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

OCD is characterized by obsessions and/or compulsions (such as repetitive checking) that are time-consuming and cause clinically significant distress or functional impairment.

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

DSM-5 includes Cannabis Withdrawal as a specifier within Cannabis Use Disorder, evidenced by irritability, sleep difficulty, and other symptoms upon reducing use.

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

The C-SSRS is a structured assessment instrument designed to measure the severity of suicidal ideation and track suicidal behavior across a spectrum from passive ideation to attempts.

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

DSM-5 specifies 'with seasonal pattern' for MDD when depressive episodes consistently occur at a particular time of year (typically fall/winter) with full remission at other times.

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

Depersonalization refers to experiences of unreality, detachment, or feeling like an outside observer of one's own thoughts, feelings, body, or actions.

NCMHCE - National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination Practice Test

NCMHCE - National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination Practice Test

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