CPCE HELPING RELATIONSHIPS-COUNSELOR PREPERATION COM-
PREHENSIVE EXAM|QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS|GRADED A+|PASS ON FIRST ATTEMPT|BRAND NEW
2026/2027 UPDATE!!!!!
4 Key Elements in Building a Counseling Relationship - ANSWER a. Human relations core:
empathy, respect and genuineness as identified by Carl Rogers.
b. Social influence core: competence, power and intimacy. Expertness, attractiveness, and
trustworthiness were identified by Stanley Strong in his social influence model.
c. Skills core: Allen Ivey identified microskills—communication skill units such as attending,
inquiry and reflection.
d. Theory core: These help the counselor understand self and interpersonal relationships
and skills. They also help to understand the problems of clients and help to choose interven-
tions that are likely to be effective with the identified problems.
Psychoanalytic Theory - ANSWER Sigmund Freud. Freud identified a structure of person-
ality, namely, the id, ego and superego. Unconscious motivation or energy is the id ruled by
the pleasure principle. The ego is controlled by the reality principle; the superego is internal-
ized ethics. Therapy techniques include; free association, interpretation of dreams and other
client material.
Transference (projections onto therapist) must be worked through.
Countertransference consists of projections of the therapist onto the patient.
Neo-Freudians - ANSWER A number of psychoanalysts moved away from Freud's empha-
sis on the id as
the dominant psychological force and placed more emphasis on the ego, including both psy-
chodynamic and sociodynamic forces.
1
,Otto Rank, Wilheim Reich, and Theodore Reik (Carl Jung and Alfred Adler as well)
Karen Horney - ANSWER Neo-Freudian.
Security is each person's major motivation and the person becomes anxious when it is not
achieved. Irrational ways to mend disrupted human relationships may become neurotic
needs.
Erich Fromm - ANSWER Neo-Freudian.
The individual must join with others to develop self-fulfillment -social character - otherwise
she or he may become lonely and nonproductive.
Society offers opportunities to experience mutual love and respect.
Harry Stack Sullivan - ANSWER Neo-Freudian.
A social systems (interpersonal) approach can lead to understanding human behavior. Behav-
ior can best be understood in terms of social interactions, not as mechanistic and linear.
Object Relations Theory - ANSWER Object relations theory is based on psychoanalytic
concepts.
Object relations are interpersonal relationships as represented intrapsychically.
Freud used the term object to mean a significant person or thing that is the object or target
of one's feelings or drives.
Object relations are interpersonal relationships that shape an individual's current interac-
tions with people, both in reality and in fantasy.
2
, Margaret Mahler wrote Psychological Birth of the Human Infant. Heinz Kohut and Otto Kem-
berg are other writers in this area.
Object Relations Theory: 4 Stages of Development - ANSWER Important in the first 3
years of life:
a. Fusion with mother: normal infantile autism (first 3 to 4 weeks of life)
b. Symbiosis: with mother (3rd to 8th month)
c. Separation/Individuation: (starts the 4th or 5th month)
d. Constancy of self and object: (by the 36th month)
Progressing through these stages provides the child a secure base for later development.
The child develops trust that his or her needs will be met.
Attachment, borderline and narcissistic disorders may occur when normal progression
through these stages does not occur.
Person-Centered (Client-Centered) - ANSWER Carl Rogers reacted against the directive
psychoanalytic approach which put the counselor in charge of giving advice, teaching and
interpreting. His focus was more on the person's phenomenological world reflecting and
clarifying their verbal and nonverbal communication.
The process of becoming, moving clients to self-actualization, and the relationship between
client and counselor were critical concepts.
The focus of counseling went from past to present and was on feelings.
The counselor showed: unconditional positive regard, genuineness (congruence), and em-
phatic understanding. These are the core or facilitative conditions of effective counseling.
Rogers' principal books are: Counseling and Psychotherapy (1942), Client Centered Therapy
(1951), and On Becoming A Person (1961).
Gestalt Therapy - ANSWER Fritz Perls. This approach is based on existential principles, has
a here-and-now focus, and a holistic systems theory viewpoint. Individuals experience
3
PREHENSIVE EXAM|QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS|GRADED A+|PASS ON FIRST ATTEMPT|BRAND NEW
2026/2027 UPDATE!!!!!
4 Key Elements in Building a Counseling Relationship - ANSWER a. Human relations core:
empathy, respect and genuineness as identified by Carl Rogers.
b. Social influence core: competence, power and intimacy. Expertness, attractiveness, and
trustworthiness were identified by Stanley Strong in his social influence model.
c. Skills core: Allen Ivey identified microskills—communication skill units such as attending,
inquiry and reflection.
d. Theory core: These help the counselor understand self and interpersonal relationships
and skills. They also help to understand the problems of clients and help to choose interven-
tions that are likely to be effective with the identified problems.
Psychoanalytic Theory - ANSWER Sigmund Freud. Freud identified a structure of person-
ality, namely, the id, ego and superego. Unconscious motivation or energy is the id ruled by
the pleasure principle. The ego is controlled by the reality principle; the superego is internal-
ized ethics. Therapy techniques include; free association, interpretation of dreams and other
client material.
Transference (projections onto therapist) must be worked through.
Countertransference consists of projections of the therapist onto the patient.
Neo-Freudians - ANSWER A number of psychoanalysts moved away from Freud's empha-
sis on the id as
the dominant psychological force and placed more emphasis on the ego, including both psy-
chodynamic and sociodynamic forces.
1
,Otto Rank, Wilheim Reich, and Theodore Reik (Carl Jung and Alfred Adler as well)
Karen Horney - ANSWER Neo-Freudian.
Security is each person's major motivation and the person becomes anxious when it is not
achieved. Irrational ways to mend disrupted human relationships may become neurotic
needs.
Erich Fromm - ANSWER Neo-Freudian.
The individual must join with others to develop self-fulfillment -social character - otherwise
she or he may become lonely and nonproductive.
Society offers opportunities to experience mutual love and respect.
Harry Stack Sullivan - ANSWER Neo-Freudian.
A social systems (interpersonal) approach can lead to understanding human behavior. Behav-
ior can best be understood in terms of social interactions, not as mechanistic and linear.
Object Relations Theory - ANSWER Object relations theory is based on psychoanalytic
concepts.
Object relations are interpersonal relationships as represented intrapsychically.
Freud used the term object to mean a significant person or thing that is the object or target
of one's feelings or drives.
Object relations are interpersonal relationships that shape an individual's current interac-
tions with people, both in reality and in fantasy.
2
, Margaret Mahler wrote Psychological Birth of the Human Infant. Heinz Kohut and Otto Kem-
berg are other writers in this area.
Object Relations Theory: 4 Stages of Development - ANSWER Important in the first 3
years of life:
a. Fusion with mother: normal infantile autism (first 3 to 4 weeks of life)
b. Symbiosis: with mother (3rd to 8th month)
c. Separation/Individuation: (starts the 4th or 5th month)
d. Constancy of self and object: (by the 36th month)
Progressing through these stages provides the child a secure base for later development.
The child develops trust that his or her needs will be met.
Attachment, borderline and narcissistic disorders may occur when normal progression
through these stages does not occur.
Person-Centered (Client-Centered) - ANSWER Carl Rogers reacted against the directive
psychoanalytic approach which put the counselor in charge of giving advice, teaching and
interpreting. His focus was more on the person's phenomenological world reflecting and
clarifying their verbal and nonverbal communication.
The process of becoming, moving clients to self-actualization, and the relationship between
client and counselor were critical concepts.
The focus of counseling went from past to present and was on feelings.
The counselor showed: unconditional positive regard, genuineness (congruence), and em-
phatic understanding. These are the core or facilitative conditions of effective counseling.
Rogers' principal books are: Counseling and Psychotherapy (1942), Client Centered Therapy
(1951), and On Becoming A Person (1961).
Gestalt Therapy - ANSWER Fritz Perls. This approach is based on existential principles, has
a here-and-now focus, and a holistic systems theory viewpoint. Individuals experience
3
