×

Quiz Session - Attempts With Random Questions

CCE CPCE Exam Questions

Page 9 of 25

161.

In terms of family dynamics, what is a systemic rule?

  • Extremely predictable interactions between members

  • Extremely unpredictable interactions between members

  • Explicit rules set up by members of a system

  • Explicit rules assigned to a system by a therapist

Correct answer: Extremely predictable interactions between members 

When analyzing systems, in particular family systems, there are sometimes patterns of behavior that are so well-established and predictable between members, that it seems as though a rule has been set up that these members have to follow. These are referred to as systemic rules, and when they are broken, there is usually a conflict or reaction. 

These systemic rules are not set up explicitly, nor are they assigned by a therapist.

162.

Which of the following is the special concern of those providing pastoral counseling?

  • The overlap of multiple roles

  • The intensity of spiritual counseling

  • Reluctance to refer clients

Correct answer: The overlap of multiple roles 

Pastoral counseling, perhaps more than other types of counseling, involves the overlap of multiple roles. Pastoral counselors often are filling organizational and administrative roles within a church, as well as multiple overlapping informal roles related to interpersonal community relationships. This creates a heightened need for pastoral counselors to attend to the ACA guidance in the Code of Ethics on multiple relationships, taking care that the overlap does not cause harm or violate confidentiality. 

163.

How is cognitive anxiety different from performance anxiety?

  • Cognitive anxiety affects concentration; performance anxiety results in avoidance 

  • Cognitive anxiety results in avoidance; cognitive anxiety affects concentration 

  • The two terms are interchangeable in most situations

  • Both terms refer to desensitization of the nervous system

Correct answer: Cognitive anxiety affects concentration; performance anxiety results in avoidance 

Anxiety can be classified into two overall sets: cognitive anxiety, which tends to affect concentration on desired tasks, and performance anxiety, which tends to result in avoidance or social inhibition. Some of this anxiety is considered useful, as it may, in fact, drive effort or enhance performance; in both cases, the overall nervous system can be said to be oversensitized to stimuli. 

164.

When is assertiveness training considered successful?

  • When the client can practice assertiveness skills on their own

  • When the underlying trauma has been addressed

  • When the client can practice assertiveness with counselor supervision

  • When the client decides it has been successful

Correct answer: When the client can practice assertiveness skills on their own 

In skills training scenarios, a client is being coached to be able to perform at a certain level without counselor intervention. In assertiveness training, though the skills will be practiced many times before independent effort, the ultimate goal is for the client to be able to stand on their own. 

Many cases that call for skills training as a specific strategy do not involve trauma at all, and addressing it, though important, may or may not affect skill acquisition. It is the counselor who will have the responsibility of deciding when the skill is sufficiently mastered. 

165.

Which of the following would be a good example of circular questioning?

  • Asking a daughter about her mother's behavior

  • Asking a couple to question each other 

  • Asking a supervisee to question their supervisor 

Correct answer: Asking a daughter about her mother's behavior

Circular questioning is a specific technique known in family therapy, where it asks one family member to comment on the behavior of another family member. One example might be asking a daughter about her mother's behavior in a specific circumstance. 

Asking a couple to question each other, or asking a supervisee to question their supervisor, misses the point; in any case, these would be direct questions and not circular. The technique helps different family members understand the perspectives of others within the system. 

166.

Which of the following is the best way to manage cultural issues in clinical contexts?

  • In clinically relevant ways

  • Through agency communications

  • With sensitivity training

Correct answer: In clinically relevant ways 

Issues of culture often arise within the clinical treatment context, with awareness of and respect to these issues becoming more prevalent in the past. Though such approaches as revising agency communications and sensitivity training can be effective in raising awareness and inspiring better practice, in a clinical context, the best way to manage cultural issues is through attention to culture in clinically relevant ways. For example, being aware that barter is acceptable in many cultures, or that there are more and less demonstrative communication styles, are helpful in crystallizing cultural relevance for clinicians.

167.

Should self-disclosure by group members be allowed?

  • Yes, within certain limits

  • Yes, and such self-disclosure should be open-ended

  • No, under no circumstances

Correct answer: Yes, within certain limits 

Self-disclosure is a necessary element of group work, though it will vary in its intensity according to the type of group being implemented. Any self-disclosure by group members should be monitored to ensure that the group member does not monopolize the group's time and that their self-disclosure does not intrude on the rights of others due to issues of cultural sensitivity.

168.

According to the ethics of the profession, who is counseling for?

  • Everyone  

  • Persons with mental illness 

  • Persons in acute crisis 

Correct answer: Everyone  

According to the ethics of the counseling profession, counseling is for everyone, not just those who have an identifiable mental illness or those who are in an acute crisis involving risk. This is due to the fact that virtually everyone has areas of improvement that can be identified and acted upon that will improve their functional lives, teach about personal strengths and liabilities, and help prevent crises. 

169.

What does "linking" refer to in a group modality?

  • Relating one group member's input to another 

  • Relating the group's experiences to each other as a whole

  • Relating the group's input to current events

Correct answer: Relating one group member's input to another 

It is important to ensure that group work is interactive and that group members see the value of their experiences in relation to that of other group members. One way to accomplish this is linking, which is the technique of taking one group member's input and relating it directly to the experience of another. 

The technique is not focused on relating the entire experience of the group to itself, nor is it in reference to the external world, but is a means of fostering the therapeutic value of the group modality.

170.

What is meant by Piaget's concept of accommodation?

  • A child changes their worldview to meet new challenges

  • A child rejects new data in favor of old data

  • A child incorporates new data into their existing worldview

Correct answer: A child changes their worldview to meet new challenges 

According to Piaget's view of how children develop, there are two cognitive methods by which new data is dealt with. Accommodation is the process by which the child must change their worldview, or schema, to deal with the new information. 

Assimilation is the process by which a child can incorporate the new data into an existing worldview, or schema. In neither case is the child rejecting new data.

171.

What is confirmatory bias in assessment?

  • Seeking data that confirms initial impressions

  • Deciding on a diagnosis without assessment

  • Addressing data as it continuously emerges

  • Discounting data that confirms bias

Correct answer: Seeking data that confirms initial impressions 

Confirmatory bias is a well-known error in psychiatric assessment. In instances of confirmatory bias, clinicians make an initial impression of a client that may be right or wrong, and may or may not be supported by the data; the clinician will then go on to seek out data that confirms the initial impression. 

The danger is not recognizing the true nature or scope of a client problem; ideally, clinicians avoid this bias by being open to all new data that emerges.

172.

What is the main advantage of summary feedback in group work?

  • Personal ownership of treatment progress

  • Updating the group on group progress

  • Forming the structure for group termination

  • Addressing lingering issues not openly addressed

Correct answer: Personal ownership of treatment progress 

In group contexts, sometimes it is helpful to invite a participant to discuss their progress in summary form; for instance, by asking them the difference between the person they were when they started therapy and the person they are at the time of the summary. This is called summary feedback; its main value is to help that client own their own progress while also reaping the benefit of group affirmation and confirmation of this progress. 

Though summary feedback may help keep the group current on group matters, and it does provide a gateway for discussion of where the group goes next, it is not meant to be a framework for termination or an updating mechanic.

173.

What are the two components to the prediction of work adjustment?

  • Satisfaction and satisfactoriness

  • Satisfaction and dissatisfaction

  • Satisfaction and sustainability

Correct answer: Satisfaction and satisfactoriness 

In work adjustment theory, there are two components to the prediction of work adjustment. The first is satisfaction, meaning satisfaction with the work one does, and the second is satisfactoriness, referring to the employer's satisfaction with the individual's performance. These two components predict the nature and the quality of the work adjustment that is possible within the given management scenario.

174.

What does the research show as a likely outcome of non-challenging employment?

  • Loss of intellectual skills 

  • Clinical depression 

  • Greater job satisfaction 

Correct answer: Loss of intellectual skills 

According to the research into substantive complexity, or the way in which work tasks require adequate engagement of mind, non-challenging employment can lead to a loss of intellectual skills. 

Though clinical depression may result from non-challenging employment in individual cases, this is not the case overall, and greater job satisfaction is unlikely to result as a factor of non-challenging work.

175.

In the context of work adjustment theory, what is the difference between satisfaction and satisfactoriness?

  • Satisfaction is about the employee, and satisfactoriness is about the employer

  • Satisfactoriness is about the employee, and satisfaction is about the employer

  • There is no difference between the two terms in modern work adjustment theory 

  • Satisfaction is about the employee, and satisfactoriness is about the workplace itself 

Correct answer: Satisfaction is about the employee, and satisfactoriness is about the employer

Work adjustment theory discusses how a worker attempts to keep congruent with the demands of a workplace. Two key terms in work adjustment theory are satisfaction, which is the degree to which an employee is satisfied with their work in general, and satisfactoriness, which refers to the employer's feelings about how well the employee meets the demands of the job. Together, these indicate a prediction of work adjustment, according to the theory.

176.

How is an analogue observation conducted?

  • By creating and observing behavior in a simulated environment

  • By creating and observing behavior in a natural environment

  • By creating and observing behavior in a clinical environment

Correct answer: By creating and observing behavior in a simulated environment 

An analogue observation attempts to capture the behaviors and interactions of a client in an artificial environment created by the clinician. It is not a natural environment, as it has been created by the clinician, and though it is technically a clinical environment, the important distinction is its simulated status. An example might be the creation of a false family home and the observation of people within it.

177.

What is the current expectation for counselors of clients who are facing end-of-life decisions? 

  • Counselors are expected to be competent to help with these decisions

  • Counselors need not address end-of-life decisions contrary to their values

  • Counselors are not required to understand the whole range of end-of-life choices

  • Counselors are expected to facilitate and perform hospice-style services

Correct answer: Counselors are expected to be competent to help with these decisions 

Previously, the ACA Code of Ethics allowed for counselors to be able to refer clients who expressed an interest in end-of-life decisions that they did not approve of according to their values. The current expectation is that counselors are expected to be competent to help with these decisions, provided that the decision is legal in the state where the counselor is operating. 

Though many counselors work in hospice care, there is no expectation that counselors who are not currently working in hospice should perform hospice services per se. 

178.

Why is play therapy effective?

  • It masks clinical process with developmentally-appropriate activity 

  • It provides an arena to act out family conflict

  • It acts as a proxy for attachment dynamics

  • It develops skills in play as relational remediation

Correct answer: It masks clinical process with developmentally-appropriate activity 

Overall, play therapy is used with children and some adolescents due to the fact that it is not very much like standard psychotherapy, when standard psychotherapy may not be appropriate, or if the play therapy modality is deemed to be more effective. The advantage of play therapy is that it is what, in many cases, children and/or adolescents would choose to do anyway. 

Though it is true that it can help children narrate family conflict safely, it is not effective for this reason; similarly, it is not a proxy for attachment dynamics per se but may provide an arena to indicate them in a therapeutic context. Skill development can be a part of play therapy, but again, the reason for play therapy's overall effectiveness is that it is not very much like standard psychotherapy.

179.

Which of the following is the purpose of assessment?

  • Relationship building and information gathering

  • Relationship building and resource identification

  • Information gathering and crisis intervention

Correct answer: Relationship building and information gathering 

A clinical assessment has two overall purposes. First, and most obviously, the clinician must be able to gather a significant amount of information that will help them understand the client system appropriately. Second, the process will either enhance and build the necessary rapport between client and therapist or it will not. If properly used, the assessment can help rapport be established. 

Resource identification, if necessary, would take place at a later stage once the problem has been identified, and crisis intervention is not an element in assessment per se, though it may be necessary as clinical action.

180.

What did Piaget mean by assimilation?

  • The way a child includes new data into their worldview

  • The way a child socializes in new encounters

  • The way a child soothes their own trauma

Correct answer: The way a child includes new data into their worldview 

Assimilation, according to Piaget, is the way in which a child incorporates new data into their worldview or, in other words, incorporates new information about the world into an existing schema. This is seen as one of the ways in which children develop in terms of their interaction with the environment. 

The concept has little to do with socialization per se and does not deal with trauma or its soothing in the individual. 

×