NCE Counseling Theories and Techniques 3

Question 1

In Adlerian therapy, the concept of 'life style' (or lifestyle) refers to:

Accepted Answer

The unique, self-consistent pattern of beliefs, goals, and behaviors developed in early childhood

Answer

In Adlerian Individual Psychology, lifestyle (or life style) is the unique movement pattern each person develops in childhood to achieve their goals and compensate for feelings of inferiority. It becomes the lens through which all experience is interpreted.

Question 2

Motivational Interviewing (MI), developed by Miller and Rollnick, is BEST described as:

Accepted Answer

A collaborative, person-centered approach to eliciting and strengthening motivation for change

Answer

MI is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication designed to strengthen a person's own motivation and commitment to change by evoking their own reasons and values. It explicitly avoids confrontation.

Question 3

Narrative therapy, developed by Michael White and David Epston, uses the technique of 'externalizing' to:

Accepted Answer

Separate the person from the problem, treating the problem as an external entity

Answer

Externalizing is a fundamental narrative therapy technique that linguistically separates the person from the problem ('the problem is the problem, not the person'). This reduces shame and opens space for the person to relate differently to their problem.

Question 4

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), developed by Steven Hayes, targets which process as central to psychological inflexibility?

Accepted Answer

Cognitive fusion

Answer

Cognitive fusion -- becoming entangled with and dominated by thoughts as if they are literal truths -- is identified by Hayes as a key process creating psychological inflexibility. Defusion techniques help clients observe thoughts without being controlled by them.

Question 5

A counselor using Structural Family Therapy (SFT), developed by Salvador Minuchin, would focus PRIMARILY on:

Accepted Answer

The organization of family subsystems, boundaries, and hierarchies

Answer

Minuchin's Structural Family Therapy analyzes the underlying structure of the family system -- subsystems (parental, sibling, spousal), boundaries (enmeshed, diffuse, rigid, clear), hierarchies, and alliances -- then uses active techniques to restructure dysfunctional patterns.

NCE Exam Practice Test

NCE Exam Practice Test

NCE Counseling Theories and Techniques 3