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NCE Practice Test 3 Answer Key/Explanations
1. D. It is not necessary that a counselor refer a client from another culture to another counselor. What is important is that the counselor demonstrates sensitivity to the needs of that client and has some knowledge about other cultures. Another way to look at this is to consider how you would treat someone who has an allergy to dairy products. You wouldn't give the person with allergies milk or ice cream. Instead, you would find out what the person with allergies can have and make adjustments based on that. You treat the person with allergies with sensitivity and get as much information about those allergies as possible.
2. A. The answer is pretty straightforward when you consider the other choices. The most appropriate standard of care for a counselor who works with multicultural clients is to treat each client individually. Special concern must be taken to ensure that the counselor is cognizant of her/his own biases; that the counselor becomes familiar with other cultures; and that the counselor can adapt her/his strategies and approaches to what is most efficacious for a particular client.
3. B. This question could trip you up if you are not aware of the cultural differences regarding eye contact. It is expected in our Western culture that we maintain good eye contact at all times. In the Eastern traditions, however, eye contact is averted in some situations. It is the counselor's job to know those subtle differences and respect them.
4. B. When techniques involve setting goals or keeping a diary, you can automatically think that the therapy is behavioral. Most other therapies do not involve keeping track of behaviors or setting specific goals. A psychodynamic approach would use techniques like free association; gestalt approach would use techniques like psychodrama or exaggeration; and the existential approach would use imagery or awareness activities.
5. C. Whenever psychoanalysis or psychodynamics is mentioned, you should automatically think of unconscious processes, as this is the hallmark of such an approach. Of course, the social-learning perspective deals with social aspects, but more intently it deals with environmental conditions. Bodily events or bodily functions would be more aligned with a biological approach of some sort. Remember that learning involves interacting with the environment.
6. C. One way you can think of free association is as speaking freely about whatever comes to mind. Free association is a technique used by psychoanalysts and psychodynamic therapists. The other three techniques are all used exclusively by behaviorists.
7. D. The only technique that is not behavioral is unconditional positive regard, which is client centered, or Rogerian. To help you think about this, imagine a Rogerian-oriented therapist reflecting back whatever a client says as a way to show empathy or unconditional regard. Behaviorists do not address feelings at all, so unconditional positive regard would not be something a behaviorist would even consider offering to a client directly.
8. C. One way to think about the existential perspective is in terms of the human condition and what it means to be human; or in other words, what the meaning of life is. When it comes to rational-emotive therapy, think about the word "rational" and then attribute that to helping individuals move from irrational to rational thoughts. A good way to think about reality therapy is to focus on helping individuals formulate realistic plans for improvement. Transactional analysis involves looking at individuals' "transactions" as they go through their life scripts (parent, adult, child).
9. A. The clue here should be child behavior problems. Right away you should be able to eliminate existential therapy from that because behavior problems are best handled using behavioral techniques, not finding meaning. All of the other pairs are appropriate. When it comes to dealing with specific phobias, the treatment of choice is usually systematic desensitization, which is a behavioral technique. Depression usually involves having a client look at his/her own irrational thoughts that contribute to the depression. A panic disorder is also usually addressed using some sort of behavioral techniques.
10. B. The only realistic answer is the therapeutic alliance. The clubhouse model and window of opportunity have nothing to do with counseling. The therapeutic window normally describes a range of time or doses of medication at which some positive effects will be noticed.