Self-Assessment Tasks

Module One

Task: List your understanding of psychotherapy now that you have completed the first module. If
you feel unclear about any aspect, please do go back through the module and make notes. Then,
write a short paragraph clarifying your revised thoughts.

1. Form of talking therapy

2. Focuses on inner conflicts
3. Another form of complimentary therapy
4. To help a client with personal issues

Psychotherapy is a form of talking therapy that focuses on the client’s inner conflicts, thoughts and
behaviours to heal and improve their mental health. It is also to enable them to navigate and
understand negative situations.

Module Two

Task: Explain what is meant by map of the world

Each person has a unique personal view of the world, no one is alike.

Task: What does the amygdala do?

It regulates/governs over memory, aggressions, emotions, motives

Task: List the three types of neurones

1. Motor neurons
2. Sensory Neurons
3. Inter neurons

Task: What is the hippocampus?

It is one of the brain’s components, responsible for long term memory

Task: How does the brain categorise information?

In order to categorise info the brain uses social experiences, memory, personality and considers the
environment you are in.

Module Three

Task: Clarify the types of lessons that are often learned in childhood

1. Negative classical conditioning, if a task is repeated over and over again which
causes pain this will cause in adulthood fear; it tends to last a lifetime.
2. Stimulus generalisation, if a traumatic event occurred e.g. a dog bites a child, the
person will make an association, causing them to avoid similar situations by e.g. the
child fearing dogs.
3. Stimulus discrimination, the older we get the more we get the more we tend to
discriminate situations, behaviours and fears

Task: What is meant by dreams having a dual purpose?

1. Dream can be symbolic, showing ys underlying issues, repressed negative events in our live
2. Dreams can let us live out our sexual desires ( without social consequence)

Task: List four reasons as to why people struggle to sleep

1. Anxiety and depression

2. Coffee before bed
3. Drinking alcohol before bed
4. Unresolved Issues

Task: What does the unconscious mind do?

The unconscious mind sifts through information and stores it or eradicates it.

Task: What is REM?

REM- Rapid Eye Movement, a state of sleeping where dreaming occurs

Module Four

Task: What can interfere with the learning process?

You do not use enough effort to engage explicit memory

Lack of sleep

Task: List the three memory errors

1. Encoding
2. Storage
3. Retrieval

Module Five

Task: What is stress?

Stress is a state in which a person’s thought, feelings and behaviours are compromised from well-
being, and this condition leads to physical and mental disorder. Causes may be external or internal

Task: How do thoughts impact the body on a physical level?

Negatively speaking, thoughts pertaining to the stresses and triggers of stress in an individual cause
adrenaline to spike and can lead to burnout, a consequence of exhaustion. Other negative thoughts
may cause insomnia, depression etc.

Positively, thoughts can be motivating causing serotonin and dopamine, hormones that create a
sense of enjoyment, happiness etc.

Task: What is somatic systems disorder?

Psychological distress causing physical symptoms or sickness that is not linked to a medical or
physical ailment, the resolve is counselling and therapy.

Module Six

Task: How do you evaluate a client’s behaviour using the criteria listed in this module?

The behaviour should be evaluated whether the behaviour is, maladaptive, irrational, unpredictable,
unconventional, distressed
Task: Can genetics play a role in psychological issues?

Yes it can

Module Seven

Task: What is agoraphobia?

It is a fear stemming from panic attacks and the fear and/or the embarrassment of having them in
public making the person stay inside their house all day and not want to go out, because that will
cause a bout of anxiety.

Task: Explain your understanding of anxiety

Anxiety is a form of distress a person experience characterised, by extensive worrying and fears,
causing various symptoms like insomnia, loss of appetite, exhausted etc.