CPCE Exam – Latest 2025/2026 Exam Prep
& Practice Questions
When beginning a counseling relationship, you are ethically required to - correct
answerInform the patient of the limits of confidentiality
As you begin a counseling relationship, it is important to - correct answerjointly decide,
between patient and counselor, how the counseling process will proceed
A client arrives for counseling with the presenting complaint of relationship difficulties.
She goes on to describe that she has had multiple abortions, and seems to use abortion
as a birth control method. You are personally opposed to abortion. How should your
personal beliefs impact the therapeutic relationship? - correct answerYour personal
belief system should not have any bearing on the therapeutic relationship
You have been involved in a counseling relationship with a client for six months, when
he presents you with a small gift. What should you do? - correct answerAccept or
decline depending on the circumstances
You are court-ordered to disclose confidential information about a client you are
counseling. What do you do? - correct answerLimit, as much as possible, any possibly
damaging personal information and obtain written permission from your client to share
confidential information
What should you do if your client requests to see his confidential file? - correct
answerAccept or decline depending upon circumstances
You are a counselor with several clients, and at the same time you are adjusting to a
difficult divorce. You aren't sleeping or eating well, find you are highly distractible, and
generally are less in-touch with your emotional state. You should... - correct answerBe
alert to your mental status, and be able to determine if continuing with your clients
poses any threat of being detrimental to the counseling process
A former client of yours has been arrested for a crime. As his former counselor, you are
called to perform a forensic evaluation. What is your responsibility in this case? - correct
answerIt is not considered ethical to perform a forensic evaluation on a current or past
client, so you should decline
You are the supervisor for a new counselor, and are asked to attend her wedding.
Would it be ethical to do so? - correct answerYes, you should be able to attend her
wedding without a breach of ethics
,While involved with a research study, you learn that several of your students are using
confidential material in an unethical manner. You had no prior knowledge of this, and all
of your safeguards for professional practice were appropriate. Are you, as the principal
researcher, responsible for the student's behavior - correct answerYes, you are
ultimately responsible
When publishing research, it is important to - correct answerGive credit to other
contributors or sources, not plagiarize, and submit material to only one journal at a time
When a conflict arises between the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of
Ethics and a governing authority, which takes precedence? - correct answerUltimately
the law may be adhered to over the Code of Ethics
An ethics violation should NOT be reported when - correct answerA counselor has been
retained to review another counselor who is in question; and when confidentiality rights
would be violated
What does multicultural/diversity counseling refer to? - correct answerCounseling that
recognizes diversity and approaches beneficial to specific groups and an approach that
all counselors should ethically be aware of
Most ethical issues are related to - correct answerConfidentiality
Only one psychoanalyst's developmental theory covers the entire lifespan. Who is he? -
correct answerErik Erikson
The Id, Ego, Superego are attributed to which psychoanalyst? - correct answerSigmund
Freud
What is the fourth stage of Jean Piaget's four stages - correct answerFormal Operations
Identity Crisis - correct answerErik Erikson
Positive Psychology - correct answerprocesses that contribute to optimal functioning/
not focusing on abnormalities
Smoking habit to Sigmund Freud - correct answerOral Fixation
Most mental health professionals believe - correct answerno one theory of development
completely explains the process
John Bowlby - correct answerAttachment Theory
Lawrence Kohlberg's three levels of morality - correct answerPre-conventional,
Conventional, and post-conventional
, Female version of Freud's Oedipus complex - correct answerElectra Complex
Researcher known for Rhesus Monkeys - correct answerHarry Harlow
Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - correct answerTheory of human motivation -
psychological, safety, love, affection, belongingness
Down Syndrome - correct answerChromosomal abnormality
John Watson - correct answerLittle Albert experiment
Albert Bandura's best-known research - correct answerBobo Doll study
What did Lev Vygotsky stress in his development theory? - correct answerCultural
Context and language
Freudian Defense Mechanism - correct answerRepression
Imprinting - correct answerKonrad Lorenz
Incorporating several therapeutic theories in your work - correct answereclectic
Complaining of feeling restless, mood swings, times of hopelessness, periods of high
energy and creativity in which she can go days without sleep - correct answerBipolar
Client presents with his wife both complaining the patient has had a change in cognitive
function including language and memory. Client denies loss of pleasure in normal
activities and denies feeling sad, but client is able to manage his medications but
requires someone to set up his medication box and set a timer for him. - correct
answerNeurocognitive Disorder
Disorder of thought; disorder of mood - correct answerSchizophrenia; bipolar disorder
Mirroring back client's verbalizations, and not passing judgment. Facilitating in assisting
his client in reaching resolution of the presenting problems. - correct answerRogerian,
client-centered therapy
Binge eating coupled with inappropriate methods of controlling one's weight may be a
symptom of - correct answerBulimia
Concerns of his health; reports chronic intestinal difficulties, but has not sought medical
treatment for his concerns. For the last five years he rarely feels at ease while at his job.
Feels uneasy when outside the home - correct answerAgoraphobia
loss of appetite; nervousness, and recurrent nightmares of a past hospital experience
from years prior, where she says she almost died - correct answerPTSD
& Practice Questions
When beginning a counseling relationship, you are ethically required to - correct
answerInform the patient of the limits of confidentiality
As you begin a counseling relationship, it is important to - correct answerjointly decide,
between patient and counselor, how the counseling process will proceed
A client arrives for counseling with the presenting complaint of relationship difficulties.
She goes on to describe that she has had multiple abortions, and seems to use abortion
as a birth control method. You are personally opposed to abortion. How should your
personal beliefs impact the therapeutic relationship? - correct answerYour personal
belief system should not have any bearing on the therapeutic relationship
You have been involved in a counseling relationship with a client for six months, when
he presents you with a small gift. What should you do? - correct answerAccept or
decline depending on the circumstances
You are court-ordered to disclose confidential information about a client you are
counseling. What do you do? - correct answerLimit, as much as possible, any possibly
damaging personal information and obtain written permission from your client to share
confidential information
What should you do if your client requests to see his confidential file? - correct
answerAccept or decline depending upon circumstances
You are a counselor with several clients, and at the same time you are adjusting to a
difficult divorce. You aren't sleeping or eating well, find you are highly distractible, and
generally are less in-touch with your emotional state. You should... - correct answerBe
alert to your mental status, and be able to determine if continuing with your clients
poses any threat of being detrimental to the counseling process
A former client of yours has been arrested for a crime. As his former counselor, you are
called to perform a forensic evaluation. What is your responsibility in this case? - correct
answerIt is not considered ethical to perform a forensic evaluation on a current or past
client, so you should decline
You are the supervisor for a new counselor, and are asked to attend her wedding.
Would it be ethical to do so? - correct answerYes, you should be able to attend her
wedding without a breach of ethics
,While involved with a research study, you learn that several of your students are using
confidential material in an unethical manner. You had no prior knowledge of this, and all
of your safeguards for professional practice were appropriate. Are you, as the principal
researcher, responsible for the student's behavior - correct answerYes, you are
ultimately responsible
When publishing research, it is important to - correct answerGive credit to other
contributors or sources, not plagiarize, and submit material to only one journal at a time
When a conflict arises between the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of
Ethics and a governing authority, which takes precedence? - correct answerUltimately
the law may be adhered to over the Code of Ethics
An ethics violation should NOT be reported when - correct answerA counselor has been
retained to review another counselor who is in question; and when confidentiality rights
would be violated
What does multicultural/diversity counseling refer to? - correct answerCounseling that
recognizes diversity and approaches beneficial to specific groups and an approach that
all counselors should ethically be aware of
Most ethical issues are related to - correct answerConfidentiality
Only one psychoanalyst's developmental theory covers the entire lifespan. Who is he? -
correct answerErik Erikson
The Id, Ego, Superego are attributed to which psychoanalyst? - correct answerSigmund
Freud
What is the fourth stage of Jean Piaget's four stages - correct answerFormal Operations
Identity Crisis - correct answerErik Erikson
Positive Psychology - correct answerprocesses that contribute to optimal functioning/
not focusing on abnormalities
Smoking habit to Sigmund Freud - correct answerOral Fixation
Most mental health professionals believe - correct answerno one theory of development
completely explains the process
John Bowlby - correct answerAttachment Theory
Lawrence Kohlberg's three levels of morality - correct answerPre-conventional,
Conventional, and post-conventional
, Female version of Freud's Oedipus complex - correct answerElectra Complex
Researcher known for Rhesus Monkeys - correct answerHarry Harlow
Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - correct answerTheory of human motivation -
psychological, safety, love, affection, belongingness
Down Syndrome - correct answerChromosomal abnormality
John Watson - correct answerLittle Albert experiment
Albert Bandura's best-known research - correct answerBobo Doll study
What did Lev Vygotsky stress in his development theory? - correct answerCultural
Context and language
Freudian Defense Mechanism - correct answerRepression
Imprinting - correct answerKonrad Lorenz
Incorporating several therapeutic theories in your work - correct answereclectic
Complaining of feeling restless, mood swings, times of hopelessness, periods of high
energy and creativity in which she can go days without sleep - correct answerBipolar
Client presents with his wife both complaining the patient has had a change in cognitive
function including language and memory. Client denies loss of pleasure in normal
activities and denies feeling sad, but client is able to manage his medications but
requires someone to set up his medication box and set a timer for him. - correct
answerNeurocognitive Disorder
Disorder of thought; disorder of mood - correct answerSchizophrenia; bipolar disorder
Mirroring back client's verbalizations, and not passing judgment. Facilitating in assisting
his client in reaching resolution of the presenting problems. - correct answerRogerian,
client-centered therapy
Binge eating coupled with inappropriate methods of controlling one's weight may be a
symptom of - correct answerBulimia
Concerns of his health; reports chronic intestinal difficulties, but has not sought medical
treatment for his concerns. For the last five years he rarely feels at ease while at his job.
Feels uneasy when outside the home - correct answerAgoraphobia
loss of appetite; nervousness, and recurrent nightmares of a past hospital experience
from years prior, where she says she almost died - correct answerPTSD
