Trauma-Informed Care Assessment Competence Examination Study Guide
Read SAMHSA Trauma Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services: A Treatment Improvement
Protocol (TIP)
https://ilearn.sfsu.edu/ay2122/pluginfile.php/1147285/mod_resource/content/1/sma144816.pdf
Multiple-Choice Examination (20 points total; 1 point per question)
1. For an event to trigger a traumatic experience to an individual, the event must:
a. trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is
experienced by an individual as physi cally or emotionally harmful or
threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the in dividual’s
functioning and physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being
2. Secondary trauma is often used interchangeably with:
a. Compassion fatigue or vicarious trauma
3. Which of the following most determines the traumatic nature of an event to an
individual?
a. The individual’s experience of the event
4. When conducting psychological assessment, a trauma-informed care views traumarelated symptoms and traumatic stress as the following except:
5. Trauma-informed therapist seeks to instill consistency in client interactions and
treatment processes and follow through with what has been reviewed or agreed upon
in sessions. This is part of the strategies to establish which of the following in the
treatment process?
a. Trust, safety, stability
6. When client reports traumatic experiences while seeking substance use and mental
health counseling, therapists need to:
a. Assess and then integrate
7. Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between culture and
trauma experience and expression?
8. According to Zatzick, Jurkovich, Gentilello, Wisner, and Rivara (2002), which of the
following DSM diagnoses has high prevalence among patients in medical trauma
centers?
a. PTSD
9. Your read from the intake report that your 8-year-old client has (a) experienced chronic
malnutrition, (b) received no medications for common illness, (c) exposed to physically
dangerous domestic environment, and (d) never attended school. The client’s
developmental trauma needs to be assessed in relation to:
a. neglect
10. Which of the following practices in a treatment setting may retraumatize a client who
has a history of traumatic experience?
a. Being unaware that the client’s traumatic history significantly affects their life
b. Failing to screen for trauma history prior to treatment planning
c. Challenging or discounting reports of abuse or trauma
d. Using isolation or physical restraints
e. Using experiential exercises that humiliate the individual
Trauma-Informed Care Assessment Competence Examination Study Guide
f. Endorsing a confrontational approach in counseling
g. Allowing the abusive behavior of one client toward another to continue without
intervention
h. Labeling behavior and feelings as pathological
i. Failing to provide adequate security and safety within the program
j. Limiting participation of the client in treatment decisions and planning processes
k. Minimizing, discrediting, or ignoring client responses
l. Disrupting counselor-client relationships by changing counselors shceudles and
assignments
m. Obtaining urine specimens in a nonprivate setting
n. Having clients undress in the presence of others
o. Inconsistently enforcing rules and allowing chaos in the treatment environment
p. Imposing agency policies or rules without exceptions or an opportunity for
clients to question them
q. Enforcing new restrictions within the program without staff—client
communication
r. Limiting access to services for ethnically diverse populations
s. Accepting agency dysfunction, including lack of consistent, competent leadership
11. What type of questions is mostly used when conducting initial assessment of trauma?
a. Yes or no questions “has this client experienced trauma in the past?” , “Does this
client at this time warrant further assessment regarding trauma-related
symptoms?”
b. Screening for trauma-related symptoms; depressive or dissociative symptoms;
sleep disturbances; intrusive experiences; past and present mental disorders,
including typically trauma-related disorders; severity or characteristics of a
specific trauma type; substance abuse; social support and coping styles;
availability of resources; risks for self-harm, suicide, and violence; health
screenings.
c. Client’s past and current experiences, psychosocial and cultural history, and
assets and resources
d. Initial questions should be general and gradual
12. Which of the following is not a sound practice when screening and assessing trauma?
Instead, we should:
a. Clarify for the client what to expect in the screening and assessment process
b. Approach the client in a matter-of-fact, yet supportive, manner. Demonstrate
kindness and directness in equal measure
c. Respect the client’s personal space
d. Adjust tone and volume of speech to suit the client’s level of engagement and
degree of comfort. Strive for soothing and quiet.
e. Provide culturally appropriate symbols of safety in the physical environment
f. Be aware of one’s own emotional responses to hearing client’s trauma histories
g. Overcome linguistic barriers via an interpreter
Trauma-Informed Care Assessment Competence Examination Study Guide
h. Elicit only the information necessary for determining a history of trauma and the
possible existence and extent of traumatic stress symptoms and related
disorders
i. Give the client as much personal control as possible during the assessment by
presenting a rationale for the interview, giving them options for gender of
assessor, postponing if necessary
j. Use self-administered, written checklists rather than interviews when possible to
assess trauma
k. Interview the client if they have trouble reading/writing
l. Allow time for the client to become calm and oriented to the present if they
have very intense emotional responses when recalling or acknowledging a
trauma.
m. Avoid phrases that imply judgment about the trauma
n. Provide feedback about the results of the screening.
o. Be aware of the possible legal implications of assessment (mandatory reporting,
eg)
13. What type of test is not advised for use when assessing trauma?
14. Which of the following is not a suggested technique to deescalate the potential impact
of trauma assessment during a counseling session?`
15. What questions counselors need to consider when choosing a standardized instrument
to assess trauma?
a. Is it culturally relevant
b. Purpose; population; instrument quality; practical issues
16. Which of the following is not a cluster symptom in the assessment of trauma-related
disorders according to the DSM-5?
a. Intrusion symptoms (Criterion B)
b. Avoidance symptoms (Criterion C)
c. Negative Alterations in Cognition and Mood (Criterion D)
d. Alterations in arousal and re activity (Criterion E)
17. Which of the following is not a function of the Stressful Life Experience (SLE) screen?
a. Checklist of traumas that also considers the client’s view of the impact of those
events on life functioning. Using the SLE can foster the client-counselor
relationship. By going over the answers with the client, you can gain a deep
understanding of your client, and the client receives a demonstration of your
sensitivity and concern for their experience.
18. What is a common characteristic of the Combat Exposure Scale and the Intimate Partner
Violence Screening Tool?
a. focus on acknowledging a specific type of traumatic event.
19. Which 4-item traumatic-stress screening instrument was developed using a diverse
sample of adult patients (N=243) with a high diagnostic accuracy of 0.80-0.88?
a. SPAN
20. It is important to conduct resilience and trauma assessment at the same time because:
a. Allowing you to use strategies that have already worked for the client and
incorporating strategies to build resilience