A man checks that his doors are locked two or more times each time he leaves home.The door is always found to be locked.Which of the following initial interventions would most likely be useful to this patient?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Cognitive restructuring involves identifying and questioning automatic thoughts and reframing (rewording)them in ways that are more accurate or more based in reality.In this instance,it is likely that the man is thinking that he may have left the door unlocked and that he will be robbed if he does not catch and correct his error.Replacing this thought with a more accurate statement (e.g. ,while it is possible he has overlooked locking the door,this is almost never the case,and he has never found the door unlocked after checking it once)can allow him to decide to skip the second door check.Noting that the behavior is irrational and has consequences is unlikely to be beneficial.It is likely that on some level,the patient already appreciates the irrationality and problems associated with the behavior (otherwise he would not have complained about it or sought help for it).While one could require him to skip the door checks repeatedly until experience convinces him that no harm would come from doing so,this would heighten his anxiety in the near term and likely would not be as effective as changing the thought that underlies this behavior in the first place.Having him check the door multiple times might be a form of flooding,but this would be more appropriate for reducing phobias than for obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors.

A Man Checks That His Doors Are Locked Two or More