National Counselor Examination (NCE) Practice Exam 1
2026 | Complete Review | Graded A+
1. What is the term for the preliminary survey conducted to identify potential
issues before a larger distribution?
Longitudinal study
Pilot study
Meta-analysis
Cross-sectional study
2. What term describes the phenomenon where clients project feelings about
important figures in their lives onto their therapist?
Countertransference
Transference
Resistance
Projection
3. In a counseling session, a client expresses difficulty in forming new
relationships due to fear of abandonment from a previous relationship. How
should a counselor respond to facilitate healing?
The counselor should tell the client that their fears are irrational and
should not be considered.
The counselor should encourage the client to explore their feelings
about the past relationship and how it influences their current fears.
The counselor should suggest that the client avoid discussing their
past to prevent emotional distress.
, The counselor should advise the client to forget about the past and
focus on new relationships.
4. Discuss why it is important for counselors to base their techniques on
established theories and scientific research.
It allows for more creative freedom in therapy.
It ensures the effectiveness of the therapy and protects client
welfare.
It makes the counseling process more enjoyable for the counselor.
It reduces the time spent on client assessments.
5. Researchers are interested in comparing the therapeutic effects of a new
diabetes drug SugarBeGone (SBG)against the current standard treatment.
They have several discussions about what features of the study design are
needed for this investigation. Ultimately, they decide that it is important to let
random assignment dictate whether participants receive the new SBG drug
or the current standard treatment. What type of study design is characterized
by allowing random assignment (or chance) to dictate the group assignment
for study participants?
Experimental Design
Environmental Design
Masked Design
Ecologic Design
6. What is typically considered an acceptable justification for unethical behavior
in counseling according to ethical codes?
Client consent can justify unethical actions.
There is no acceptable justification for unethical behavior.
, Personal beliefs override ethical codes.
Unethical behavior can be justified by cultural differences.
7. In REBT, what method is taught to clients to help them challenge irrational
beliefs?
multimodal method
self-management method
phenomenological method
autogenic method
disputational method
8. The method of selection that gives each person in a group an equal chance
of being selected for a survey is known as
stratified sampling
margin of error
self-selection
random sampling
tracking survey samples
9. What is the primary ethical consideration for a counselor when using
techniques that lack scientific support?
Popularity of the technique
Personal preference
Client welfare
Cost-effectiveness
, 10. Which of the following could be used as justification for behaving
unethically?
Argue rule is violated but amount of good greater than harm
Try to make it seem the unethical action is really ethical
All of the above can be used as justifications
State action is not unethical since the action harmed no one
11. A mother pours each of her two children a cup of chocolate milk. Although
each cup holds the same amount of liquid, one is taller and skinnier. The child
who does not receive the tall, skinny glass starts crying because she is
convinced that her brother received more chocolate milk than she did. Which
cognitive developmental concept does this child have trouble
understanding?
Centration
Conservation
Classification
Reversibility
12. When a test's reliability has been estimated by splitting the test in half and
correlating scores on the two halves, which of the following would you use
to correct the resulting reliability coefficient?
Spearman-Brown formula
Standard error of measurement
Correction for attenuation formula
Kuder-Richardson 20
2026 | Complete Review | Graded A+
1. What is the term for the preliminary survey conducted to identify potential
issues before a larger distribution?
Longitudinal study
Pilot study
Meta-analysis
Cross-sectional study
2. What term describes the phenomenon where clients project feelings about
important figures in their lives onto their therapist?
Countertransference
Transference
Resistance
Projection
3. In a counseling session, a client expresses difficulty in forming new
relationships due to fear of abandonment from a previous relationship. How
should a counselor respond to facilitate healing?
The counselor should tell the client that their fears are irrational and
should not be considered.
The counselor should encourage the client to explore their feelings
about the past relationship and how it influences their current fears.
The counselor should suggest that the client avoid discussing their
past to prevent emotional distress.
, The counselor should advise the client to forget about the past and
focus on new relationships.
4. Discuss why it is important for counselors to base their techniques on
established theories and scientific research.
It allows for more creative freedom in therapy.
It ensures the effectiveness of the therapy and protects client
welfare.
It makes the counseling process more enjoyable for the counselor.
It reduces the time spent on client assessments.
5. Researchers are interested in comparing the therapeutic effects of a new
diabetes drug SugarBeGone (SBG)against the current standard treatment.
They have several discussions about what features of the study design are
needed for this investigation. Ultimately, they decide that it is important to let
random assignment dictate whether participants receive the new SBG drug
or the current standard treatment. What type of study design is characterized
by allowing random assignment (or chance) to dictate the group assignment
for study participants?
Experimental Design
Environmental Design
Masked Design
Ecologic Design
6. What is typically considered an acceptable justification for unethical behavior
in counseling according to ethical codes?
Client consent can justify unethical actions.
There is no acceptable justification for unethical behavior.
, Personal beliefs override ethical codes.
Unethical behavior can be justified by cultural differences.
7. In REBT, what method is taught to clients to help them challenge irrational
beliefs?
multimodal method
self-management method
phenomenological method
autogenic method
disputational method
8. The method of selection that gives each person in a group an equal chance
of being selected for a survey is known as
stratified sampling
margin of error
self-selection
random sampling
tracking survey samples
9. What is the primary ethical consideration for a counselor when using
techniques that lack scientific support?
Popularity of the technique
Personal preference
Client welfare
Cost-effectiveness
, 10. Which of the following could be used as justification for behaving
unethically?
Argue rule is violated but amount of good greater than harm
Try to make it seem the unethical action is really ethical
All of the above can be used as justifications
State action is not unethical since the action harmed no one
11. A mother pours each of her two children a cup of chocolate milk. Although
each cup holds the same amount of liquid, one is taller and skinnier. The child
who does not receive the tall, skinny glass starts crying because she is
convinced that her brother received more chocolate milk than she did. Which
cognitive developmental concept does this child have trouble
understanding?
Centration
Conservation
Classification
Reversibility
12. When a test's reliability has been estimated by splitting the test in half and
correlating scores on the two halves, which of the following would you use
to correct the resulting reliability coefficient?
Spearman-Brown formula
Standard error of measurement
Correction for attenuation formula
Kuder-Richardson 20
