NCE-ABE National Counselor Examination Questions and Answers

In the Assessment and Testing core area, counselors must understand standard scores, including normalized scores with a specified mean and standard deviation (like 50,10).

Step 1: Compute the z-score.

Raw score = 56

Mean = 42

Standard deviation = 7

Compute the difference:

56 − 42 = 14

Compute z:

14 ÷ 7 = 2

So, z = 2.

Step 2: Convert the z-score to a standard score with mean = 50 and SD = 10.

Formula:

Standard score = (z × new SD) + new mean

Compute:

z × new SD = 2 × 10 = 20

20 + 50 = 70

So the f-score (50,10) is 70, which corresponds to Option D.

The Social and Cultural Diversity core area requires counselors to:

Develop multicultural counseling competence,

Recognize their limitations and biases, and

Engage in ongoing professional development specifically in multicultural issues.

Ethical and training standards emphasize that when counselors recognize gaps in their cultural knowledge or skills, they should:

Seek supervision, consultation, or training to improve their competence with those populations.

Looking at the options:

A. Focus on global concepts and ideas.This can make counseling more abstract and may overlook specific cultural contexts and lived experiences.

B. Disclose any lack of knowledge or awareness to the client.Limited, thoughtful self-disclosure may sometimes be appropriate, but it is not, by itself, sufficient or the most helpful global strategy.

C. Seek supervision and training on multicultural issues.This aligns directly with CACREP’s expectation of ongoing multicultural competence development and is the best answer.

D. Work to assimilate clients who are culturally dissimilar.This is contrary to multicultural principles; counselors should honor and respect clients’ cultural identities, not pressure them to assimilate.

Therefore, the most appropriate and CACREP-consistent action is C (seek supervision and training on multicultural issues).

In the Group Counseling and Group Work core area, CACREP describes typical stages of group development (initial, transition, working, termination). The working stage (often called Stage III):

Is characterized by greater cohesion, trust, and openness,

Members assume more responsibility for the work of the group,

The leader shifts from high structure to a less directive, more facilitative role.

Because the group is more mature and self-directing in Stage III, the leader usually provides less overt intervention (Option A), while still monitoring process and safety.

Resistance (B) is often highest in earlier or transition stages; in the working stage it is present but more manageable.

Conflict resolution (C) certainly can occur, but conflict is often addressed more effectively by members themselves at this point.

Self-disclosure (D) typically increases, not decreases, in the working stage.

Thus, the most accurate distinction is A. Less leader intervention.

In the Counseling and Helping Relationships core area, CACREP includes behavioral and learning theories such as operant conditioning. A foundational principle is that:

Behaviors that are reinforced are more likely to be maintained, and

Behaviors that are no longer reinforced tend to weaken and eventually extinguish.

Option C directly states this assumption: behavior that is not reinforced gradually extinguishes. That is the core explanation for why, in behavior therapy, counselors manipulate reinforcement contingencies to reduce maladaptive behaviors.

A is incorrect because behaviors are not always reinforced on a strict one-to-one (continuous) schedule; intermittent reinforcement can also maintain behavior.

B (shaping) is used to build new complex behaviors, but it is not required for maintaining an already-learned behavior.

D refers to modeling (observational learning), which is associated with social learning theory, not the central assumption about maintenance in basic operant conditioning.

Thus, C is the correct assumption regarding behavior maintenance.

The counselor’s role in intake and assessment includes identifying symptom patterns, duration, and functional impairment to form a preliminary diagnostic impression. Persistent and excessive worry occurring for at least six months, accompanied by symptoms such as muscle tension and difficulty concentrating, is characteristic of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Counselors must evaluate duration, symptom clusters, and context to differentiate GAD from other anxiety- or stress-related conditions.

In developmental and ethological theory, imprinting refers to the process by which very young offspring form a strong, early bond or attachment to a primary caregiver. This process is especially noted in animal studies but is often used conceptually to describe how early, close caregiver relationships form and shape later attachment patterns.

Option B, imprinting, matches the idea of an early, foundational attachment process.

Role identification (A) involves modeling and adopting roles/behaviors, typically later in development.

Operant conditioning (C) and classical conditioning (D) describe learning through reinforcement or association, not specifically the attachment bond itself.

Knowledge of early attachment processes and their impact on later emotional and relational functioning is part of Areas of Clinical Focus in the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas, as it helps counselors understand developmental roots of clients’ concerns.

Empathy develops in levels:

Basic empathy often involves accurate reflection of content and primary feelings.

Advanced (or additive) empathy goes further by identifying and reflecting underlying, implied, or conflicting feelings, including ambivalence or feelings the client has not yet clearly expressed.

Option D. Reflecting conflicting feelings captures this advanced level of empathy because the counselor:

Recognizes that the client may feel two or more emotions at the same time (e.g., anger and love, fear and excitement).

Helps the client gain deeper self-awareness by naming these tensions or contradictions.

The other options are less specific to advanced empathy:

A. Asking questions – can facilitate exploration but is not, by itself, empathy.

B. Demonstrating interest – important for rapport but too general to qualify as advanced empathy.

C. Reflecting content – is a helpful basic skill but focuses on the story or facts rather than deeper emotional complexity.

In the Core Counseling Attributes domain, advanced empathy is a key indicator of a counselor’s ability to accurately perceive and articulate the client’s inner experience at a deeper level, thereby facilitating insight and emotional integration.

In the Group Counseling and Group Work core area, CACREP emphasizes the importance of group leadership skills, including self-awareness, emotional regulation, and the impact of the leader on group dynamics.

A central principle is that affect in groups is contagious:

When leaders are visibly anxious and do not manage or contain that anxiety, members often mirror or absorb it, leading to increased tension, defensiveness, or withdrawal.

Effective leaders are aware of their own emotional reactions and manage them so the group environment remains safe, stable, and facilitative of growth.

While:

Ethical and professional standards (option A) do require competence and self-monitoring, the primary reason in group dynamics terms is the direct effect on members.

Option C (improving cohesion and effectiveness) is a positive outcome but is more general and indirect.

Option D (member expectations) may be true, but expectations alone are not the main professional rationale.

The most direct and group-dynamics–based reason is B. Their anxiety can increase that of members.

Feminist counseling emphasizes how social, political, and cultural structures contribute to client distress, especially for women and other marginalized groups. A core idea is that personal problems are often rooted in systemic oppression, and therefore counseling is not only about individual change but also about social transformation.

Option C reflects this: feminist counselors view individual counseling as a potential tool of social change by helping clients recognize oppressive systems, develop critical consciousness, and become empowered to challenge inequities in their lives and communities.

A focuses narrowly on the mother relationship, which is more aligned with psychodynamic approaches, not feminist theory.

B is incorrect because feminist counseling explicitly recognizes that women do not have full social equality.

D conflicts with feminist principles, which stress self-empowerment and mutual empowerment, rather than empowerment being bestowed by a more powerful group (e.g., men).

This fits within Areas of Clinical Focus, where counselors must understand theoretical orientations that address power, oppression, gender roles, and social justice in clinical work.

In the Intake, Assessment and Diagnosis domain, counselors are expected to gather history, duration, and prior episodes of symptoms to determine the most accurate diagnosis using established diagnostic criteria (e.g., DSM-5-TR depressive disorders).

The client currently meets criteria for a major depressive episode: hopelessness, worthlessness, impaired concentration, and suicidal ideation occurring nearly every day for at least two weeks.

The question also states the client previously experienced the same symptoms during college. This history of a prior major depressive episode means the current presentation is not a single episode but part of a pattern of recurring episodes.

Therefore, the appropriate diagnosis is:

A. major depressive disorder, recurrent

Why the other options are not the best fit:

B. major depressive disorder, single episode – incorrect because the client has had more than one episode (current plus college years).

C. persistent depressive disorder – this requires a chronic depressed mood over at least two years, typically less episodic and more continuous than what is described.

D. bipolar I disorder – requires at least one manic episode; there is no indication of manic or hypomanic symptoms.

Accurately distinguishing between single-episode and recurrent disorders reflects the counselor’s responsibility to integrate symptom history and duration into a diagnostic formulation, as emphasized in the NBCC work behavior expectations for assessment and diagnosis.

Reality therapy, grounded in choice theory, emphasizes that clients are responsible for their choices and can learn to make more effective ones. In group counseling, the approach focuses on:

What members are doing and thinking in the present.

Encouraging effective action plans.

Acknowledging feelings but emphasizing choices and behaviors.

Personal responsibility and evaluation of whether current behavior is helping members meet their needs.

Option D accurately reflects this: reality therapy groups highlight actions, thinking, feelings, and individual choice, with particular attention to behavior and responsibility within the group context.

Why the others are incorrect:

A. Nondirective stance: Reality therapy is typically active and directive, not nondirective; the leader is engaged, confronts inconsistencies, and helps members plan.

B. Emphasis on the analysis of resistance: Rather than deeply analyzing “resistance,” reality therapy focuses on what the member is willing to do now and helping them design realistic, responsible plans.

C. The leader outlines a strategy: In reality therapy, the counselor helps members formulate their own plans; the leader does not simply prescribe or impose a strategy.

This matches NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas for group work and interventions, which expect counselors to understand how theoretical orientation shapes the focus of group sessions, the leader’s role, and the type of change process emphasized.

Counselors are expected to understand how to convert between different score scales (standard scores and raw scores) using the logic of z scores.

Step 1: Find the z score of the student’s standard score.

Standard-score mean = 76

Standard-score standard deviation = 7

Student’s score = 69

z=X−μσ=69−767=−77=−1z = \frac{X - \mu}{\sigma} = \frac{69 - 76}{7} = \frac{-7}{7} = -1z=σX−μ​=769−76​=7−7​=−1

So the student is one standard deviation below the mean (z = -1).

Step 2: Convert that z score back to the original raw-score distribution.

Original mean = 25

Original standard deviation = 5

Xraw=μraw+z⋅σraw=25+(−1)⋅5=25−5=20X_{\text{raw}} = \mu_{\text{raw}} + z \cdot \sigma_{\text{raw}} = 25 + (-1) \cdot 5 = 25 - 5 = 20Xraw​=μraw​+z⋅σraw​=25+(−1)⋅5=25−5=20

So the corresponding raw score is 20, which is option D.

This kind of conversion is part of basic testing and measurement knowledge that supports accurate assessment and communication of test results.

Behavioral counseling focuses on observable behavior, measurable change, and the systematic application of learning principles. When setting up a behavior change program, a behavioral counselor typically:

Establishes a baseline of behavior (Option A) to know the current frequency, intensity, or duration of the target behavior.

Uses contingency management (Option B) — arranging rewards, consequences, or environmental changes to increase or decrease behaviors.

Reviews previous research (Option D) to select interventions that are evidence-based and appropriate for the presenting concern.

Self-actualization (Option C) is associated with humanistic and existential approaches (e.g., Maslow, Rogers), focusing on personal growth and fulfillment rather than directly on observable behavior and contingencies. While a counselor may value growth in a broad sense, a behavioral counselor does not need to directly work from a self-actualization framework when designing a behavior change program.

NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas related to interventions highlight that behavioral approaches rely on empirically supported, observable, and measurable strategies, which makes self-actualization the least relevant concern in this specific context.

In the Research and Program Evaluation core area, counselors are expected to understand basic inferential statistics used in counseling research. When comparing three or more group means (for example, mean scores for three different treatment conditions), the standard procedure taught for the NCE is:

Use analysis of variance (ANOVA), which tests whether there are statistically significant differences among three or more group means.

ANOVA uses an F statistic internally, but the name of the procedure for comparing multiple means is “analysis of variance.”

Option A (f-test) refers to the test statistic used in ANOVA, but in counseling research courses and NCE exam language, the procedure is properly identified as ANOVA, not simply “an F-test.”

Option C (discriminant function analysis) is used to predict group membership from a set of predictors, not to test mean differences among groups.

Option D (multiple regression) evaluates the relationship between one dependent variable and multiple predictors, not the difference among three or more group means.

Therefore, when a counseling researcher wants to test for significant differences among three or more sample means, the appropriate method is B. An analysis of variance.

In the Counseling Skills and Interventions domain, counselors are expected to know and apply core cognitive-behavioral strategies, including how to help clients and families learn and practice new behaviors.

Modeling (B) is a technique in which the counselor (or another family member) demonstrates a desired behavior, allowing others to observe and then imitate it. This approach is rooted in social learning principles: people learn new behaviors by watching others perform them and seeing the positive outcomes that follow. In family counseling, modeling can be used to teach communication skills, problem-solving, emotional expression, or conflict-resolution behaviors.

The other options are related but not as directly focused on teaching new behaviors through demonstration:

Intensification (A) is more associated with structural family therapy, where the therapist heightens or intensifies interactions to promote change in family structure.

Reinforcement of incompatible behaviors (C) is a behavior modification method that increases behaviors that cannot occur simultaneously with the unwanted behavior. It shapes behavior but does not inherently rely on demonstration.

Extinction (D) reduces a behavior by removing the reinforcement that maintains it.

While several behavioral techniques can support change, modeling is specifically designed to help family members develop and learn new behaviors by observing them in action.

Holland’s theory of vocational personalities describes the Enterprising type as someone who enjoys leading, persuading, selling, influencing others, and seeking status or power. These individuals often gravitate toward roles involving management, politics, sales, or entrepreneurship.

Option A (Enterprising) matches the description of a person who enjoys verbal persuasion to gain power and social status.

Realistic (B) types prefer hands-on, practical activities.

Conventional (C) types prefer structured, orderly, detail-oriented tasks.

Social (D) types enjoy helping, teaching, and supporting others more than seeking power or status.

Understanding Holland’s types is part of career and vocational conceptualization, which falls under Areas of Clinical Focus in the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas.

In many residential treatment settings, groups are typically:

Open-ended, with clients entering and leaving treatment at different times.

Characterized by fluctuating membership and inconsistent attendance due to admissions, discharges, medical issues, or program requirements.

Therefore, leaders can expect open groups with inconsistent attendance (D).

Why the others are less accurate in this context:

A. Treatment team members to specify the goals for the group – although treatment teams may offer input, group leaders are generally responsible for defining and managing group goals within the program structure.

B. Use of screening – in residential facilities, group membership is often driven by who is currently admitted, so there is typically limited ability to screen out members.

C. Consistent and stable membership – this is more typical of closed groups, not residential settings with rolling admissions and discharges.

NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas expect counselors to understand how setting characteristics (like residential care) shape group structure, membership, and how leaders plan and intervene.

The Counseling and Helping Relationships core area emphasizes that counseling is a collaborative and ongoing process. This includes regular, purposeful feedback so that:

Counselor and client can monitor progress,

Adjust goals and interventions, and

Ensure that treatment remains aligned with the client’s needs and preferences.

Providing feedback at scheduled times throughout treatment (Option B) is consistent with CACREP-related expectations for:

Ongoing evaluation of counseling outcomes,

Use of progress monitoring, and

Maintenance of a clear, structured counseling process.

Why the others are less appropriate:

A. During the review of the treatment plan – Feedback should not be limited only to formal treatment-plan reviews; it needs to be more frequent and systematic.

C. Immediately following a behavior – Immediate feedback can be useful in behavioral interventions, but in general counseling, feedback is more effective when delivered in planned, reflective moments, not constantly after every behavior.

D. Only after the client asks for it – This is inconsistent with the counselor’s responsibility to actively facilitate the counseling process. Clients may not always know when feedback would be helpful.

Thus, B best fits standard counseling practice as reflected in CACREP-aligned training.

Within the Human Growth and Development core area, the NCE expects knowledge of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development and how children think at different ages.

The preoperational stage (approximately ages 2–7) is marked by:

Egocentric thinking

Magical thinking and fantasy

Difficulty distinguishing appearance from reality

Judging situations based on how things look, not on logical principles

In this question, the 4-year-old believes the 10-year-old has literally disappeared because of a costume. This reflects appearance–reality confusion and prelogical thinking, which are classic features of the preoperational stage.

Sensorimotor (birth–2): focus on sensory experience and object permanence, not costumes/identity.

Concrete operational (7–11): children at this stage can usually understand that a costume does not change who someone is.

Formal operational (11+): abstract reasoning; far beyond this situation.

Therefore, the behavior described matches Piaget’s preoperational stage, making D correct.

In clinical work, counselors must understand how definitions of “normal” and “abnormal” can vary across cultures and theoretical perspectives.

Cultural relativism holds that:

There is no single universal standard of normality.

Behavior is understood in the context of the values, norms, and expectations of a particular culture or context.

What is considered healthy or deviant depends on culturally shaped value systems.

Thus, “normal” under cultural relativism is best captured by:

D. Adherence to contextual values – that is, behavior is normal when it fits the values and norms of the specific cultural context in which the person lives.

Why the others are not correct under cultural relativism:

A. Conformity to social expectations – close, but too general; it doesn’t explicitly reference the cultural-contextual framework that relativism emphasizes.

B. Ideal state of self-actualization – reflects more of a humanistic view, not cultural relativism.

C. Incongruence between behaviors and ideals – describes distress or conflict, not a definition of normality.

Counselors are expected to incorporate this understanding when assessing behavior and distress across diverse populations, avoiding imposing one culture’s standards on another.

Within the Assessment and Testing core area, counselors are expected to understand and correctly use basic statistical concepts, including measures of central tendency and variability.

The median is defined as the score that divides a distribution into two equal halves, with 50% of the scores falling above it and 50% below it. This is exactly what the question is asking: the value that separates the top half of the scores from the bottom half.

The mode is the most frequently occurring score in a distribution and does not necessarily divide the distribution into equal halves.

The mean is the arithmetic average of the scores and can be influenced by extreme scores; it does not, by definition, guarantee that half the scores are above and half below.

The semi-interquartile range is a measure of variability (spread), not a measure of central tendency. It represents half the distance between the first and third quartiles.

Because the median is the statistic that separates the upper 50% of scores from the lower 50%, A (Median) is the correct answer.

Within the Counseling and Helping Relationships core area, CACREP highlights the importance of empathy and the counselor’s ability to be fully present with the client. Empathic attunement refers to:

Deeply tuning in to the client’s emotional experience,

Staying present with the client without judging, fixing, or overanalyzing,

Conveying understanding and acceptance of the client’s internal world.

Active listening (option B) involves attending behaviors and reflective responses, but empathic attunement specifically emphasizes nonjudgmental presence and emotional resonance with the client’s experience. Interpretation (option A) involves analyzing or offering meanings, which is the opposite of simply sitting with the experience. Integration (option C) refers more broadly to combining insights or aspects of the self, not this particular stance.

In the Counseling and Helping Relationships core area, CACREP emphasizes the importance of Rogers’ core conditions: empathy, genuineness (congruence), and unconditional positive regard.

Unconditional positive regard is the counselor’s nonjudgmental acceptance of the client as a person, without placing conditions on their worth or requiring them to think, feel, or behave in specific ways in order to be accepted.

In this scenario, the counselor continues to work with the client without insisting that they confess, change their choice, or think differently, which directly reflects unconditional positive regard.

Empathy (B) is understanding and feeling with the client; congruence (C) is the counselor being genuine; fidelity (D) is about loyalty and keeping commitments as an ethical principle. The description most clearly matches A. Unconditional positive regard.

Within Counseling and Helping Relationships, counselors must understand major counseling theories and their conceptualizations of emotional and behavioral problems.

Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), developed by Albert Ellis, holds that:

People do not simply become disturbed by events themselves; rather, they become disturbed by how they interpret the events through irrational or illogical beliefs.

These beliefs are often rigid (“musts,” “shoulds,” “have tos”) and self-maintained by ongoing self-talk and interpretations.

Emotional and behavioral disturbances are thus seen as the result of these self-sustained, irrational thought patterns, and counseling focuses on identifying, disputing, and replacing them with more rational beliefs.

Reality therapy (A) emphasizes choice, responsibility, and meeting basic needs, not primarily irrational beliefs.

Transactional analysis (C) focuses on ego states (Parent, Adult, Child) and life scripts.

Behavior therapy (D) emphasizes learned behaviors through conditioning and reinforcement, typically without the central emphasis on irrational beliefs as the main cause.

Therefore, the approach that specifically maintains that emotional and behavioral disorders stem from clients’ self-maintained illogical beliefs is Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (B).

In the Assessment and Testing core area, counselors are expected to recognize common diagnostic features of mental disorders to inform screening, referral, and conceptualization (not to replace full diagnosis).

For generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), hallmark symptoms include:

Excessive anxiety and worry about a variety of events or activities,

Difficulty controlling the worry,

Physical and cognitive symptoms such as:

Restlessness or feeling keyed up/on edge,

Being easily fatigued,

Difficulty concentrating,

Irritability,

Muscle tension,

Sleep disturbance.

Thus, restlessness (Option B) is a classic symptom associated with GAD.

The other options fit different or nonspecific issues:

A. Lack of hobbies is not a diagnostic criterion; it may relate to lifestyle, depression, or other factors but is not specific to GAD.

C. Rechecking locked doors is more characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), where compulsive checking behaviors respond to intrusive obsessions.

D. Pressured speech is typically associated with mania or hypomania, not GAD.

Therefore, B is the correct symptom associated with generalized anxiety disorder.

The Counseling and Helping Relationships core area includes person-centered (client-centered) theory, originating with Carl Rogers. A central concept in this approach is unconditional positive regard—warm acceptance, respect, and valuing of the person without conditions of worth.

Applied to the parent–child relationship, a client-centered perspective emphasizes that:

Children should experience consistent acceptance and respect,

Love and regard are not contingent on performance, behavior, or meeting parental conditions,

This environment supports healthy self-concept and growth.

Thus, Option C (unconditional positive regard) directly reflects the client-centered approach.

The other options come from different theoretical frameworks:

A. Authoritarianism conflicts with client-centered values and reflects a rigid, controlling style.

B. Natural and logical consequences are features of Adlerian / Dreikursian parenting approaches.

D. Behavior-shaping is rooted in behavioral/operant conditioning, not client-centered theory.

Therefore, C is the correct answer.

In the Counseling and Helping Relationships core area, trainees learn that structuring refers to explaining the nature, roles, expectations, limits, and process of counseling to the client—often done at the beginning and revisited as needed.

Core purposes of structuring include:

Clarifying the roles of counselor and client.

Explaining confidentiality and its limits.

Outlining session length, frequency, and procedures.

Setting goals and boundaries for the work.

All of this is designed to reduce ambiguity and confusion about what counseling is and how it will proceed, which helps build a safe, predictable therapeutic frame.

While structuring may indirectly increase motivation (A) or emotional expression (D), that is not its primary purpose.

It is also not primarily intended to shorten counseling (B), although clarity can sometimes make work more efficient.

Therefore, the main purpose is to reduce ambiguity in the counseling relationship, making C the correct answer.

In the Group Counseling and Group Work core area, CACREP includes knowledge of group leadership styles, including approaches grounded in person-centered (client-centered / group-centered) theory.

A group-centered leader, drawing from person-centered principles, typically:

Holds a positive view of human nature,

Believes members have an innate tendency toward growth and self-actualization,

Trusts that, given the right conditions (empathy, genuineness, unconditional positive regard), people will move in constructive directions.

This matches D: seeing people as basically positive in their intentions.

Why the others are not best:

A (pessimistic about human nature): More consistent with some strictly psychoanalytic or control-oriented approaches, not group-centered leadership.

B (seeing people as reactive to their environments): Sounds more like behavioral or social learning perspectives, not specifically group-centered.

C (focused on redirecting negative impulses): Implies a directive, control-focused stance, rather than the non-directive, facilitative stance of a group-centered leader.

Therefore, the characteristic that best fits a group-centered leader is D. Seeing people as basically positive in their intentions.

In the Career Development core area, counselors must understand major theories of career choice, including Holland’s RIASEC model. Holland proposed six personality–environment types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional.

Investigative types prefer working with ideas, symbols, and abstract concepts, and enjoy activities that involve thinking, analyzing, and problem-solving (often in scientific, mathematical, or theoretical areas). This matches the description in the question.

Social types (A) prefer working with people, helping, teaching, or serving.

Realistic types (B) prefer working with things, tools, machines, or hands-on activities.

Enterprising types (C) prefer persuading, leading, or selling, often in business or leadership settings.

Because the stem emphasizes a preference for ideas, words, and symbols rather than people, things, or persuasion, the classification that best fits Holland’s model is Investigative (Option D).

The Group Counseling and Group Work core area covers stages of group development. In many commonly taught models:

Stage I (initial/orientation): Members are cautious, often rely on the leader, and seek structure.

Stage II (transition/storming/conflict):

Members may show resistance, anxiety, and testing of limits.

Conflict and even hostility toward the leader or other members often emerge.

This stage is normal and necessary for working through tensions and moving toward cohesion.

Only after working through this conflict do groups typically develop greater trust, cohesion, and emotional closeness in later stages.

In the Social and Cultural Diversity core area, counselors are expected to demonstrate multicultural competence, including the ability to broach topics such as race, ethnicity, culture, oppression, identity, and power dynamics.

Broaching is the counselor’s intentional effort to:

Acknowledge and invite discussion of cultural and sociopolitical factors affecting the client,

Normalize and validate the significance of the client’s cultural identities, and

Address how these factors may shape the counseling relationship and presenting concerns.

Best practice is for broaching to occur early and repeatedly:

It should be introduced in the first session to set a foundation that cultural and identity-related issues are welcome topics.

It should continue throughout the counseling process, as relevance may change or deepen over time.

Limiting broaching to referral considerations (A) or only when a client formally requests it (B) contradicts multicultural counseling competencies, which emphasize counselor responsibility.

Doing it only by the second session and at termination (C) makes it infrequent and procedural, rather than an ongoing part of the relationship.

Thus, broaching is implemented in the first session and throughout counseling, making D the correct answer.

Within the Intake, Assessment and Diagnosis work behavior area, counselors are expected to systematically gather sufficient, relevant information before arriving at a diagnostic conclusion. Observations from an initial contact—such as disheveled appearance, confusion, rapid speech, agitation, and paranoia—are important, but they are only part of a complete assessment.

An appropriate diagnostic next step is to obtain additional information (Option A). This includes:

Conducting a more thorough mental status examination.

Gathering history of present illness, psychiatric history, medical history, and substance use history.

Exploring onset, duration, and course of symptoms.

Considering differential diagnoses, including mood disorders, psychotic disorders, substance-induced conditions, and medical causes.

The NBCC-aligned counselor work behaviors in this domain emphasize:

Avoiding premature diagnostic closure.

Using multiple sources of information (client report, observation, records, and collateral sources when appropriate).

Integrating behavioral observations with history and contextual factors before assigning a diagnosis.

Why the other options are not the best diagnostic next step:

B. Establish a safety plan – Safety planning can be crucial, but it follows from a formal risk assessment (e.g., suicidality, homicidality), which has not yet been described. It is an intervention step, not the immediate next step in making a diagnosis.

C. Discuss the client’s addiction problem – No information has been presented that confirms a substance use disorder; assuming this would violate the expectation to base diagnosis on adequate assessment data.

D. Seek a 72-hour hold on the client – Involuntary hospitalization requires clear evidence of danger to self, danger to others, or grave disability. The scenario only notes symptom presentation; a more complete assessment (Option A) is required before considering such action.

Thus, the response that best aligns with NBCC’s expectations for competent diagnostic practice is to obtain additional information before forming or finalizing a diagnosis.

When clients are described as vocationally immature, they typically lack sufficient awareness of the world of work, have limited understanding of career options, and often have not yet developed realistic views of themselves in relation to occupations. Within the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas, career-focused practice emphasizes meeting clients where they are developmentally and supplying the foundational information and experiences needed before moving into more advanced planning tasks.

For vocationally immature clients, the appropriate emphasis is on providing occupational information—helping them learn about different types of work, training requirements, work environments, typical duties, earnings, and opportunities for advancement. This information reduces confusion, increases readiness for decision-making, and supports later steps like goal setting and occupational choice, making Option B correct.

Option A (Identify occupational choices) is premature if the client does not yet understand the range of possibilities.

Option C (Evaluate past career-related decisions) is not central when the person has made few or no meaningful career decisions.

Option D (Establish long-term goals) is also a later-stage task; vocationally immature clients often struggle with long-range planning until they have more information and self-understanding.

NBCC work expectations related to clinical focus in career counseling stress using developmentally appropriate interventions—building awareness and knowledge first, then progressing toward decision-making and long-term planning.

This question falls under Professional Counseling Orientation and Ethical Practice, especially ethical standards, professional responsibility, and client rights.

Option A – Using techniques without prior trainingEthical standards require counselors to practice within the boundaries of their competence, which is based on education, training, supervised experience, and appropriate professional experience. Using counseling techniques for which the counselor has no prior training or competence violates these standards and may place clients at risk. This breaches ethical practice.

Option B – Imposing personal valuesCounselors are expected to avoid imposing their own values, attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors on clients, especially when such imposition may interfere with the counseling process or clients’ autonomy. Ethically, counselors must respect the dignity and autonomy of clients and support their ability to make their own decisions. Imposing the counselor’s personal values is clearly unethical.

Option C – Charging higher fees than others in the areaEthical codes state that counselors must establish fees that are consistent with accepted professional practices, explain fees and billing to clients in advance, and avoid exploitation of clients. However, it is not an ethical requirement that a counselor’s fees match or be similar to other providers’ fees in the area.A counselor may charge higher fees if:

The fees are clearly disclosed to the client beforehand,

The client agrees voluntarily, and

The fee structure is not exploitative or fraudulent.Therefore, simply charging higher fees than others does not, by itself, constitute an ethical violation, making C the correct answer.

Option D – Disclosing notes and records without permissionEthical standards emphasize confidentiality as a core duty. Counselors must not disclose client information, counseling notes, or records without the client’s informed consent, except under specific legal or ethical exceptions (e.g., risk of harm, court order, etc.). Disclosing records without permission generally breaches confidentiality and ethical practice.

Because A, B, and D all represent clear ethical violations, while C describes something that is not inherently unethical when done transparently and non-exploitatively, the only option that does not breach ethical counseling practice standards is C.

Career work with clients in midlife and later adulthood must consider actual life circumstances, including financial responsibilities, health, caregiving roles, retirement timing, age discrimination, and existing skills. For this reason, career counseling for this group should be grounded in the realities of clients’ lives—their current roles, constraints, and opportunities—making Option C the best answer.

Option A (focus on career selection) is more appropriate for adolescents or emerging adults choosing an initial field, not individuals who already have extensive work histories.

Option B (abstract self-perception) is too vague and detached from the very concrete life factors often central in midlife/older transitions.

Option D (emphasize training/education) may be appropriate for some clients, but it is not a universal guiding principle and ignores many who may not have the time, resources, or interest for extensive retraining.

NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas highlight that, in career development, counselors must integrate developmental stage and real-world context into their clinical focus, particularly for adults navigating later-life work and retirement decisions.

Counselors must be able to recognize that trauma can affect clients physically, cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally. A physical trauma response involves changes in bodily systems and functioning.

Option D. Changes in the central nervous system is a physical response: trauma can alter arousal systems, stress responses, and brain functioning (for example, heightened startle response, altered sleep-wake patterns, or dysregulated autonomic responses). These are bodily/physiological manifestations of trauma, not just thoughts or emotions.

Why the others are incorrect:

A. Ongoing mental distress or discomfort reflects emotional/psychological symptoms (e.g., anxiety, sadness), not specifically physical changes.

B. Physically acting out the trauma is best understood as a behavioral manifestation (reenactment or agitation), not underlying physical system change.

C. Ruminating about the trauma is a cognitive response (repetitive, intrusive thinking), not a physical one.

NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas highlight the importance of recognizing the multidimensional impact of trauma—including physical—so that assessment and treatment planning can address the full range of client needs.

Kohlberg’s theory states that young children (preschool age) typically operate at the preconventional level of moral development. At this level, moral judgments are based mainly on the consequences of actions, especially punishment and reward. Children see behaviors as “good” or “bad” depending on what happens afterward, not based on internalized values or concern for relationships.

Option B reflects this: decisions based on the outcomes of specific acts (e.g., “If I do this, will I get in trouble or get a reward?”).

Options A, C, and D reflect more advanced moral reasoning: peer influence, concern for relationships, and ethical principles—all of which appear later in Kohlberg’s stages. Understanding developmental theories like Kohlberg’s helps counselors conceptualize client behavior across the lifespan, which fits within Areas of Clinical Focus in the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior framework.

Within the CACREP Core Area of Social and Cultural Diversity, counselors are expected to demonstrate skills that allow them to work effectively with clients from diverse backgrounds. A key competency is the ability to avoid imposing personal values and to maintain an unbiased, respectful stance toward clients’ cultural identities, beliefs, and worldviews.

Ethical Bracketing (Correct Answer)Ethical bracketing refers to a counselor’s intentional process of setting aside personal values, beliefs, or biases in order to provide competent, culturally responsive services.This aligns with ethical expectations that counselors:

Maintain value neutrality,

Avoid personal value imposition, and

Uphold client autonomy, dignity, and cultural uniqueness.Ethical bracketing is specifically encouraged as an important skill when working with diverse populations.

Countertransference (Incorrect)This refers to a counselor’s emotional reactions toward the client, often based on the counselor’s unresolved issues. It is not about intentionally setting aside personal values; instead, it is a internal emotional process that must be managed during therapy.

Acculturation (Incorrect)Acculturation refers to the process of adapting to a dominant or new culture, not the counselor’s act of setting aside personal values during counseling.

Developmental Maturation (Incorrect)This refers to normal growth processes across the lifespan. It has no direct connection to value management in counseling.

Because only ethical bracketing describes consciously setting aside personal values to serve clients without bias, A is the correct answer.

In the Assessment and Testing core area, counselors must differentiate among types of validity:

Face validity refers to the degree to which a test appears, on the surface, to measure what it claims to measure. It is based on a subjective judgment of the items by laypersons or test users—essentially, “does this look like it measures what it says it does?” This is captured by option D, which involves subjectively examining the items.

By contrast:

Option A describes criterion-related or convergent validity (correlating with another established measure).

Option B reflects item analysis and relates to internal consistency/reliability, not face validity.

Option C describes content validity, which relies on expert judgment about whether items adequately represent the construct content.

Thus, D is the correct description of how face validity is established.

The Group Counseling and Group Work CACREP core area requires knowledge of:

Group development stages,

Group process and dynamics, and

Leader behaviors that facilitate members’ growth and change.

Effective group leaders are trained to:

Encourage here-and-now, emotionally honest interactions,

Promote sharing of feelings and experiences (the affective level), and

Create conditions for cohesion, trust, and risk-taking.

Option analysis:

A. Call on natural leaders to take charge.This can actually interfere with group development by creating dominance, cliques, or dependency on certain members rather than developing shared responsibility.

B. Promote sharing on an affective level.This is central to group progress. When members move beyond surface-level, intellectual discussion and begin to share feelings and emotional reactions, the group becomes more therapeutic and change-oriented.

C. Link interactions to personal problems.This is a useful skill, but it tends to come after members are safely sharing at an affective level. Without emotional engagement, such linking can feel forced or overly interpretive.

D. Minimize interpretation of relationships.This runs counter to group counseling principles, where leaders often help members understand the meaning of their interactions and relationships in the group.

Thus, the action that most directly fosters progress in counseling groups is B (promote sharing on an affective level).

Within Counseling and Helping Relationships, CACREP includes major counseling theories, including behavioral approaches. Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior and the ways it is learned and maintained through conditioning and reinforcement.

From a behavioral perspective:

Behaviors (including “inappropriate” or maladaptive ones) increase in frequency when they are reinforced—by attention, relief from discomfort, tangible rewards, or avoidance of something aversive.

Thus, when a behavior continues, behaviorists look for the reinforcement history that keeps it going.

The other options reflect different theoretical orientations:

A (defense mechanism) is psychoanalytic/psychodynamic.

B (symptom of intrapersonal conflict) aligns with psychodynamic or some humanistic views.

C (early family conflict) fits Adlerian or some family systems perspectives.

Only D accurately states the behaviorist position: inappropriate behavior persists because it is reinforced and therefore tends to reoccur.

In the Group Counseling and Group Work core area, CACREP-based training and the NCE require familiarity with stages of group development (often described similarly to forming, storming, norming, performing):

Stage I (Initial/Forming/Orientation):

Members are cautious, tentative, and dependent.

They often ask many questions of the leader.

The group may be quiet or withdrawn as members test safety and structure.(These correspond to options B, C, and D.)

Stage II (Transition/Storming/Conflict):

Characterized by anxiety, resistance, and control issues.

Members may challenge the leader or one another.

Open disagreement, power struggles, and expressions of frustration are common.

Therefore, the clearest indicator that the group is in Stage II is when members openly express disagreement with the leader, reflecting conflict and challenge—hallmarks of the transition/storming stage.

Thus, A is correct.

In the Group Counseling and Group Work core area, CACREP expects counselors to understand different group leadership styles, including democratic, authoritarian, and laissez-faire.

A laissez-faire leader is characterized by minimal direction, low structure, and very little intervention, allowing group members to largely manage their own processes and decisions.

In this scenario, such a leader would not step in to decide the goal (A or C) or actively facilitate group problem-solving (B). Instead, they would allow the members to continue interacting until they naturally reach some resolution, which aligns with D.

Thus, D. Let the two group members continue until some form of resolution had been achieved best reflects a laissez-faire leadership style.

In Donald Super’s career development theory, career maturity refers to a person’s readiness to successfully complete the career-related tasks appropriate to their developmental stage. This includes:

Making realistic career decisions at that stage.

Possessing attitudes and competencies needed for age-appropriate career exploration and choices.

Thus, career maturity (C) is the concept that explicitly focuses on completion of appropriate tasks at each developmental stage.

A. Self-efficacy refers to belief in one’s ability to perform tasks, but it is a broader construct (Bandura), not specific to Super’s framework.

B. Maintenance is one of Super’s life-span stages (maintaining one’s career status), not the overarching concept of task readiness.

D. Crystallization is a sub-stage where a person begins to clarify and firm up a vocational preference, but it is only one part of the broader picture.

In the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas, understanding career development theories and tasks across the lifespan is a core clinical focus for career counseling.

Counselors are expected to understand major theoretical orientations and how they conceptualize the family and the individual in context. Within this competency, Alfred Adler is recognized as the theorist who emphasized:

The family constellation, including the structure and dynamics of the family system.

The impact of birth order (e.g., oldest, middle, youngest, only child) on personality development, beliefs, and interpersonal style.

How these early family experiences shape a person’s sense of belonging, inferiority/superiority, and lifestyle.

Adlerian theory holds that an individual’s position in the family constellation influences roles, expectations, and perceived significance, which in turn affect behavior and psychological functioning. Counselors use this understanding to conceptualize clients within their relational and familial context.

Why the other options are not correct:

B. Carl Jung focused on the collective unconscious, archetypes, and individuation—not birth order.

C. Jean Piaget is associated with cognitive development in children, not family constellation dynamics.

D. Virginia Satir worked extensively with families and communication patterns, but she is not the theorist associated with birth order as a core conceptual tool.

This aligns with the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Area expectations that counselors understand key theorists and use family and developmental context when conceptualizing client concerns.

When addressing abuse and neglect, counselors are expected to understand risk factors, patterns, and transmission across generations. The phrase “intergenerational child abuse” refers to how abusive behaviors and dynamics are often passed down from one generation to the next.

Option B, learned patterns of behavior, fits this concept because:

Children who grow up in abusive homes may learn that violence, coercion, or neglect are normal ways to relate.

Without intervention, they may replicate these patterns with their own children or partners.

This reflects social learning principles—behavior is observed, internalized, and then repeated.

The counselor’s role includes recognizing these learned, patterned behaviors and helping clients break the cycle through awareness, new skills, and protective interventions.

Why the other options are not correct:

A. Specific traumatic reaction – Refers more to an individual’s response to a particular trauma (e.g., PTSD symptoms), not the across-generation transmission of abuse.

C. Parental alienation syndrome – A controversial concept typically used in the context of high-conflict custody disputes, not as a general explanation for intergenerational abuse.

D. Genetic predisposition – While biology can influence temperament, intergenerational child abuse is more accurately associated with relational and learned patterns rather than strict genetic inheritance.

This reflects the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas related to recognizing the impact of family-of-origin experiences, abuse, and maladaptive relational patterns across generations.

In the Human Growth and Development core area, counselors study major developmental and personality theories, including humanistic and existential approaches.

Abraham Maslow proposed the hierarchy of needs, a motivational model in which human needs are arranged from basic physiological needs to safety, love/belonging, esteem, and finally self-actualization at the top.

In Maslow’s framework, self-actualization is the realization of one’s full potential and is explicitly presented as a central goal of personal development.

Carl Rogers (Option C) also discussed an actualizing tendency and the movement toward becoming a “fully functioning person,” but the classic concept of self-actualization as the pinnacle of a hierarchy of needs is most directly associated with Maslow.

Fritz Perls (Option B) is associated with Gestalt therapy, focusing on awareness, here-and-now experience, and integration of the self, but not primarily on the hierarchical notion of self-actualization.

William Glasser (Option D) developed Reality Therapy and Choice Theory, emphasizing responsibility and needs satisfaction (love/belonging, power, freedom, fun, survival), but again, not self-actualization as framed in Maslow’s model.

Because self-actualization as a specific, named goal in development is most strongly and classically linked with Abraham Maslow, the correct answer is A (Maslow).

In the Counseling and Helping Relationships core area, systemic and family counseling approaches emphasize that:

A family is a system, and problems (such as parental conflict and stepfamily tension) are best understood by observing the entire system interacting.

Early sessions often focus on joining with the whole family, clarifying roles, boundaries, and interaction patterns, especially in blended families where alliances and loyalties can be complex.

Option B, seeing the family as a whole in the first session, allows the counselor to:

Directly observe parent–child and stepparent–stepchild interactions,

Hear each member’s perspective on the arguing and its impact,

Begin to restructure communication and set shared goals collaboratively.

The other options fragment the system:

A (see each child separately) misses the systemic interaction at the heart of the complaint.

C (see parents together) may be useful later but does not initially address how the conflict is affecting the children or the overall family dynamics.

D (each parent with their stepchildren) reinforces existing divisions and alliances rather than treating the family as a single integrated system.

Therefore, B is the most appropriate first-session technique for this blended family issue.

In family and systems counseling, NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas highlight the importance of understanding circular causality—the idea that behavior in a system is both a cause and an effect of other members’ behaviors, forming interactional patterns rather than simple “A causes B” chains.

Option B best reflects this systemic, circular view: an older sibling’s rebellious behavior has drawn parental attention and shaped the family pattern; the younger sibling then steals to impress the older sibling and participate in that same pattern of rebelliousness and attention. The younger sibling’s behavior is influenced by the existing family dynamic, and in turn, that behavior will further affect the family’s interactions, reinforcing or modifying the pattern. This mutual, looping influence exemplifies circular causality.

Option A describes a largely linear chain: personal anxiety → yoga and avoidance. The interaction pattern within a system is not clearly illustrated.

Option C is also linear: cheating → improved chances of passing → college admission; it does not show reciprocal influence between people in a system.

Option D reflects ambivalence and a complex relationship, but it does not clearly illustrate a pattern of mutual, cyclical influence among system members.

NBCC’s expectations for counseling skills and interventions in systemic work include recognizing and working with these circular patterns, rather than focusing solely on linear “cause–effect” explanations for a single individual’s behavior.

Effective group work requires that members understand the group’s purpose, goals, and expectations before they commit to participate. Within NBCC-aligned work behaviors for group counseling, counselors are expected to:

Clarify the purpose, structure, and expectations of the group during the screening or pre-group orientation phase (Option A).

Ensure that clients can make an informed decision about whether the group fits their needs.

Promote psychological safety by reducing uncertainty from the outset.

Although the counselor may restate or refine the purpose in the first session or as the group progresses, ethically and professionally it should not be delayed:

Waiting until the first session (Option B) means members are already committed and may feel pressured to stay even if the group is not appropriate.

Only discussing it as the group evolves (Option C) or if members ask (Option D) fails to meet expectations for informed consent and clear contracting.

Thus, according to professional group counseling standards embedded in the Counselor Work Behavior Areas, the counselor should discuss the group’s purpose during the screening process.

The scenario highlights that:

The client changed their thought process during anxious episodes.

Their reactions were less intense than before.

This indicates the client is applying a coping or cognitive skill learned in counseling—for example, cognitive restructuring, grounding, or other anxiety-management techniques. That is using an acquired skill (B).

A. Collaborative goal-setting is important early in treatment but does not itself explain why symptom intensity decreased.

C. Counselor’s emotional support can be helpful, but the change described is specifically tied to the client’s own cognitive work, not simply emotional support.

D. Time heals all wounds ignores the active, skill-based nature of counseling progress.

NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas emphasize helping clients develop, practice, and generalize skills so that they can independently manage symptoms—exactly what is described here.

In understanding human motivation and development (key to clinical focus), counselors often draw on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow proposed that needs are organized from basic physiological and safety needs up through love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

A central principle is that a need’s motivational force lessens once it is sufficiently gratified. When a higher-level need (such as esteem or self-actualization) is met, its intensity as a driver of behavior temporarily decreases (C). The person is no longer as strongly motivated by that need until it becomes frustrated or deprived again.

The need does not permanently disappear (A); it can re-emerge if no longer satisfied.

Stabilizes (B) is too vague and does not capture the idea that motivation drops when needs are met.

Increases (D) is the opposite of Maslow’s notion that unmet needs drive behavior more strongly than gratified ones.

Thus, the best description is that the intensity of the need decreases after gratification, so C is correct.

Within group counseling, counselors are expected to foster participation, interaction, self-exploration, and mutual responsibility. Effective group work typically involves:

Building authentic relationships among members

Encouraging appropriate self-disclosure

Supporting members in exploring personal issues

Promoting responsibility for self and sensitivity to others

Options B, C, and D all reflect desired therapeutic outcomes in groups:

B: Developing positive, natural relationships is a core benefit of group interaction.

C: Exploring personal issues within a supportive group is central to group counseling’s therapeutic power.

D: Learning responsibility to self and others aligns with group norms and interpersonal learning.

In contrast, A describes a client who only listens and stays anonymous, avoiding meaningful participation or self-disclosure. While some initial caution is normal, maintaining anonymity throughout the group undermines the interactive and experiential nature of group counseling and is therefore least desirable.

So the correct answer is A.

Within Counseling Skills and Interventions, counselors must understand how specific theories (such as reality therapy) are applied in practice, including the use of concepts like positive addiction.

In reality therapy (developed by William Glasser), positive addictions refer to healthy, constructive activities that a person engages in regularly (for example, running, meditation, or creative pursuits) which:

Enhance psychological strength and self-esteem

Support a sense of competence and control

Contribute to personal growth and self-actualization

The primary purpose of encouraging positive addiction, especially with adolescents, is to help them develop life patterns that support growth, responsibility, and a stronger, more confident sense of self—essentially encouraging movement toward self-actualization and a belief in their own worth and potential.

A. Increase physical fitness may be a side benefit (e.g., with exercise-based activities) but is not the central counseling purpose.

B. Help the client abandon negative addictions can be an important outcome, but the core rationale in reality therapy is to build new, healthy patterns that support growth rather than focusing solely on stopping negative behavior.

C. Help clarify new support systems can be useful, but this is not the primary definition or goal of positive addiction.

The central therapeutic aim is to foster healthy, growth-oriented habits that strengthen the self and support self-actualization, making D the best answer.

Counselors using assessments must understand basic statistics, including correlation, to interpret test data appropriately. A correlation coefficient (r) ranges from −1.00 to +1.00 and reflects the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables.

A correlation of 0 (option A) indicates no linear relationship between the variables—knowing one gives no information about predicting the other in a straight-line fashion.

−1.00 (B) indicates a perfect negative linear relationship: as one variable increases, the other decreases in a perfectly predictable way.

+1.00 (C) indicates a perfect positive linear relationship: as one variable increases, the other also increases in a perfectly predictable way.

Unable to determine (D) is incorrect because the coefficient itself does provide this information.

Therefore, 0 represents a complete lack of linear relationship, making A the correct answer.

Within professional practice, counselors are expected to recognize how organizational environments can increase or reduce the risk of compassion fatigue, burnout, and impairment. An agency culture that discourages open discussion of stress, emotional impact, client crises, and critical incidents is an organizational risk factor for compassion fatigue.

A culture of silence means staff are less likely to:

Debrief after difficult cases.

Seek support or supervision when overwhelmed.

Normalize and process the emotional toll of their work.

This isolation can increase emotional exhaustion and secondary traumatic stress. Recognizing and addressing such organizational patterns is part of ethical responsibility to maintain counselor wellness and protect client care.

Why the others are incorrect:

B. Competition between agencies for resources is a systemic or macro-level pressure but is not, by itself, a direct internal organizational risk factor for compassion fatigue.

C. Predisposing personal characteristics and issues are individual risk factors, not organizational ones.

D. Providing required supervision and training opportunities is a protective factor, not a risk factor; supportive supervision actually helps reduce compassion fatigue.

This aligns with the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas, which emphasize monitoring the impact of work settings on counselor functioning and advocating for healthy organizational practices.

When a client presents vague descriptions of depression and existential concerns, the first task is to clarify and deepen understanding of the client’s experience. The counselor should use core counseling micro-skills, especially:

Attentive listening

Reflections of feeling and content

Clarification

Summarizing

These are all part of active listening, which helps the client find words for internal experiences and feel safe enough to explore more deeply. That is why Option B is the best answer.

Why the other options are less appropriate at this stage:

A. Challenge the client to establish a structure for organizing life values.This is more advanced, existential/values work that may be appropriate later, but it is premature when the client’s descriptions are still vague and unclear.

C. Generate and discuss possible antecedents of depression.This leans toward a cognitive-behavioral analysis (triggers, thoughts, behaviors). It can be helpful eventually, but it risks imposing explanations before the client has fully expressed and clarified their internal world.

D. Confront inconsistency between feeling depressed and lack of explanation.Confrontation here can feel invalidating or shaming (“you can’t explain it, so something is wrong with your story”), and it may shut down rather than open up exploration.

The NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas emphasize that effective counselors rely first on empathic, active listening and clarification to understand the client’s subjective experience before moving to more structured or challenging intervention