NCMHCE - National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination Intake, Assessment, and Diagnosis 5

Question 1

A client reports compulsively checking door locks up to 40 times before leaving the house, causing significant distress and making them late to work daily. Which diagnosis BEST fits?

Accepted Answer

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Answer

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Answer

Illness Anxiety Disorder

Answer

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Question 2

During intake, a client discloses they use cannabis daily and reports that attempts to cut down cause irritability and sleep disturbances. The counselor should assess for:

Accepted Answer

Cannabis Use Disorder with Withdrawal

Answer

Cannabis Intoxication

Answer

Cannabis-Induced Psychotic Disorder

Answer

Substance/Medication-Induced Mood Disorder

Question 3

A counselor uses the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) during an intake session. This tool PRIMARILY assesses:

Accepted Answer

Suicidal ideation intensity, behavior, and lethality

Answer

Depression severity and functional impairment

Answer

History of trauma and dissociative symptoms

Answer

Risk factors for substance use relapse

Question 4

A client endorses depressed mood, fatigue, and hypersomnia during winter months for the past 4 years, with full remission each spring. The MOST accurate diagnosis is:

Accepted Answer

Major Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Pattern

Answer

Cyclothymic Disorder

Answer

Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent

Answer

Persistent Depressive Disorder

Question 5

During a structured diagnostic interview, a client describes feeling detached from their own thoughts and body, as if observing themselves from outside. This experience is BEST described as:

Accepted Answer

Depersonalization

Answer

Derealization

Answer

Dissociative amnesia

Answer

Thought broadcasting

Question 6

A counselor is assessing a client who recently immigrated and presents with symptoms that closely align with a recognized culture-bound syndrome. The MOST appropriate clinical response is to:

Accepted Answer

Use the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview to explore the cultural context of symptoms

Answer

Apply DSM-5 criteria strictly without modification

Answer

Dismiss the cultural explanation in favor of empirically supported diagnoses

Answer

Immediately refer to a cultural psychiatry specialist

Question 7

Which of the following clinical presentations MOST warrants a differential diagnosis between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Bipolar Disorder in an adolescent?

Accepted Answer

Episodic elevated mood, decreased need for sleep, and grandiosity occurring in distinct periods

Answer

Chronic inattention and hyperactivity without mood episodes

Answer

Academic underperformance and frequent rule violations at school

Answer

Separation anxiety and somatic complaints in the morning