CPCE Practice Test Questions and
answers, 100% Accurate, rated A+
The NBCC Code of Ethics and Ethical Standards of the American Counseling Association (ACA) do not
include a statement reflecting the principle that
...
CPCE Practice Test Questions and
answers, 100% Accurate, rated A+
The NBCC Code of Ethics and Ethical Standards of the American Counseling Association (ACA) do not
include a statement reflecting the principle that
A) counselors have a right to protect clients from themselves if the clients give evidence of being selfinjurious.
B) revelation of a counselor's notes on a client should not be made to other professional unless the
client has provided written permission to do so or the information has been subpoenaed by a court of
law.
C) counselors should receive appropriate fees for services rendered regardless of the situations or
settings in which the services were rendered.
D) improvement of the profession through a variety of professional involvements is a responsibility of all
counselors. - ✔✔-CORRECT ANSWER: C) counselors should receive appropriate fees for services
rendered regardless of the situations or settings in which the services were rendered.
The state in which you reside does not yet have counselor licensure, so a local civic club has asked you
to address their members by presenting an overview of counselor licensure and its benefits to the
public. In your presentation to the group you note that
A) licensure automatically entitles counselors to receive third- party payments from insurance
companies.
B) some professional groups (e.g., psychologists) have opposed counselor licensure although the need
for mental health services for the public has increased steadily.
C) state-level counselor licensure laws have existed for over 40 years although it is only recently that a
majority of the states have counselor licensure laws.
D) one of the ways that counselor licensure laws protect the public's general welfare is through
restriction of the use of the term "counselor" to those persons who have graduated from counselor
education programs. - ✔✔-CORRECT ANSWER:
B) some professional groups (e.g., psychologists) have opposed counselor licensure although the need
for mental health services for the public has increased steadily.
A client has concluded a series of counseling sessions with another counselor and has now come to you
for counseling. According to the NBCC ethical standards, you should
A) proceed as you would with any other new client.
B) contact the other counselor and find out if it is appropriate for you to counsel the client.
C) contact the other counselor to ensure that you do not cover the same topic areas with the client.
D) advise the client to continue with the other counselor. - ✔✔-CORRECT ANSWER:
A) proceed as you would with any other new client.
Your employer has a policy which necessitates that you report all instances of child abuse to state
authorities. A client alludes (in your judgment) to the possibility of (the client) being a child abuser. As a
counselor you should
A) contact your lawyer; the policy is a violation of the "fair trade" laws.
B) refer the person elsewhere; receipt of a salary constitutes voluntary agreement with the employer's
policies.
C) inform the client of the policy and let the client decide how to proceed.
D) contact a consultant; then do as the consultant suggests. - ✔✔-CORRECT ANSWER:
C) inform the client of the policy and let the client decide how to proceed.
A married couple comes to you, as a counselor in private practice and tells you that they are having
marital difficulties and have sought counseling for resolution of them. In the course of an initial session
with them, one of the spouses reports being a new and active member of the local Alcoholics
Anonymous (AA~) group. You should
A) investigate the nature of the local AA's activities and continue counseling if those activities do not
include accepted definitions of counseling.
B) terminate counseling with the one spouse but continue to work with the spouse who is not an AA
participant.
C) offer to co-counsel with the staff of the local AA.
D) refer both spouses to the local AA. - ✔✔-CORRECT ANSWER:
A) investigate the nature of the local AA's activities and continue counseling if those activities do not
include accepted definitions of counseling.
A member of the local clergy telephones and asks for your evaluation of the spiritual values of a person
whom the caller knows was one of your clients. The caller wants your opinion because the former client
is an applicant to a theological institution for which the caller is the local applicant evaluator. You should
a. respond orally but require that no records be made of the conversation and that no comments be
attributed to you.
b. inform the caller that under no circumstances are you ethically permitted to divulge whether a
person is or has been a client or any information about a client without the client's permission.
c. inform the caller that you need to call the former client and obtain the client's permission before you
can express your opinions.
d. seek the counsel of your supervisor to determine what types of information it would be permissible
to divulge. - ✔✔-b. inform the caller that under no circumstances are you ethically permitted to divulge
whether a person is or has been a client or any information about a client without the client's
permission.
You have been providing career counseling to a client who is seeking employment. Concurrent to the
counseling, and with your knowledge, the client has made application for employment with several
employers. A potential employer calls you and asks for your opinion as to your client's suitability for the
employer's job opening. Under which of the following conditions are you free (i.e., not in violation of
professional ethics) to provide the information requested?
a. when it is clear that the client will not get the job unless the information is given
b. when you are certain that the information you would provide would assure that the client would get
the job
c. when in your best judgment you believe the information would enhance the client's chances for
getting the job
d. none of the above - ✔✔-d. none of the above
As applied to professional licensure of counselors. the term "reciprocity" means that
a. one licensing agency agrees to accept the licensing standards of another as sufficient for its own.
b. a licensed counselor may legally perform the functions of a licensed psychologist.
c. certification is synonymous with licensure.
d. graduation from a fully accredited counselor education program automatically constitutes eligibility
for licensure - ✔✔-a. one licensing agency agrees to accept the licensing standards of another as
sufficient for its own.
The publication that is likely to average the largest number of current research articles on the counseling
process is the
a. Journal of Counseling Psychology.
b. Review of Educational Research.
c. Journal of Consulting and Abnormal Psychology.
d. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases. - ✔✔-a. Journal of Counseling Psychology.
According to the NBCC Code of Ethics and the ACA Code of Ethics. when should a counselor try to
persuade the client to report knowledge of a crime to the appropriate law enforcement authorities?
a. when there is imminent danger to others
b. when there is a crime in progress
c. after the crime
d. never - ✔✔-a. when there is imminent danger to others
Third party reimbursement is a term pertinent to
a. transactional analysis.
b. behavioral therapy.
c. insurance practices.
d. veterans' educational programs. - ✔✔-c. insurance practices.
In the late 1970s, AACD ( known as ACA since 1992) began to focus very heavily on professional
credentialing. This led to the formation of the
a. CCMHC.
b. NBCC.
c. CACREP, formed in 1981.
d. APGA, formed in 1952. - ✔✔-b. NBCC.
By passing the NCE, a counselor can attain_______ given via NBCC.
a. NCC, a generic certification for counselors.
b. NCC, a specialty mental health certification for counselors
c. NCC, national certification for school counselors.
d. MAC, master addictions counselor. - ✔✔-a. NCC, a generic certification for counselors.
Which choice would most likely violate the counseling ethic or law termed "scope of practice"?
a. A counselor who is using good accurate empathy with a client, but fails to confront about her
excessive drinking.
b. A licensed counselor who gives the client a DSM diagnostic code for insurance.
c. A counselor who is too active-directive with a client.
d. A counselor who is conducting a strict Freudian psychoanalysis with the client. - ✔✔-d. A counselor
who is conducting a strict Freudian psychoanalysis with the client.
Ethical guidelines were first created for the helping professions in 1953 when the American
Psychological Association (APA) published their first code of ethics. The National Association of Social
Workers (NASW) created their code in 1960 ,and in 196l, the organization that is now ACA adopted
ethics for counselors. Ethics always describe
a. laws.
b. universal principles which apply to all helpers.
c. standards-of conduct imposed by ACA and NBCC.
d. all of the above. - ✔✔-c. standards-of conduct imposed by ACA and NBCC.
Most ethical dilemmas are related to
a. confidentiality.
b. testing.
c. diagnosis,
d. research. - ✔✔-a. confidentiality.
An 11-year-old child comes to your office with a black eye and tells you she cannot remember how she
received it. You have reason to suspect abuse. You should
a. be empathic and discuss her feelings regarding the matter.
b. drop the matter as it could embarrass her.
c. refer her to a medical doctor of your choice.
d. call the child abuse/neglect hotline. - ✔✔-d. call the child abuse/neglect hotline.
You pass your exam and now have NCC status. During a staff meeting a clinical director explains to you
that, from an ethical standpoint, your primary duty is to the agency. Most experts in the field of
counselor education would
a. agree with this position with very few reservations.
b. disagree inasmuch as professional ethics emphasize that your primary responsibility is to your clients.
c. disagree inasmuch as professional ethics emphasize that your primary responsibility is to the ACA.
d. say that, according to "aspirational ethics," your agency comes first. - ✔✔-b. disagree inasmuch as
professional ethics emphasize that your primary responsibility is to your clients.
A woman who is in private practice mentions in her phone book advertisement that she is a licensed
counseling psychologist. This generally means that
a. she has a doctorate from a counselor education program.
b. she has a graduate degree from a psychology department.
c. she has a degree from a CACREP program.
d. she has a degree in counseling but is trained in projective testing. - ✔✔-b. she has a graduate degree
from a psychology department.
APA is to psychologist as ACA is to
a. APGA.
b. certified clinical mental health counselor.
c. counselor.
d. NCC. - ✔✔-c. counselor.
Counselors adhering to the personality theory espoused by C.G. Jung often have to help people with
problems related to what Jung called "individuation." Jung defined this term as the process
a. which occurs when adolescents leave home to establish their own residences.
b. occurring throughout life in which a person is an individual.
c. through which parents come to have unique patterns of interaction with each of their children.
d. which is an outgrowth of the psychoanalytic principle of determinism. - ✔✔-b. occurring throughout
life in which a person is becoming an individual.
A counselor completing a report for an insurance company was required to indicate whether a client
had a phobia or an anxiety reaction. The counselor was able to indicate the correct classification
because the counselor knew that the primary distinction between the two conditions is the
a. age of onset of severe psychological distress.
b. ease with which the symptoms are eliminated.
c. frequency of symptom occurrence.
d. specificity of the fear-causing source. - ✔✔-d. specificity of the fear-causing source.
Erikson presented an eight-stage theory of human development, the last stage of which he entitled
"integrity vs. despair." A person's challenge in this stage is to achieve acceptance of the finality of life.
Erikson postulated that such acceptance could be achieved only if the person had
a. reached a parallel level of moral development.
b. established an economic environment such that the person need not be concerned about having
good living conditions.
c. successfully met the challenges of the previous stages.
d. developed the ability to distinguish among the various roles the individual had filled in life. - ✔✔-c.
successfully met the challenges of the previous stages.
A counselor was hired to develop educational activities that would promote development of gender-fair
(i.e., non sex-role stereotypic) attitudes among older elementary-school-age children. The counselor
decided to develop the activities within the context of social learning theory. Which of the following
activities would be most appropriate for use by the counselor?
a. having the children view movies that depict males in so-called traditionally feminine occupations
(e.g., nursing) or activities (e.g., ironing) and vice versa
b. providing some reward (e.g., a small candy) to children who make gender-fair statements during a
discussion of "what people do when they grow up"
c. instructing the children how to ask their parents what their parents' beliefs are about appropriate
roles for women and men
d. having the children share what they believe are each of their parent's feelings about activities they
do (e.g., active and passive play behaviors) - ✔✔-a. having the children view movies that depict males in
so-called traditionally feminine occupations (e.g., nursing) or activities (e.g., ironing) and vice versa
In attempting to understand the life perspectives and characteristics of their clients, some counselors
use Kohlberg's theory of moral development as a theoretical framework. These counselors know that
Kohlberg's theory includes three progressive levels culminating in
a. self-actualization, wherein the individual is fully humanistic.
b. principled thought, wherein the individual adopts a self-accepted set of standards of behavior.
c. androgyny, wherein the individual exhibits both male and female stereotypic behaviors.
d. personhood, wherein the individual is free from moral dilemmas. - ✔✔-b. principled thought,
wherein the individual adopts a self- accepted set of standards of behavior.
A professional counselor determines fees for monthly consultation services on a job-by-job basis. This is
an example of which of the following types of reinforcement schedules?
a. variable interval
b. fixed interval
c. variable ratio
d. fixed ratio - ✔✔-c. variable ratio
Competitiveness between children in the same family is known as
a. sibling rivalry.
b. the Oedipus conflict.
c. the Electra conflict.
d. the Foundling conflict. - ✔✔-a. sibling rivalry.
The best descriptor of the emotion that results when a feeling or fear is not understood by the person
experiencing it is
a. anxiety.
b. affect.
c. anger.
d. arousal. - ✔✔-a. anxiety.
Stage theories of human development arc used by many counselors in their work with older persons
because they facilitate understanding older persons' general life situations. In this context. Erikson
described the development stage that occurs late in life as
a. intimacy vs. autonomy.
b. integrity vs. despair.
c. trust vs. isolation.
d. intimacy vs. mistrust. - ✔✔-b. integrity vs. despair.
In some settings. counselors must use diagnostic classification systems as part of the overall program
management plan of the service facility. The term "paranoia" is used in such systems to include a group
of psychotic disorders characterized mainly by a(n) slowing of emotional responses to
a. a state of absolute calm.
b. onset of increasingly complex delusions.
c. frenzy of intense social interactions.
d. irrational response to a specific stimulus. - ✔✔-b. onset of increasingly complex delusions.
Freud postulated the following psychosexual stage
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