LPCC Patient Communication Skills 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client repeatedly changes the subject whenever the counselor asks about their childhood. The BEST response is to:
- Insist the client answer the original question
- Gently note the pattern and invite reflection on it (Correct answer)
- Drop the topic and follow the client's lead indefinitely
- Interpret the avoidance as resistance and document it
Correct answer: Gently note the pattern and invite reflection on it
Naming the observed pattern non-judgmentally invites the client into metacommunication without forcing disclosure.
Question 2: Which technique involves the counselor repeating the client's last few words to encourage continued elaboration?
- Summarizing
- Minimal encouragers
- Restatement
- Trailing or mirroring (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Trailing or mirroring
Trailing (echoing the client's last words) is a minimal prompt that signals interest and invites the client to keep talking.
Question 3: When a client from a collectivist cultural background defers all decisions to their family, the culturally responsive counselor should:
- Encourage the client to assert individual autonomy
- Explore how the client personally experiences that family role (Correct answer)
- Refer the client for family therapy immediately
- Document the client as lacking self-efficacy
Correct answer: Explore how the client personally experiences that family role
Exploring the client's subjective experience within their cultural framework respects collectivist values while still centering the client.
Question 4: A counselor notices the client's tone is angry but their words deny any anger. The most effective immediate response is to:
- Challenge the client's denial directly
- Reflect the discrepancy between tone and words tentatively (Correct answer)
- Ignore nonverbal cues to avoid embarrassing the client
- Ask a closed question to clarify the client's emotion
Correct answer: Reflect the discrepancy between tone and words tentatively
A tentative reflection of the discrepancy opens space for the client to explore incongruence without feeling accused.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of an orienting statement at the start of a first session?
- To obtain the client's insurance information
- To outline the counselor's theoretical orientation in detail
- To clarify the counseling process, roles, and what the client can expect (Correct answer)
- To assess the client's readiness for change
Correct answer: To clarify the counseling process, roles, and what the client can expect
An orienting statement reduces client anxiety by explaining the structure, roles, and process of counseling before work begins.
Question 6: During a session a client begins to sob and cannot speak. The counselor's BEST immediate response is to:
- Hand the client tissues and wait silently in a supportive presence (Correct answer)
- Ask the client to describe what triggered the crying
- Redirect to a less distressing topic
- Remind the client that the session is nearly over
Correct answer: Hand the client tissues and wait silently in a supportive presence
Silent, compassionate presence with a simple supportive gesture communicates safety without pressuring the client to perform.
Question 7: A counselor says, 'It sounds like you're caught between wanting to leave and feeling obligated to stay.' This is an example of:
- Confrontation
- Interpretation
- Reflection of ambivalence (Correct answer)
- Psychoeducation
Correct answer: Reflection of ambivalence
Reflecting ambivalence names both sides of the client's internal conflict, which is a core technique in Motivational Interviewing and humanistic counseling.
LPCC Patient Communication Skills 2
A client repeatedly changes the subject whenever the counselor asks about their childhood.
The BEST response is to: