BRS Counseling, Education & Support Services 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A BRS working with a combat veteran who acquired vision loss reports recurring nightmares, hypervigilance, and emotional numbness. These symptoms MOST likely indicate:
- Major depressive disorder
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Correct answer)
- Adjustment disorder with depressed mood
- Generalized anxiety disorder
Correct answer: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Recurring nightmares, hypervigilance, and emotional numbing are hallmark PTSD symptoms, particularly common in combat veterans with acquired disabilities.
Question 2: Which of the following is the PRIMARY goal of a low vision support group facilitated by a BRS?
- To replace individual counseling sessions
- To train members in specific assistive technology skills
- To provide peer connection, shared experience, and mutual coping strategies (Correct answer)
- To assess members' eligibility for state vocational services
Correct answer: To provide peer connection, shared experience, and mutual coping strategies
Support groups focus on reducing isolation and building coping resources through shared experience, complementing but not replacing individual clinical services.
Question 3: The ecological model of disability emphasizes that a blind person's functional limitations are PRIMARILY determined by:
- The severity of their visual impairment alone
- The interaction between the individual and their physical and social environment (Correct answer)
- Their level of formal education before vision loss
- The etiology of their eye condition
Correct answer: The interaction between the individual and their physical and social environment
The ecological (or social) model holds that disability results from the mismatch between individual abilities and environmental barriers, not impairment alone.
Question 4: A BRS who discloses their own experience with vision loss to a client is using which counseling technique?
- Transference
- Self-disclosure (Correct answer)
- Confrontation
- Interpretation
Correct answer: Self-disclosure
Therapeutic self-disclosure involves the counselor sharing personal information purposefully to build rapport or model coping, and must be used judiciously.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes the difference between counseling and psychotherapy in the context of blind rehabilitation?
- Counseling addresses deep-seated personality disorders; psychotherapy addresses skill building
- Counseling focuses on adjustment and coping with vision loss; psychotherapy addresses underlying mental health conditions (Correct answer)
- They are identical and the terms are interchangeable
- Psychotherapy is provided by BRS specialists; counseling is provided by psychiatrists
Correct answer: Counseling focuses on adjustment and coping with vision loss; psychotherapy addresses underlying mental health conditions
In rehabilitation, counseling typically addresses adjustment, coping, and education related to vision loss, while psychotherapy targets diagnosable mental health conditions requiring clinical licensure.
Question 6: A BRS receives a referral for a 10-year-old child with cortical visual impairment (CVI). The MOST appropriate initial step is to:
- Begin standard braille literacy instruction immediately
- Conduct a CVI Range assessment and review existing educational records (Correct answer)
- Refer to an ophthalmologist for surgical consultation
- Postpone services until the child reaches age 12
Correct answer: Conduct a CVI Range assessment and review existing educational records
CVI requires specialized functional vision assessment (e.g., CVI Range) before intervention planning, as CVI characteristics differ significantly from ocular visual impairments.
Question 7: Which principle of ethical practice requires a BRS to practice only within the boundaries of their demonstrated knowledge and skills?
- Autonomy
- Beneficence
- Competence (Correct answer)
- Justice
Correct answer: Competence
Competence is the ethical obligation to practice only within areas of established knowledge, training, and skill, referring clients when needs fall outside that scope.
BRS Counseling, Education & Support Services 5
A BRS working with a combat veteran who acquired vision loss reports recurring nightmares, hypervigilance, and emotional numbness.
These symptoms MOST likely indicate: