NCMHCE Counseling Theories and Theoretical Orientations

Question 1

Albert Ellis's Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) uses the A-B-C model. What does 'B' represent in this framework?

Accepted Answer

The client's beliefs about the activating event that drive emotional consequences

Answer

In Ellis's A-B-C model, A = Activating event, B = Beliefs (rational or irrational) the client holds about the event, and C = Consequential emotions and behaviors. REBT holds that it is B, not A, that primarily causes emotional disturbance — making disputing irrational beliefs the core therapeutic task.

Question 2

A counselor using Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) asks a client: 'Suppose tonight while you were asleep a miracle occurred and your problem was solved — what would be different when you woke up?' This technique is called:

Accepted Answer

The miracle question

Answer

The miracle question is a signature SFBT technique developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg. It bypasses problem-focused thinking by inviting clients to imagine life post-solution, which helps identify goals and exceptions that can be built upon in treatment.

Question 3

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was originally developed by Marsha Linehan to treat which primary population?

Accepted Answer

Clients with borderline personality disorder

Answer

Linehan developed DBT in the late 1980s specifically for chronically suicidal individuals meeting criteria for borderline personality disorder. DBT combines behavioral science with acceptance and mindfulness (Zen) strategies and has since been adapted for eating disorders, SUD, and adolescents.

Question 4

In psychoanalytic theory, the defense mechanism in which unacceptable impulses are redirected toward a more acceptable or less threatening target is called:

Accepted Answer

Displacement

Answer

Displacement shifts an emotion or impulse from its original target (often threatening) to a safer substitute — for example, a person who is angry at their boss comes home and yells at a family member. Projection attributes one's own unacceptable feelings to others; sublimation channels unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable behavior.

Question 5

Carl Rogers identified three core counselor conditions necessary and sufficient for therapeutic change. Which of the following correctly lists all three?

Accepted Answer

Empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence (genuineness)

Answer

Rogers's person-centered theory holds that empathy (accurate understanding of the client's subjective world), unconditional positive regard (non-judgmental acceptance), and congruence (the counselor being authentic) are the necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic personality change.

NCMHCE - National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination Practice Test

NCMHCE - National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination Practice Test

NCMHCE Counseling Theories and Theoretical Orientations