During a session, a client says he has bought a gun and plans to shoot a named coworker tomorrow. What should the counselor do?
Take steps to protect the coworker, such as warning them or contacting the police, as state law allows or requires Confidentiality has limits. When a client poses a serious and foreseeable danger to an identifiable person, counselors have a duty to protect that person. This idea comes from the Tarasoff cases, and each state’s law sets out exactly what the counselor must do.
In a court case, who holds the privilege that protects what a client said in counseling?
The client Privileged communication is a legal right that belongs to the client. The client can usually waive it, for example by signing a release. The counselor can’t waive it on the client’s behalf.
A counselor with no training in eating disorders is assigned a new client with signs of anorexia nervosa. What’s the most ethical first step?
Refer the client to a provider trained in eating disorders, or get proper training and supervision before treating Counselors practice only within the limits of their education, training and supervised experience. Anorexia can be life threatening, so the client needs someone competent to treat it. The counselor either refers or builds competence under supervision first.
A 9-year-old watches water poured from a short, wide glass into a tall, thin one and says there’s still the same amount. Which of Piaget’s stages does this best fit?
Concrete operational Understanding that an amount stays the same when its shape changes is called conservation. Children usually master it in the concrete operational stage, roughly ages 7 to 11.
A 15-year-old keeps trying out new styles, friend groups and beliefs, and says she doesn’t know who she really is. Which of Erikson’s stages is she working through?
Identity vs. role confusion Erikson linked adolescence with identity vs. role confusion. Teens experiment with roles and values as they build a stable sense of who they are.
In Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, an infant shows little distress when the caregiver leaves and ignores the caregiver on return. Which attachment style does this describe?
Avoidant Infants with avoidant attachment seem unbothered by separation and avoid or ignore the caregiver at reunion. It’s an insecure style, often linked to caregiving that is distant or unresponsive.
A client who moved to the US keeps strong ties to her heritage culture and language while also taking an active part in American life. In Berry’s model, this is:
Integration Berry’s acculturation model has four strategies. Integration means keeping your heritage culture and also taking part in the new one.
A counselor learns about a culture from the inside, using that culture’s own ideas and values to understand its members. This is called:
An emic approach An emic approach looks at a culture from within, on its own terms. An etic approach looks for universal patterns that apply across cultures.
In person-centered counseling, accepting and valuing a client without judgment, whatever they’ve said or done, is known as:
Unconditional positive regard Carl Rogers named three core conditions: congruence, unconditional positive regard and accurate empathy. Unconditional positive regard is warm acceptance of the client as a person, without conditions.
After one poor review at work, a client says, “I’m bad at everything I do.” In cognitive therapy, this distortion is called:
Overgeneralization Overgeneralization means taking one event and drawing a broad conclusion about everything. Words like “everything”, “always” and “never” are common clues.
A client says, “I know I drink too much, and I’m thinking about cutting back sometime in the next few months, just not yet.” Which stage of change is this?
Contemplation In Prochaska and DiClemente’s model, contemplation means the person sees the problem and is thinking about change in the next six months, but hasn’t committed. Ambivalence is typical.
A counselor asks, “Suppose tonight, while you sleep, a miracle happens and the problem is gone. What would be different tomorrow?” This question comes from:
Solution-focused brief therapy The miracle question is a signature technique of solution-focused brief therapy, developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg. It helps clients describe their goals and notice what already works.
In a new counseling group, members start to challenge the leader and argue about how the group should run. In Tuckman’s model, this is the:
Storming stage Tuckman’s stages are forming, storming, norming, performing and, later, adjourning. Storming is marked by conflict, resistance and challenges to the leader as members work out power and control.
A group member says, “I thought I was the only one who felt this way.” Which of Yalom’s therapeutic factors is she describing?
Universality Universality is the relief of finding out that others share your problems or feelings. Yalom saw it as one of the main healing factors in group work.
A client likes working with tools, machines and the outdoors, and prefers hands-on tasks to working with people or ideas. Which Holland type fits best?
Realistic In Holland’s RIASEC model, the Realistic type prefers practical, hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals.
Which career theorist is known for the life-span, life-space approach, vocational self-concept and the Life-Career Rainbow?
Donald Super Donald Super saw career development as a lifelong process that follows life stages, from growth through disengagement. The Life-Career Rainbow shows the roles a person plays, such as student, worker and parent, across their life.
Clients take a depression inventory twice, two weeks apart, and get very similar scores both times. This is evidence of:
Test-retest reliability Test-retest reliability is about consistency over time. If the trait hasn’t changed, the same people should get similar scores on a second try.
In a normal distribution, about what percentage of scores fall within one standard deviation above or below the mean?
68% About 68% of scores fall within one standard deviation of the mean, about 95% within two, and about 99.7% within three.
T-scores have a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. A client’s T-score is 70. How far above the mean is that?
Two standard deviations 70 is 20 points above the mean of 50. With a standard deviation of 10, 20 points is two standard deviations, the same as a z-score of +2.
In research, a Type I error means:
Rejecting a null hypothesis that is actually true A Type I error is a false positive: you conclude there’s an effect when there isn’t one. Its probability is set by alpha, often .05.
United States · Licensing exam