Free NBCC NCE-ABE Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 6

In understanding human motivation and development (key to clinical focus), counselors often draw on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow proposed that needs are organized from basic physiological and safety needs up through love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

A central principle is that a need’s motivational force lessens once it is sufficiently gratified. When a higher-level need (such as esteem or self-actualization) is met, its intensity as a driver of behavior temporarily decreases (C). The person is no longer as strongly motivated by that need until it becomes frustrated or deprived again.

The need does not permanently disappear (A); it can re-emerge if no longer satisfied.

Stabilizes (B) is too vague and does not capture the idea that motivation drops when needs are met.

Increases (D) is the opposite of Maslow’s notion that unmet needs drive behavior more strongly than gratified ones.

Thus, the best description is that the intensity of the need decreases after gratification, so C is correct.

Counselors are expected to practice within ethical guidelines that include evaluating potential risks, cultural factors, and therapeutic implications of client gift-giving. Ethical practice involves assessing the meaning, timing, and potential impact of the gift on the therapeutic relationship. Exploring the significance of the gift with the client allows the counselor to determine whether accepting it maintains appropriate boundaries and supports the client’s cultural values without compromising professional judgment or the integrity of the counseling relationship.

The scenario highlights that:

The client changed their thought process during anxious episodes.

Their reactions were less intense than before.

This indicates the client is applying a coping or cognitive skill learned in counseling—for example, cognitive restructuring, grounding, or other anxiety-management techniques. That is using an acquired skill (B).

A. Collaborative goal-setting is important early in treatment but does not itself explain why symptom intensity decreased.

C. Counselor’s emotional support can be helpful, but the change described is specifically tied to the client’s own cognitive work, not simply emotional support.

D. Time heals all wounds ignores the active, skill-based nature of counseling progress.

NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas emphasize helping clients develop, practice, and generalize skills so that they can independently manage symptoms—exactly what is described here.

Ethical practice requires counselors to avoid multiple relationships when they could impair professional judgment, increase the risk of harm, or exploit the client. Serving simultaneously as both instructor and personal counselor to the same individual creates:

A power differential (grading authority and evaluative role)

Potential for role confusion

Risk that the student may feel pressured or may not be fully free in the counseling relationship

Therefore, the counselor should not enter into a counseling relationship with a current student. The ethically appropriate action is to provide a referral to another qualified mental health professional, as in Option B.

A (asking the student to wait until the course is over) still allows for a future dual relationship and does not completely remove the risk tied to the existing power dynamic.

C (scheduling counseling) directly creates a problematic multiple relationship.

D (redirecting to another faculty member) could create another dual relationship (faculty–student and counselor–client) and is not the cleanest or safest option.

Thus, the counselor should refer the student to another appropriate professional, making B the correct answer.

In the Counseling Skills and Interventions area, counselors must be able to select and apply theoretical approaches that fit client needs, preferences, and readiness. A client who is skeptical and questions the treatment plan often responds well to an approach that is:

Structured and transparent

Collaborative, with shared goal-setting

Evidence-informed, with clear rationales for techniques

A cognitive behavioral approach (CBT) emphasizes:

Clear explanations of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are related

Time-limited, goal-oriented treatment plans

Homework and behavioral experiments that allow clients to “test” ideas and see concrete outcomes

This tends to be particularly effective with clients who want to understand how and why therapy works and who are questioning its effectiveness.

A humanistic approach (A) strongly values the relationship and empathy but is often less structured and may not directly satisfy a skeptical client’s desire for clear rationale and techniques.

Psychodynamic (C) and analytical (D) approaches typically focus on unconscious processes, past experiences, and symbolic material, which may feel too abstract or indirect to a skeptical newcomer to therapy.

Thus, B. Cognitive behavioral approach is most consistent with effectively engaging this type of client.

In the Counseling Skills and Interventions domain, behavioral approaches emphasize observable, measurable behavior change, and the use of practice outside of sessions to generalize and maintain gains. In behavioral group counseling, key principles include:

Setting specific, individualized behavioral goals

Defining goals in observable, measurable terms

Using homework or between-session assignments to practice new behaviors in real-life situations

Option A directly reflects this: group members have individualized objectives to work on between sessions, which is a hallmark of behavioral work and supports skill acquisition and generalization.

B is incorrect because behavioral methods often use more than just verbal interaction (e.g., modeling, role-playing, behavioral rehearsal, reinforcement, feedback systems).

C is partially true that goals should be in performance terms, but the requirement that each member have multiple goals is not a core principle and may even dilute focus.

D contradicts behavioral theory, which holds that environmental factors strongly influence behavior; behavioral counseling explicitly considers and modifies environmental contingencies.

Thus, A best reflects a principle of behavioral group counseling.

In the Professional Practice and Ethics domain, counselors are expected to follow a systematic ethical decision-making process and to document:

The model or steps they used.

The consultations they sought.

The options considered and the actions taken, along with the rationale.

This documentation serves several purposes, but a key function is to show that the counselor acted in a thoughtful, reasonable, and professionally responsible manner if their decisions are later questioned by a licensing board, court, or ethics committee. This most directly aligns with:

C. to protect the counselor if decisions are challenged.

Why the other options are less accurate:

A. to protect the client if records are subpoenaed – good documentation can benefit the client, but the primary emphasis in ethical decision-making documentation is on demonstrating professional due diligence.

B. to protect the profession when reviewed by other professionals – while sound documentation reflects well on the profession, this is not the main purpose.

D. to protect the integrity of the client–counselor relationship – maintaining integrity is crucial, but documentation of an ethical decision-making model is primarily a risk management and accountability tool.

NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas stress that ethical practice includes using structured decision-making models and documenting the process to demonstrate adherence to professional standards and to protect the counselor in the event of scrutiny or challenge.

Within the Core Counseling Attributes domain, counselors are expected to demonstrate an ability to accurately understand and reflect the client’s emotional experience. Empathy involves communicating back to the client an accurate awareness of their internal world, especially their feelings, meanings, and emotional nuances.

Option A reflects this essential skill: the counselor expresses an understanding of what the client is feeling, allowing the client to feel heard, validated, and emotionally understood. This is central to building the therapeutic relationship and promoting client growth.

Why the other options are incorrect:

B. Nod their head frequently: This is a nonverbal attending skill, but nodding alone does not establish empathy or convey an understanding of the client’s emotional experience.

C. Open posture: Although helpful for rapport and presence, posture alone does not demonstrate emotional understanding and therefore is not empathy by itself.

D. Provide a detailed summary: Summarizing is a useful skill, but a detailed summary may focus on content rather than the client’s emotional experience, and therefore does not fully represent empathy.

The NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas emphasize that empathy involves accurately perceiving and clearly communicating the client’s emotional state, making option A the correct answer.

In outplacement and career transition counseling following a reduction in force (RIF), counselors are expected to understand that clients often first experience shock, grief, anger, anxiety, and loss. Early in the process, the primary clinical need is emotional stabilization and support, not immediate job-search strategy.

D. Cope with the resulting feelings is the immediate priority: helping clients process reactions to job loss, normalize emotional responses, reduce acute distress, and restore enough psychological stability to engage in problem solving.

A (retraining information), B (interview skills), and C (lifestyle integration) are important later-stage goals once the client is more emotionally grounded and ready to plan and act.

Thus, in the early stages of RIF outplacement counseling, helping clients cope with the resulting feelings is the central immediate counseling goal, making D correct.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) results from prenatal exposure to alcohol and is characterized by a pattern of:

Central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities

Growth deficiencies

Characteristic facial features

Cognitive, behavioral, and learning difficulties

These effects are considered permanent and irreversible, making Option A correct. While supportive services and interventions can improve functioning and quality of life, the underlying damage does not “heal” or disappear over time [as consistently noted in medical and developmental literature, e.g., CDC and pediatric guidelines].

Why the other options are incorrect:

B. “The effects … are mental rather than physical.”FAS includes both physical and neurodevelopmental effects—growth deficits, facial anomalies, and CNS involvement—not just “mental” effects.

C. “FAS can develop through breastfeeding.”FAS is specifically caused by alcohol exposure in utero; breastfeeding does not cause FAS, although alcohol can affect the infant in other ways.

D. “The children with FAS tend to have average IQs.”Many individuals with FAS have below-average IQ, learning disabilities, and executive functioning deficits. Average IQ is not characteristic of the syndrome as a whole.

Within the NBCC Counselor Work Behavior Areas, counselors are expected to understand key features of developmental and neurobehavioral conditions such as FAS to inform assessment, referral, and appropriate support planning.