NBCC NCE Exam Questions

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1.

In what type of situation is autocratic leadership the best option?

  • A group that only meets for four sessions

  • A group whose members have many differing ideas

  • A group made up of motivated and self-directed members

  • A closed group that does not allow changes to membership

Correct answer: A group that only meets for four sessions

Group counselors can choose from one of three main styles of leading groups: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. Autocratic leaders are typically direct and set clear goals and boundaries for groups. This type of leadership works best when time restraints are an issue, when membership frequently changes, or when the group needs to coordinate with other groups. Democratic leaders allow members to express their ideas and aim to encourage discussion and participation. Laissez-faire leaders allow group members to be in charge of all decision-making and it works best when group members are very motivated.

2.

Which of the following is true about solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) in treatment planning?

  • Not all problems are suitable for SFBT

  • SFBT explicitly addresses thought disorder 

  • SFBT encourages reflection on past issues 

  • Traumatic issues are suitable for SFBT

Correct answer: Not all problems are suitable for SFBT

SFBT is suitable for a wide variety of problems in counseling, especially when a problem can be named, understood, strategized, and dealt with in a relatively brief time (probably no more than six or seven sessions of treatment). The burden is on the client to use the lessons and plan arrived at in conjunction with the therapist to proceed to solve their problems. 

However, SFBT is not suitable for many problems. It would not, for example, offer the appropriate length or depth for a thought disorder or a worthwhile exploration of past issues or trauma.

3.

Which of the following is the proper focus of person-centered counseling? 

  • The person's phenomenological world 

  • The person's inner conflict 

  • The person's honesty in relationships

  • The person's essential moral character 

Correct answer: The person's phenomenological world 

The school of person-centered counseling as popularized by Carl Rogers focuses on the phenomenological world of the person in counseling. The emphasis is on helping the person reach a self-actualized, personally meaningful existence.

Person-centered counseling would not focus on inner conflict, honesty in relationships, or the person's essential moral character. 

4.

A 20-year-old is in counseling for severe sexual and physical trauma she experienced when she was four and five years old. The client decides that she is ready to talk about the trauma with the counselor, but when details of the trauma come up during sessions, the client takes on the voice of a little girl, curls up in a ball on the floor, and acts immaturely.

What is the defense mechanism this client is using to cope?

  • Regression

  • Reaction formation

  • Introjection

  • Repression

Correct answer: Regression

Regression is the return to a much younger psychological and emotional state due to overwhelming feelings. In this situation, the client is so overwhelmed by the feelings associated with her trauma that she retreats to a much more immature state. If skilled, the counselor can use this defense as a way of helping the client through the trauma.

Reaction formation occurs when someone expresses the opposite feeling of what they may actually feel.

Introjection is the process of using fantasy to identify the expression of an impulse.

Repression is the act of forgetting or denying an idea that creates anxiety or other uncomfortable feelings.

5.

A counselor is meeting with the parents of a two-year-old girl. The parents are worried that their daughter has not yet begun to identify as a girl or boy, and they wonder if they are doing something wrong. The counselor can tell the parents that, in general, most children achieve a sense of being male or female by what age?

  • Three

  • 15 months

  • Two

  • Five

Correct answer: Three

It is important for counselors working with children to be aware of typical developmental milestones. Most children develop a sense of being male or female by the age of three. The counselor should explain the concept of gender identity to the parents in this situation and assure them that their child is most likely developing normally.

6.

Which of the following is diagnostic of somatic symptom disorder (SSD)?

  • Excessive thoughts about shortness of breath 

  • Seeking back pain medication 

  • Manufacturing symptoms of a heart attack

  • Believing that spirits are causing neck pain

Correct answer: Excessive thoughts about shortness of breath 

The main diagnostic feature of somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is not the symptom that is being reported or the one that causes the client the most concern. Rather, it is the excessive focus and thoughts about that symptom that form SSD. Thus, a person who is obsessed with their symptom of shortness of breath would appear to be suffering from SSD.

Seeking back pain medication is more likely to be characteristic of a substance use disorder. Manufacturing symptoms may indicate malingering, and a belief that spirits are causing neck pain may or may not be pathological depending on the patient's culture and other considerations. 

7.

The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is based on which theorist's ideas?

  • Carl Jung

  • Sigmund Freud 

  • Carl Rogers 

  • Alfred Adler 

Correct answer: Carl Jung

The MBTI is an assessment that yields a personality type based on categories and descriptors of traits first identified and detailed by Carl Jung. Participants are scaled along such dimensions as introversion/extraversion, thinking/feeling, and so on.

The MBTI is not based on the work of Freud, Rogers, or Adler. 

8.

All the following describe qualitative research, except:

  • Researchers examine for causes and relationships

  • Assumes that there are multiple realities

  • Studies individual units in naturalistic settings

  • Researchers may use their impressions, judgments, and feelings

Correct answer: Researchers examine for causes and relationships

Qualitative and quantitative research are two different kinds of research, though both have advantages.

Qualitative research:

  • Tends to study individual units in naturally occurring settings
  • Collects research data through observation
  • Often uses researchers' judgments and impressions
  • Assumes that there are many different realities held by individuals and groups
  • Has the goal of describing the nature of things

In quantitative research, researchers tend to examine for causes and relationships and present much more objective data.

9.

Sometimes certain characteristics of study subjects elicit preferential feelings and responses from researchers, altering results. This is known as:

  • experimenter bias

  • attrition

  • instrumentation error

  • statistical regression

Correct answer: experimenter bias

Internal validity refers to the degree to which external influences have been controlled. Experimenter bias is one threat to internal validity and refers to times when subjects' responses are influenced by researchers for a variety of reasons. Researchers may expect to see certain results and therefore unintentionally elicit these results, for example, or treat some subjects differently.

10.

There is a general rule that a certain percentage of the population is adequate when determining sample sizes for studies. What is this percentage?

  • Five to ten percent

  • Ten to 20 percent

  • 25 to 35 percent

  • 20 to 25 percent

Correct answer: Five to ten percent

Choosing the correct sample size is important, as it can influence statistical hypothesis testing. There are suggested minimal sampling sizes depending on the kind of research conducted. The general rule followed by most researchers is that five to ten percent of the population selected for a sample is large enough to result in accurate results.

11.

Which of the following was the initial focus of dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)?

  • Suicidal patients and those with borderline personality disorder

  • Patients with schizophrenia and paranoid personality disorder

  • Aggressive patients and those with borderline personality disorder 

  • Patients with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

Correct answer: Suicidal patients and those with borderline personality disorder

Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) is a treatment modality first used to address suicidal patients and those with borderline personality disorder. It has a substantial evidence base and is now used to treat a variety of other issues.

DBT involves skills training, individual treatment, and a high degree of contact with the therapist. It is considered a cognitive behavioral method. 

12.

When should formal treatment planning take place? 

  • Following diagnosis and case conceptualization 

  • At admission or intake 

  • At the end of an episode of care 

  • Following a diagnosis and before case conceptualization

Correct answer: Following diagnosis and case conceptualization 

Treatment planning is meant to provide a therapeutic roadmap with which to address a patient's presenting needs. It generally takes place following a diagnosis and case conceptualization, when enough information about the client and their needs is present with which to make a plan to help them. 

Treatment planning does not take place at admission or intake, nor does it take place at the end of an episode of care. 

13.

All the following are true regarding demographics in the United States, except:

  • By 3000, all minority groups combined will be larger than the non-Hispanic white population

  • Over 20 percent of the U.S. population speaks Spanish or other non-English language at home

  • Over 14.5 percent of the U.S. population is over age 65

  • The median age in the U.S. is 37 

Correct answer: By 3000, all minority groups combined will be larger than the non-Hispanic white population

The demographic profile of the United States is quickly and constantly changing. By 2050 (not 3000), all minority groups combined will be larger than the non-Hispanic white population.

Currently, over 20 percent of the U.S. population speaks Spanish or other non-English language at home, over 14.5 percent of the U.S. population is over age 65, and the median age in the U.S. is about 37.8 (the oldest ever).

14.

Theorists from the actuarial perspective believe that the structure of the individual is the foundation from which career development occurs. What are two examples of actuarial theories?

  • Trait-factor and needs-based

  • Life-span and self-concept

  • Self-directed and conventional

  • Problem-solving and needs-based

Correct answer: Trait-factor and needs-based

Actuarial theorists focus on the individual's needs, traits, interests, or other internal structure. Trait-factor and needs-based theories are two types of actuarial theories as they each focus on a specific concept (personality traits and unmet needs) to explain career selection.

15.

Choosing a Vocation was published in 1909 and was written by:

  • Frank Parsons

  • Clifford Beers

  • Jesse Davis

  • Sigmund Freud

Correct answer: Frank Parsons

Frank Parsons was a university professor in the late 19th and early 20th century who was an advocate for the career guidance movement and wrote several books about the importance of vocational counseling. In 1909, Parsons' most well-known book, Choosing a Vocation, was published posthumously and outlined the trait-factor theory of career development.

16.

Don Dinkmeyer's Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) program integrates concepts used by which group approach?

  • Adlerian

  • Existential

  • Rational emotive behavior

  • Gestalt

Correct answer: Adlerian

Adlerian group counselors aim to help group members explore life assumptions, recognize their own strengths and accept responsibility, and increase self-esteem. The Adlerian group approach has been shown to be successful when used in parent-education models in schools. The Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) program, developed by Don Dinkmeyer, is one such program.

17.

Operant and classical conditioning techniques would belong to which of the following schools of counseling? 

  • Cognitive and behavioral counseling 

  • Existential counseling 

  • Transactional analysis 

  • Person-centered counseling

Correct answer: Cognitive and behavioral counseling 

Cognitive and behavioral counseling comes from the behaviorist school of psychology, which suggests that behavior is learned and can be shaped. Thus, techniques such as operant and classical conditioning would belong to this school.

Existential counseling, transactional analysis, and person-centered counseling do not use conditioning techniques. 

18.

There is frequently variability within a distribution of scores. Which of the following is used to describe this variability?

  • Standard deviation

  • Variance

  • Range

  • Stanine

Correct answer: Standard deviation

Standard Deviation (SD) is a measure of variability and describes the variability within a distribution of scores. It is the mean of all the deviations from the mean, and is a popular measure of the dispersion of scores.

19.

Which of the following statements would likely be said by someone in the post-conventional stage of development?

  • "I have derived my own set of moral standards."

  • "My morals are society's morals."

  • "My morals are dictated by what I am punished for."

  • "My morals are dictated by what I am rewarded for."

Correct answer: "I have derived my own set of moral standards."

Lawrence Kohlberg conceptualized three stages of moral development. The first stage, preconventional, is characterized by a fear of punishment that governs behavior. The second stage, conventional, is characterized by a desire to adhere to society's rules. 

The last stage, post-conventional, is characterized by self-accepted rules that govern behavior and go above simple reward, punishment, or conformity. 

20.

A marriage and family counselor has been meeting with a couple for several months. The couple clearly states that they both value loyalty and honesty more than any other qualities in a marriage. In the next session, the husband appears nervous and jittery. Halfway through the session, he tearfully tells his wife that he had sexual contact with another woman the previous week. The discomfort the husband feels is known as:

  • cognitive dissonance

  • intrinsic motivation

  • attribution theory

  • familism

Correct answer: cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance refers to the discord individuals feel when they hold inconsistent beliefs or attitudes, or when their behaviors are inconsistent with their beliefs or values. Typically, cognitive dissonance is a source of motivation for seeking to reduce stress. In this example, the cognitive dissonance the husband feels is due to having been disloyal to his wife while holding the belief that loyalty and honesty are of supreme importance in marriage. If the husband had not been experiencing such intense dissonance, he may have refrained from telling his wife and continued with the adulterous relationship.

Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards (such as feelings about ourselves) rather than external rewards (such as praise from others). Attribution theories are models that attempt to explain the causes of behavior and events. Familism refers to the value held by many cultures that prioritizes the role of families in individuals' lives.