Complete NCE-ABE NBCC Materials

Within the Assessment and Testing core area, counselors are expected to know the basic diagnostic classification of common disorders, including ADHD, as described in widely used diagnostic systems. ADHD is described as having three primary presentations:

Predominantly inattentive

Predominantly hyperactive/impulsive

Combined presentation

The inattentive presentation is characterized by symptoms such as difficulty sustaining attention, being easily distracted, forgetfulness, and problems with organization. “Aggressive,” “disorganized,” and “interpersonal” are not formal diagnostic presentations of ADHD. Therefore, the correct answer is C. Inattentive.

In the Counseling and Helping Relationships core area, counselors are trained to develop treatment plans and goals that are grounded in a clear understanding of the client’s presenting concerns, assessment data, and diagnostic impressions.

Treatment goals should flow logically from the client’s current diagnosis and presenting problems as identified through assessment and clinical formulation. This ensures that interventions are appropriate, evidence-informed, and clinically justified for the condition being treated.

Past goals may provide historical context but should not dictate current treatment if the client’s situation, functioning, or diagnosis has changed.

Internal consistency is a psychometric concept usually referring to the reliability of items within an assessment instrument, not a direct client factor used to anchor treatment goals.

Counselor’s expertise is important ethically (practice within competence), but it is not a client factor; treatment goals must prioritize the client’s needs and diagnosis, not simply what the counselor is most comfortable doing.

Because treatment goals in professional counseling are expected to be aligned with the client’s current diagnosis and presenting clinical picture, the best answer is B (Current diagnosis).

The Group Counseling and Group Work core area requires counselors to know the advantages and limitations of using groups in various settings, including career counseling.

One commonly noted limitation is that:

Group members often have a wide range of individual needs, interests, and career concerns.

A group format can make it challenging for the leader to tailor content, activities, and feedback to each person’s unique interests and decision-making stage.

This is exactly what option D describes: the leader may struggle to address the full variety of individual interests in a group setting.

Why the others are not best:

A: It is possible (and common) to assess members’ occupational functioning through intakes, assessments, and individual check-ins, even in group programs.

B: Psychological functioning can be assessed in a group setting; group counselors are trained to observe behavior, collect histories, and use assessment tools.

C: All formats (individual, group, family) have limitations; stating there are none is inconsistent with CACREP’s emphasis on critical evaluation of methods.

Thus, a major limitation in career groups is that the leader can find it difficult to meet the wide range of individual interests, making D the correct answer.

In the Counseling and Helping Relationships core area, CACREP includes knowledge of major counseling theories, including Reality Therapy/Choice Theory. Reality therapy emphasizes:

Personal responsibility for choices and behaviors

Focus on current behavior rather than the past

Collaborative evaluation of whether the client’s behavior is helping them meet their needs

The counselor’s role is not to act as an authority who fixes the client, but as a collaborative partner who:

Builds a warm, involved relationship

Helps the client evaluate their own behavior

Encourages the client to accept responsibility and make more effective choices

Therefore:

Option A (consultant solving problems) is too expert-driven and takes responsibility away from the client.

Option B (effective listener) is necessary but does not capture the responsibility-focused, collaborative nature of reality therapy.

Option C (parental surrogate) conflicts with the reality therapy emphasis on adult responsibility, not dependency.

The best description of the reality therapy counselor’s role is D. A partner who helps the client accept behavioral responsibility.