoidance with the child and acknowledge
that you know what he was exposed to based on the reports
that were provided. Begin psychoeducation.
Ricardo is a 4-year-old boy who is living in foster care due to
his mother's severe drug abuse and multiple other trauma
experiences (neglect, physical abuse, suspected sexual abuse
by one or more of the mother's paramours). He has lived in his
current foster home for about two months and his foster
mother describes behavioral problems, not making friends in
the foster home or at preschool, and being "cranky". The foster
mother's biggest concern is that ricardo becomes aggressive
for no reason, often hitting or biting other children.
32. Although ricardo has experienced many traumas, when you
ask him to identify the "worst" thing that has happened to him,
he says "being taken away from mommy". This can be
considered as a potentially traumatic event in young children.
A) true
B) false
Rosa was referred to individual treatment after an assault
incident by an acquaintance at a party. She returned home one
evening bruised and shaken up by what appeared to be a very
traumatic event; however, her parents felt like she was not
