Mindful Continuing Education

1. When individuals experience loss, they may feel angry, sad, stressed or fearful, and may drink, overeat, use drugs or partake in other addictive behaviors in an attempt to feel better.

2. Individuals often spend time and energy trying to rid themselves of their emotions, rather than realizing that they are part of their lives and that they need to find healthy ways to deal with them.

3. Which of the following is NOT a true statement about emotions and beliefs?

4. Being closed-offed, tearful, and uncertain are common emotions felt by those who are feeling ashamed and mad.

5. While completing a simple exercise of bringing full attention to the emotion you are feeling at a certain moment, experts recommend sitting for at least ten minutes until reaching comfort and understanding of the feeling.

6. The connection between thoughts and feeling happens when a situation arises, a thought occurs, and the thought stirs up emotions, and the trouble usually begins when:

7. For many people, core beliefs tend to be negative, and come with repetitive negative thoughts, which the authors refer to as repeat-offender thoughts.

8. A powerful skill for learning to deal with negative core beliefs and thoughts is to consider the evidence in order to make the kind of ____________________ interpretations that lead to good decision making and a healthy sense of self.

9. Researchers have concluded that concentration and practice on identifying and changing distracting thoughts can actually change how the brain works.

10. Placing a huge amount of negativity over all events, regardless of the outcome, is referred to as "Disaster Forecaster" thinking.

11. Rejecting positive experiences by insisting for some reason that they 'don't count' occurs with which type of thinking?

12. The skill of choosing the opposite, which means acting against your automatic response to thoughts and feelings, is based on a concept from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that teaches new ways to react.

13. When looking at a situation from other people's perspective, rather than trying to convince them that you are right, each of the following is recommended EXCEPT:

14. When responding to fear, getting angry is safer than being scared, but an alternative to anger is to sit with the fear while understanding that it is an important part of being human.

15. Schema-focused therapy (SFA) is a type of therapy that is designed to help people live a life based on their values, despite difficult thoughts and feelings.

16. Most people's instincts lead them to respond to fear with:

17. Which of the following is NOT one of the ways to observe your mind without judgment as you begin the mindfulness practice?

18. Most of the time when our anxiety triggers the "flight or fight" response, it is in reaction to memory or imagination.

19. Mindfulness techniques that help achieve present moment awareness include studying an object, counting the sounds in a room, being focused on daily tasks, imagining the space you are in, and:

20. The concept of profound admission, borrowed from Zen Buddhism, is used to help individuals experience the world without judgment and to accept what IS in a kind and sympathetic way.

21. The idea of taking a moment to rise above a challenging situation, known as FLOAT, calls for finding your silent place, letting go of judgment, observing your thoughts, having an awareness of your environment, and being thankful for the experience.

22. People may experience losses that trigger a mourning response anytime they have to say good-bye to something, but they may not realize that they need to allow themselves time to grieve.

23. In the process of recovery, it is important to look at old losses because loss compounds loss, losses begin to build on themselves, and because lasting recovery requires healing at the source.

24. When evaluating how you process loss, the authors recommend asking yourself each of the following questions EXCEPT:

25. While some people may attempt to find a healthy substitute for an addictive behavior, this behavior will often lead to further addiction and unfortunate consequences.

26. Eszopiclone and ramelteon fall under which category of addictive medications?

27. For most people, addictive behavior generally starts off as a solution, rather than a problem, so it is helpful to track when it became a problem in order to better understand the development of the disease of addiction.

28. When deciding to begin the recovery process, it may be helpful to read a daily reminder that states, "I will respect and nurture myself, I am of value, I am loved and protected", which is know as a/an:

29. Each of the following is an accurate statement about loss and addiction EXCEPT:

30. Most experts agree that focusing on loss anniversaries does more harm than good, as they tend to serve as a reminder of pain, and acknowledging them may lead to an increase in destructive behavior.

31. It is quite normal for those who are battling addiction to resist change, but they must also be aware that the antidote to resistance is survival, which has likely already helped them up to this point.

32. When people try to focus on how others cope with loss, it tends to be detrimental to their coping process because they place similar expectations on themselves that they may not be able to fulfill.

33. Carl Jung believed that people who ________ parts of themselves continued to be bothered by them, and that the problem tended to get bigger and stronger.

34. One way that individuals struggling with addiction can begin to heal is to give themselves the gift of accepting their experiences and feelings.

35. Mindfulness is about increasing ones personal strengths, and the purpose of mindful grieving is to change ones point of view about loss while being calm, focused, and nonreactive.

36. A person who tends to look for a dark cloud on a sunny day or to think "When will this good feeling end?" is known as a quiet antagonist.

37. When people practice resilient behaviors, they become stronger and better able to cope with distressing thoughts and feelings.

38. In order to strengthen the bonds of relationships, ______________________ helps partners step out from behind their harder emotions such as anger, and communicate with their softer emotions such as hurt.

39. For most people, soft emotions are beneath the expressed hard emotions, and insecurity is likely expressed as envy and rejection, and is often shown as defensiveness.

40. In order to have healthy communication, it is important to not only hear what the other person is saying but to also interpret the meanings of the words.

41. One of the most tremendous changes that can be experienced, through mindfulness practice is to detach from someone else's emotional chaos and to bring _____________________ to another person's response to you.

42. Healing broken relationships requires owning up to one's mistakes taking responsibility, and having true humility that is fair and balanced.

43. An important factor in rebuilding trust that was lost as a result of addiction is allowing the other person to make the final decisions about the boundaries and expectations in the relationship.

44. In order to create a buffer against hard times and establish a healthy support system, expects recommend looking to build new relationships that allow for the opportunity to have a fresh start.

45. When managing social discomfort, it may be helpful to give yourself a break for feeling uncomfortable, bring a friend along for support, and:

46. While in recovery and focusing on nutrition, each of the following is recommended EXCEPT:

47. Healthy sleep habits that lead to overall good health include avoiding chemicals that interfere with sleep, establishing a calming presleep habit, exercising several hours before bedtime, and making the bedroom sleep friendly.

48. According to the book, the Principles of Addiction Medicine, physical activity helps manage moods and stress, and sixty minutes per week of exercise can provide a recovering person with approximately thirty health and mental health benefits.

49. Although work can become stressful or a burden for those in recovery, starting the workday with a five-minute mindfulness meditation and practicing a short mindfulness exercise during a break can make for a productive day.

50. Participating in fun activities while sober can sometimes be a challenge, but it is important to try new things, even if you don't think they will be fun, and to always give them time to become enjoyable, rather than immediately moving on to the next activity.