National Counselor Examination (NCE) — All Questions

A client says, "My boss criticized my report in front of everyone." Which counselor response is a reflection of feeling?

• a."You felt embarrassed when he criticized you in public."✓
• b."You should talk to HR about how he treats you."
• c."Your boss commented on your report during the meeting in front of others."
• d."What did you say to him afterward?"

A reflection of feeling names the client's emotion and its context. Asking what happened next is a question, restating the facts without the feeling is a paraphrase, and telling the client what to do is advice-giving.

What is the main purpose of a summary near the end of a counseling session?

• a.To challenge the contradictions in the client's story
• b.To pull together themes and check understanding✓
• c.To share the counselor's own similar experiences
• d.To give the client homework

Summarizing ties together the main content, feelings, and themes of a session or a part of it, and invites the client to confirm or correct the counselor's understanding; TIP 35 lists summarization as one of the OARS core skills. Assigning homework, confronting discrepancies, and self-disclosure are separate skills.

Which question is most likely to invite a client to elaborate in their own words?

• a."Was the move your idea?"
• b."Did the move affect your family?"
• c."Is your family upset about the move?"
• d."How has the move affected your family?"✓

Open questions, often beginning with how or what, cannot be answered with a single word and invite elaboration; open questions are the O in the OARS core skills of motivational interviewing. The other three are closed questions answerable with yes or no.

A client says he is "totally fine" about his divorce but clenches his fists whenever his ex-wife is mentioned. Which response is constructive confrontation?

• a."Divorce is hard for everyone, so a little anger is completely normal right now."
• b."Let's move on to talking about your job."
• c."You say you're fine, and I notice your fists tighten when she comes up."✓
• d."You're clearly not fine, so stop pretending."

Constructive confrontation points out a discrepancy, here between words and nonverbal behavior, in a nonjudgmental, descriptive way so the client can explore it. Accusing the client of pretending is attacking rather than constructive, changing the subject avoids the discrepancy, and normalizing ignores it.

Midway through a session a client becomes quiet and looks away after the counselor's comment. The counselor says, "Right now, I sense something shifted between us after what I said." This is an example of:

• a.immediacy✓
• b.summarizing
• c.paraphrasing
• d.interpretation

Immediacy addresses what is happening in the counseling relationship in the here and now. Paraphrasing restates the client's content, interpretation offers a new frame for the client's behavior or experience, and summarizing pulls together themes across a session.

When is counselor self-disclosure most likely to be appropriate?

• a.When it is brief and serves the client's goals✓
• b.When it fills silence so the client does not feel uncomfortable
• c.When the counselor needs support with a personal struggle
• d.When the counselor wants the client to know they have been through worse

Self-disclosure is a listed NCE counseling skill and is useful when it is brief, relevant, and in the client's interest, with the focus quickly returned to the client. Disclosing to compare hardships or to meet the counselor's own needs misuses the relationship (NBCC Code directive 8 bars meeting one's own needs at a client's expense), and filling silence can cut off client processing.

A mother complains that her teenage son "argues about everything." The counselor says, "It sounds like he is practicing standing up for himself." Which technique is this?

• a.Minimal encouragement
• b.Advice-giving
• c.Reframing✓
• d.Reflection of content

Reframing offers a different, often more constructive meaning for the same behavior; TIP 39 describes this relabeling as presenting another perspective so a problem appears solvable. A reflection of content restates what was said, minimal encouragers are brief prompts to continue, and advice tells the client what to do.

Which counselor statement is an affirmation as used in motivational interviewing?

• a."What would you like to talk about today?"
• b."So you drank on three nights last week."
• c."You need to cut back on your drinking before your health gets worse."
• d."You kept every appointment despite your work schedule."✓

Affirmations, the A in the OARS core skills, recognize the client's strengths and efforts. Telling the client what they need to do is directive advice, restating the number of drinking nights is a simple reflection, and asking what to discuss is an open question.

A client says, "I could probably cut down to just weekends." In motivational interviewing, this is which type of change talk?

• a.Ability✓
• b.Desire
• c.Reasons
• d.Need

TIP 35 describes DARN change talk: Desire (wanting to change), Ability (what the client could or can do), Reasons (specific arguments for change), and Need (the urgency of change). "I could probably" expresses perceived ability.

A client angrily says, "You're just like everyone else telling me I have a problem." According to SAMHSA TIP 35, which response best lessens discord?

• a."Let's review the list of consequences you've had so far."
• b."If you didn't have a problem, you wouldn't be here."
• c."I'm only telling you what the evidence shows about drinking."
• d."You're tired of being told what to do."✓

TIP 35 treats resistance as sustain talk and counselor-client discord and recommends responding with reflective listening and emphasizing autonomy rather than arguing. Defending one's position, arguing the client has a problem, or listing consequences tends to increase discord.

In Ellis's ABC model, a client fails a test (A) and feels worthless (C). Where does rational emotive behavior therapy focus its disputing?

• a.The beliefs about failing (B)✓
• b.The client's childhood memories
• c.The feeling of worthlessness (C)
• d.The test itself (A)

In REBT the activating event (A) does not directly cause the emotional consequence (C); the beliefs (B) about the event do. Disputing (D) targets irrational beliefs such as "I must succeed or I am worthless." REBT does not dispute the event or the feeling itself, and it is present-focused rather than centered on childhood.

A client says, "I got one bad review, so I'm going to fail at everything in this job." Which cognitive distortion does this illustrate?

• a.Personalization
• b.Emotional reasoning
• c.Mind reading
• d.Overgeneralization✓

Overgeneralization draws a broad conclusion from a single incident. Personalization is attributing external events to oneself without basis, mind reading assumes one knows what others think, and emotional reasoning treats a feeling as proof that something is true.

Beck's cognitive triad in depression consists of negative views of:

• a.the past, the present, and the future
• b.parents, peers, and partners
• c.the self, the world, and the future✓
• d.thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

Beck described the cognitive triad as a negative view of oneself, one's experiences or world, and the future. The other sets name time frames, relationships, or the components of the CBT model rather than the triad.

A counselor teaches a client with a fear of elevators to relax deeply, builds a ranked list of feared situations, and pairs relaxation with each step starting from the least feared. This technique is:

• a.systematic desensitization✓
• b.aversion therapy
• c.flooding
• d.stimulus satiation

Wolpe's systematic desensitization pairs relaxation, a response incompatible with anxiety (reciprocal inhibition), with a graded hierarchy of feared situations. Flooding exposes the client to intense fear at once without gradation, aversion therapy pairs a behavior with an unpleasant stimulus, and satiation overexposes a client to a reinforcer.

A teen's parents stop nagging him once he finishes his homework, and he begins finishing it sooner each night. What is increasing the behavior?

• a.Negative punishment
• b.Extinction
• c.Positive reinforcement
• d.Negative reinforcement✓

Negative reinforcement increases a behavior by removing an aversive stimulus, here the nagging. Positive reinforcement adds a pleasant stimulus, negative punishment removes something pleasant to decrease a behavior, and extinction withholds reinforcement so a behavior decreases.

Parents stop responding to their child's bedtime tantrums. For the first few nights the tantrums get louder and longer before they fade. This temporary increase is called:

• a.shaping
• b.spontaneous recovery
• c.response generalization
• d.an extinction burst✓

When reinforcement for a behavior is withdrawn, the behavior often briefly increases in intensity or frequency before declining; this is an extinction burst. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished behavior after time has passed, generalization is spread to similar responses, and shaping reinforces successive approximations.

A reality therapist asks, "What do you want? What are you doing now? Is it helping you get what you want?" These questions follow which system?

• a.Wubbolding's WDEP✓
• b.Ellis's ABCDE
• c.Beck's Socratic dialogue
• d.de Shazer's formula tasks

Wubbolding's WDEP system for reality therapy explores Wants, Doing (direction), self-Evaluation, and Planning. ABCDE belongs to REBT, formula tasks come from solution-focused therapy, and Socratic dialogue is Beck's method for examining thoughts.

"Suppose that tonight, while you sleep, a miracle happens and the problem is solved. When you wake up, what will be the first sign?" This question is characteristic of:

• a.solution-focused brief therapy✓
• b.rational emotive behavior therapy
• c.Bowen family systems therapy
• d.psychoanalytic therapy

The miracle question, developed by de Shazer and colleagues, helps clients describe a preferred future and the first small signs of change, a hallmark of solution-focused brief therapy. Psychoanalytic therapy explores unconscious conflict, REBT disputes irrational beliefs, and Bowen therapy works on differentiation within the family system.

A solution-focused counselor asks, "On a scale from 0 to 10, where are you today, and what would one point higher look like?" What is the main purpose?

• a.To uncover defenses against painful memories
• b.To define small, concrete next steps✓
• c.To diagnose the severity of a disorder
• d.To test the reliability of the client's self-report

Scaling questions in solution-focused therapy help clients describe where they are, notice progress, and define small, concrete next steps. They are not diagnostic instruments, are not aimed at uncovering defenses, and are not a reliability check.

A counselor asks a boy, "When does the Temper sneak up on you, and when have you been able to push it away?" This technique is:

• a.the empty chair
• b.systematic desensitization
• c.externalizing the problem✓
• d.paradoxical intention

White and Epston's narrative therapy externalizes the problem, speaking of it as separate from the person, and then looks for unique outcomes when the person resisted it. Systematic desensitization is a behavioral anxiety technique, the empty chair is a Gestalt dialogue technique, and paradoxical intention asks the client to intend the feared symptom.

A client never got to say goodbye to her father before he died. The counselor invites her to speak to him as though he were sitting in an empty chair. This technique comes from:

• a.Behavior therapy
• b.Reality therapy
• c.Gestalt therapy✓
• d.Adlerian therapy

The empty chair is a Gestalt technique associated with Perls that brings unfinished business into the present through direct dialogue. Adlerian therapy centers on lifestyle and social interest, reality therapy on choices and the WDEP system, and behavior therapy on learning and reinforcement.

A client who cannot fall asleep because he worries about not sleeping is asked to try to stay awake as long as possible. This technique, from Frankl's logotherapy, is called:

• a.paradoxical intention✓
• b.stimulus control
• c.thought stopping
• d.dereflection

Frankl's paradoxical intention asks the client to intend or wish for the feared outcome, which breaks the cycle of anticipatory anxiety. Dereflection, also from logotherapy, redirects attention away from oneself toward meaning; stimulus control is a behavioral sleep technique; and thought stopping interrupts intrusive thoughts.

After being scolded by his supervisor, a man comes home and yells at his dog. Which defense mechanism is this?

• a.Projection
• b.Displacement✓
• c.Rationalization
• d.Sublimation

Displacement redirects an impulse from a threatening target to a safer one. Projection attributes one's own unacceptable feelings to someone else, sublimation channels impulses into socially valued activity, and rationalization offers acceptable-sounding reasons for behavior.

A client with strong aggressive urges channels them into competitive boxing. Which defense mechanism does this reflect?

• a.Regression
• b.Reaction formation
• c.Sublimation✓
• d.Denial

Sublimation channels unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities. Reaction formation expresses the opposite of the impulse, denial refuses to acknowledge reality, and regression returns to earlier developmental behavior.

A client begins reacting to her counselor with the same resentment she felt toward her controlling mother. The client is experiencing:

• a.projection onto the group
• b.countertransference
• c.resistance
• d.transference✓

Transference is the client's redirection of feelings from significant past relationships onto the counselor. Countertransference is the counselor's emotional reaction to the client, resistance is opposition to the work of counseling, and there is no group setting in this scenario.

Whenever a couple begins to argue, they each turn to their teenage daughter to take their side. In Bowen family systems theory, this pattern is called:

• a.differentiation of self
• b.emotional cutoff
• c.triangulation✓
• d.enmeshment

Bowen described triangulation as two people in conflict diverting tension onto a third person, who becomes an ally, go-between, or scapegoat; TIP 39 describes it the same way. Enmeshment is a structural-therapy term for diffuse boundaries, differentiation of self is the capacity to separate thinking from feeling and self from others, and emotional cutoff is managing unresolved attachment through distance.

A structural family therapist observes that a mother and son speak for each other and have no privacy from each other. Which concept best describes this?

• a.Disengaged boundaries
• b.Enmeshed boundaries✓
• c.Rigid hierarchy
• d.Multigenerational transmission

In Minuchin's structural family therapy, family problems reflect boundaries that are too diffuse (enmeshed) or too rigid (disengaged); speaking for one another and lacking privacy signals enmeshment. TIP 39 notes structural therapists mark boundaries, for example when one member speaks for another. Multigenerational transmission is a Bowen concept.

In a family session, one member constantly apologizes, agrees with everyone, and tries to please others at her own expense. In Satir's communication stances, she is a:

• a.irrelevant (distracter)
• b.super-reasonable (computer)
• c.blamer
• d.placater✓

Satir described incongruent stances used under stress: the placater pleases others and discounts self, the blamer discounts others, the super-reasonable stance discounts feelings in favor of logic, and the irrelevant stance distracts from the topic altogether.

In a new group, members begin challenging the leader and each other, and conflict rises. In Tuckman's model, this is the:

• a.storming stage✓
• b.norming stage
• c.performing stage
• d.forming stage

Tuckman (1965) described forming (orientation, testing), storming (intragroup conflict and resistance), norming (cohesion and shared norms), and performing (functional work); Tuckman and Jensen (1977) later added adjourning. Challenges to the leader and conflict mark storming.

In a group session, one member starts mocking another member's accent and others begin to laugh. The leader firmly stops the mocking. Which group skill is this?

• a.Universalizing
• b.Linking
• c.Drawing out
• d.Blocking✓

Blocking is the leader's intervention to stop harmful or counterproductive behavior, such as ridicule or scapegoating, protecting members as ACA Code A.9.b requires. Linking connects members' common concerns, drawing out invites quieter members to participate, and universalizing points out shared experiences.

A group leader says, "Maria, what you just described sounds a lot like what James shared last week about his father." This leader skill is called:

• a.confronting
• b.linking✓
• c.blocking
• d.cutting off

Linking connects what one member says with another member's concerns, promoting interaction and cohesion among members. Blocking stops harmful behavior, cutting off redirects a member who is monopolizing or going off-topic, and confronting challenges a discrepancy.

Before starting a closed psychoeducational group, a counselor meets with each prospective member. According to the ACA Code of Ethics, what is the purpose of this screening?

• a.To select members whose goals fit the group✓
• b.To assign members to leadership roles in the group
• c.To teach members the full group curriculum in advance
• d.To collect session fees and insurance information before the first meeting

ACA Code A.9.a states that counselors screen prospective group members and, to the extent possible, select members whose needs and goals are compatible with the group's goals, who will not impede the group process, and whose well-being will not be jeopardized. Screening is not for collecting fees, teaching content early, or assigning roles.

A client builds a safety plan with her counselor. Her first section lists her personal warning signs. According to SAMHSA TIP 50, what does the next section contain?

• a.Phone numbers of crisis professionals and emergency rooms
• b.Coping strategies she can use without anyone else's help✓
• c.Friends and family she can call for help
• d.A signed promise not to harm herself

TIP 50 describes a detailed safety plan with four sections: warning signs; coping strategies the client can use without another person; friends or family to contact if those strategies fail; and professionals and emergency services. A signed promise is a no-suicide contract, which TIP 50 does not recommend.

According to SAMHSA TIP 50, what is true of no-suicide contracts?

• a.They are the preferred intervention whenever a client is at acute risk
• b.They should be signed by every new client
• c.They are never sufficient on their own to ensure a client's safety✓
• d.They protect the counselor from liability if the client later attempts suicide

TIP 50 states that suicide contracts are not recommended, that contracts for safety are never sufficient to ensure a client's safety, and that there is no evidence they protect against litigation. A collaboratively built safety plan is recommended instead.

In the first moments of a crisis call, a client is sobbing and says she cannot think straight after being evicted. What should the counselor do first?

• a.Explore early childhood roots of her distress
• b.Assign a long-term goal for housing stability
• c.Interpret her reaction as a transference response
• d.Assess her safety and help her calm down✓

Crisis intervention (NCE outline 5Q) prioritizes safety and immediate stabilization: checking for risk and helping the client regain enough calm to think and problem-solve, since, as the MSE guidance notes, a person in crisis may be unable to identify options. Exploring childhood roots, long-term goal setting, and interpretation are not first-line during acute crisis.