NCMHCE Skills and Interventions 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A counselor working with a grieving client uses empty chair technique. This technique is most associated with:
- Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
- Gestalt Therapy (Correct answer)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Correct answer: Gestalt Therapy
The empty chair technique is a hallmark Gestalt intervention that facilitates unfinished business and emotional expression.
Question 2: A client with borderline personality disorder struggles with emotional dysregulation. Which manualized treatment is specifically designed for this population?
- EMDR
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) (Correct answer)
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Correct answer: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT was developed by Marsha Linehan specifically to address emotional dysregulation and self-destructive behaviors in BPD.
Question 3: During a clinical simulation, a client presents with obsessive thoughts and compulsive hand-washing. The first-line behavioral intervention is:
- Systematic desensitization
- Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) (Correct answer)
- Thought stopping
- Aversion therapy
Correct answer: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
ERP is the gold-standard behavioral treatment for OCD, involving exposure to feared stimuli while preventing compulsive responses.
Question 4: A counselor uses scaling questions with a depressed client. This technique is most characteristic of:
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (Correct answer)
- Adlerian Therapy
- Existential Therapy
Correct answer: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Scaling questions are a core SFBT technique that help clients quantify their experience and identify small steps toward goals.
Question 5: A client reports recurrent nightmares following a traumatic event. Which specific intervention targets trauma-related nightmares most directly?
- Sleep restriction therapy
- Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) (Correct answer)
- Progressive muscle relaxation only
- Dream interpretation via psychoanalysis
Correct answer: Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT)
IRT is an evidence-based intervention in which clients rewrite and mentally rehearse a modified version of the nightmare to reduce recurrence.
Question 6: When a counselor uses paraphrasing, the primary purpose is to:
- Interpret unconscious meaning in the client's words
- Reflect the essence of what the client said to demonstrate understanding (Correct answer)
- Redirect the client to a more productive topic
- Provide reassurance to the client
Correct answer: Reflect the essence of what the client said to demonstrate understanding
Paraphrasing restates the client's message in the counselor's words to convey accurate empathy and check understanding.
Question 7: In ACT, 'defusion' refers to:
- Merging emotions with rational thoughts
- Creating distance from thoughts so they have less influence on behavior (Correct answer)
- Fusing the client's values with therapeutic goals
- Integrating past trauma with present functioning
Correct answer: Creating distance from thoughts so they have less influence on behavior
Cognitive defusion in ACT involves learning to observe thoughts rather than be dominated by them, reducing their behavioral impact.
NCMHCE Skills and Interventions 3
A counselor working with a grieving client uses empty chair technique.
This technique is most associated with: