NBCC Counseling Theories & Helping Relationships 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In behavior therapy, 'flooding' differs from systematic desensitization primarily because flooding:
- Uses relaxation training paired with gradual exposure
- Involves full-intensity exposure to the feared stimulus without relaxation pairing (Correct answer)
- Relies on the client imagining feared scenarios rather than direct exposure
- Employs operant conditioning rather than classical conditioning principles
Correct answer: Involves full-intensity exposure to the feared stimulus without relaxation pairing
Flooding exposes the client immediately to the full-intensity feared stimulus (in vivo or imaginal) until anxiety extinguishes, without the graduated hierarchy or relaxation of systematic desensitization.
Question 2: According to Bowen's family systems theory, 'differentiation of self' refers to:
- The degree to which a person can maintain a separate identity while remaining emotionally connected to the family (Correct answer)
- A person's ability to identify and name their emotions accurately
- The process of cutting off contact with a dysfunctional family of origin
- The therapist's skill in separating personal reactions from clinical observations
Correct answer: The degree to which a person can maintain a separate identity while remaining emotionally connected to the family
Bowen described differentiation as the capacity to maintain one's individuality while staying in emotional contact with the family system, avoiding both fusion and emotional cutoff.
Question 3: The therapeutic technique of 'paradoxical intention,' developed by Viktor Frankl, instructs clients to:
- Repeat a feared behavior intentionally to reduce its power through satiation
- Confront and accept the worst possible outcome they fear
- Deliberately intend or wish for the very symptom they fear (Correct answer)
- Use humor and detachment to separate from their suffering
Correct answer: Deliberately intend or wish for the very symptom they fear
In logotherapy, paradoxical intention asks clients to intend or wish for the symptom they dread, which interrupts anticipatory anxiety and often eliminates the symptom.
Question 4: A counselor operating from a feminist therapy framework would most likely emphasize which of the following in case conceptualization?
- The client's unconscious internalized object relations as the source of distress
- The role of societal power structures and gender socialization in shaping presenting problems (Correct answer)
- Reinforcement histories that maintain the client's maladaptive behaviors
- The client's schema-level core beliefs formed in early childhood
Correct answer: The role of societal power structures and gender socialization in shaping presenting problems
Feminist therapy examines how systemic oppression, patriarchy, and socialized gender roles contribute to clients' psychological distress, framing personal problems as political issues.
Question 5: In cognitive therapy, a client who concludes 'Everyone at the party hates me because one person frowned at me' is demonstrating which cognitive distortion?
- Personalization
- Overgeneralization (Correct answer)
- Mind reading
- Magnification
Correct answer: Overgeneralization
Overgeneralization involves drawing a broad, sweeping conclusion (everyone hates me) from a single incident or piece of evidence (one person frowning).
Question 6: Which stage of Prochaska and DiClemente's Transtheoretical Model is characterized by a person acknowledging a problem exists but having no intention to change within the next six months?
- Precontemplation
- Contemplation (Correct answer)
- Preparation
- Maintenance
Correct answer: Contemplation
In the Contemplation stage, individuals are aware of a problem and are thinking about changing but have not yet committed to action within six months.
Question 7: Satir's communication stances (placating, blaming, computing, distracting) were developed within which theoretical framework?
- Structural family therapy
- Strategic family therapy
- Experiential/humanistic family therapy (Correct answer)
- Narrative family therapy
Correct answer: Experiential/humanistic family therapy
Virginia Satir's experiential family therapy identified four dysfunctional communication stances people adopt under stress, emphasizing emotional experience and self-worth in family interactions.
NBCC Counseling Theories & Helping Relationships 3
In behavior therapy, 'flooding' differs from systematic desensitization primarily because flooding: