Drills and checklists by chapter
The 9 chapter drills from the free companion to The 2027 NCE & NCMHCE Update Guide, one for each of Chapters 1–9, plus the supplemental-list checklists from Chapter 2. Work each drill from memory, on paper or in your head, before you open its answers.
Chapter 1 The 2027 Exams at a Glance
Drill 1.1 · Fill in the numbers. Fill each blank from memory, then check the cheat sheet.
- The 2027 NCE has ______ items, of which ______ are scored.
- Each 2027 NCE item has ______ options; each 2027 NCMHCE item has ______.
- Both 2027 exams allow ______ minutes for the items.
- The 2027 NCMHCE has ______ case studies, each with ______ to ______ items.
- The scaled score range is ______ to ______, and ______ passes on every form.
- The two heaviest 2027 domains, at ______ percent each, are ______________ and ______________.
- The lightest 2027 domain, at ______ percent, is ______________.
- Intake & Assessment carries ______ percent, or about ______ scored NCE items.
- The new exams take effect on ______________.
- The current NCE has ______ scored items; the current NCMHCE has ______.
Show answers
Drill answers. 1.1: (1) 170; 140. (2) three; four. (3) 225. (4) 10; 9; 15. (5) 100; 500; 360. (6) 20; Provision of Counseling Interventions; Legal & Ethical Compliance. (7) 12; Indirect Client Care. (8) 18; 25. (9) July 1, 2027. (10) 160; 100.
Chapter 2 How the New Blueprint Thinks
Drill 2.1 · Name the domain. Each line paraphrases a 2027 task. Write the domain number (1–6) and, for Domains 1–3, the subdomain letter.
- ______ Getting the client’s consent before providing services by video
- ______ Making a plan for clients in case the counselor’s practice is suddenly interrupted
- ______ Arranging a qualified interpreter in the client’s preferred language
- ______ Taking a course on the ethical and legal use of artificial intelligence
- ______ Asking clients how the counseling process is working for them
- ______ Checking whether a treatment approach could do harm to this particular client
- ______ Carrying professional liability insurance
- ______ Assessing whether you are suited to work with a particular client
- ______ Conducting a mental status examination
- ______ Writing progress notes during or after sessions
Show answers
Drill answers. 2.1: (1) 2A (task 2A.7). (2) 3B (3B.6). (3) 5 (5.7). (4) 1A (1A.7). (5) 4 (4.12). (6) 3A (3A.8). (7) 6 (6.12). (8) 1B (1B.5). (9) 2B (2B.5). (10) 5 (5.8).
Supplemental-list checklists
The checklists below group every item on NBCC’s lists into this book’s own categories. Check off each one when you can do three things: recognize it in a vignette, name the main approaches or tools that fit it, and state one safety, cultural, or ethical consideration that goes with it.
Presenting concerns 40 entries
Mood, anxiety, and stress
- Fear, panic, worry, and anxiety
- Stress management
- Hopelessness, depression, and loneliness
- Rumination and intrusive thoughts
- Obsessive thoughts and compulsive or repetitive behaviors
- Somatic symptoms linked to anxiety, depression, or trauma
- Insomnia and sleep hygiene
- Burnout
Self and emotion regulation
- Self-esteem and self-acceptance
- Emotional dysregulation
- Anger management
- Executive functioning concerns
- Too much or too little mental focus
- Dissociation
- Maladaptive eating behaviors and eating disorders
Risk and safety
- Suicidal or homicidal thoughts or behaviors
- Injury to self or others
- Substance misuse and addiction
Trauma, violence, and abuse
- Family abuse and violence (physical, sexual, emotional)
- Child abuse and neglect
- Sexual violence, including assault and harassment
- Bullying
Relationships and family
- Dating, marital, and other romantic relationship problems
- Unhealthy attachment styles
- Parenting and co-parenting conflict
- Blended family issues
- Caregiving concerns
Development across the lifespan
- Child development issues
- Behavioral concerns
- Academic or school-based behavioral concerns
- Intellectual functioning concerns
- Gender identity development
- Aging and gerontological concerns
Loss, health, and adjustment
- Grief and loss
- Adjustment to physical loss, injury, or a medical condition
Culture, meaning, and context
- Cultural adjustment
- Racism, discrimination, and oppression
- Spiritual, religious, and existential concerns
- Financial issues
- Career and occupational development, from job search and college readiness to retirement
Theoretical frameworks 34 entries
Cognitive and behavioral
- Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
- CBT for suicide prevention (CBT-SP)
- Trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT)
- Cognitive processing therapy (CPT)
- Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP)
- Behaviorism
Mindfulness- and acceptance-based
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
Humanistic and existential
- Person-centered therapy (Rogers)
- Humanistic therapies
- Existential therapy
- Gestalt therapy
Psychodynamic, Adlerian, and attachment
- Psychodynamic therapy
- Adlerian therapy
- Attachment theory
- Internal family systems (IFS)
Brief, motivational, and postmodern
- Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT)
- Motivational interviewing (MI)
- Narrative therapy
- Reality therapy
Couples and family
- Emotionally focused therapy (EFT)
- The Gottman method
- Structural family therapy
- Multigenerational (Bowen) family therapy
Development, career, and groups
- Erikson’s psychosocial stages
- Krumboltz’s social learning theory of career decision making
- Lifespan career development
- Stages of group development
Body, loss, and culture
- Somatic therapy
- Biofeedback
- Grief counseling
- Multicultural orientation (MCO) framework
Tools and assessments 27 entries
Diagnosis and classification
- DSM-5-TR
- ICD-11-CM, as named in the specifications (the United States still codes diagnoses with ICD-10-CM, and as of October 2026 no U.S. clinical modification of ICD-11 had been adopted)
- Mental status examination (MSE)
Screening and symptom measures
- Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)
- Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
- Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)
- PTSD Checklist (PCL)
- Trauma inventories
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) questionnaires
- Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
Suicide risk and crisis
- Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)
- Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ)
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- 311 community resource lines
Career and personality
- Self-Directed Search (SDS)
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Family, community, and planning
- Genogram
- Community needs and strengths assessments
- Treatment planning workbooks
- Supervision contract
Practice and professional tools
- Electronic health records and practice management software
- Video conferencing and telehealth platforms
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH)
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
- Peer-reviewed journal articles
- Professional memberships and access to continuing education
Chapter 3 Professional Development and Counselor Self-Awareness
Drill 3.1 · Sort it. Write the matching letter next to each situation. Letters may be used more than once.
A. Burnout B. Compassion fatigue C. Vicarious trauma D. Countertransference E. Impairment
| Situation | Letter |
|---|---|
| 1. A counselor feels unusually protective of one client who reminds her of her younger brother. | ____ |
| 2. After 2 years with combat veterans, a counselor believes the world is fundamentally unsafe. | ____ |
| 3. A counselor with 40 clients and no administrative support has become cynical and exhausted. | ____ |
| 4. A counselor forgot to complete a risk assessment with two clients who disclosed suicidal thoughts. | ____ |
| 5. A hospice counselor notices she no longer feels moved by families’ grief. | ____ |
Short answer.
- A supervisor helps a supervisee explore his anger toward a client. Which of Bernard’s focus areas is this? ______________
- Before adopting an AI note-taker, a counselor completes a course on its privacy and legal risks. Which 2027 task is this? ______________
- A counselor helps a tenants’ group prepare testimony for a state legislative hearing on a housing bill. Which advocacy level, and is it with or on behalf of them? ______________
Show answers
Drill answers. 3.1: (1) D. (2) C. (3) A. (4) E. (5) B. (6) Personalization. (7) Task 1A.7, training on the ethical and legal use of AI. (8) Public arena, with the tenants (collective action).
Chapter 4 Intake and Assessment
Drill 4.1 · Instrument match. Write the letter of the best instrument next to each situation. Each letter is used once.
A. ASQ B. AUDIT C. CRAFFT D. PCL-5 E. ACE questionnaire F. PHQ-9 G. SDS H. C-SSRS
| Situation | Letter |
|---|---|
| 1. A 16-year-old’s school counselor wants a brief substance use screen. | ____ |
| 2. A clinic wants to track a veteran’s PTSD symptoms monthly. | ____ |
| 3. A primary care practice screens adults for depression in the past 2 weeks. | ____ |
| 4. A counselor wants a structured rating of the severity of suicidal ideation and behavior. | ____ |
| 5. A pediatric emergency department screens young patients for suicide risk. | ____ |
| 6. A college student wants to explore career interests by Holland type. | ____ |
| 7. A counselor wants to count categories of childhood adversity. | ____ |
| 8. An employee assistance counselor screens an adult for hazardous drinking. | ____ |
Show answers
Drill answers. 4.1: (1) C. (2) D. (3) F. (4) H. (5) A. (6) G. (7) E. (8) B.
Chapter 5 Treatment Planning and Continuity of Care
Drill 5.1 · Fix it or file it. For items 1–4, rewrite the statement as a SMART objective. For items 5–8, write the correct term from the list: aftercare plan, discharge plan, relapse prevention plan, disruption-of-service plan, contraindication, negative reinforcement, extinction burst, warm handoff.
- “Client will feel better about herself.” ______________________________
- “Client will sleep more.” ______________________________
- “Counselor will teach anger management.” ______________________________
- “Reduce drinking.” ______________________________
- A list of a client’s high-risk situations and what she will do after a slip. ______________
- A counselor names a colleague to see clients and hold records if she is suddenly hospitalized. ______________
- A child’s tantrums briefly increase after his parents stop giving in to them. ______________
- A counselor walks a client down the hall and introduces him to the psychiatrist. ______________
Show answers
Drill answers. 5.1: Sample rewrites (yours may differ if they are specific, measurable, and dated): (1) “Client will list three things she did well each evening, at least 5 days a week, for 4 weeks.” (2) “Client will follow a set bedtime and wake time at least 6 nights a week and report 7 or more hours of sleep on a sleep log within 3 weeks.” (3) “Client will use a time-out and paced breathing in place of yelling during at least 4 of 5 recorded conflicts over the next month.” (4) “Client will drink no more than 2 drinks on no more than 2 days per week for 6 weeks, tracked in a daily log.” (5) Relapse prevention plan. (6) Disruption-of-service plan (a professional will). (7) Extinction burst. (8) Warm handoff.
Chapter 6 Provision of Counseling Interventions
Drill 6.1 · Matching: concern to intervention. Write the letter of the best-matched intervention next to each concern. Each letter is used once.
| Concern | Intervention | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Checking the stove 30 times before leaving | ____ | A. TF-CBT |
| 2. Nine-year-old after a car crash | ____ | B. MBCT |
| 3. Third depressive episode, now in remission | ____ | C. ERP |
| 4. Recurrent self-harm and intense mood swings | ____ | D. Motivational interviewing |
| 5. “Part of me wants to quit drinking, part of me doesn’t” | ____ | E. DBT |
| 6. Couple caught in a pursue-withdraw cycle | ____ | F. CBT-I |
| 7. Lying awake for hours most nights | ____ | G. Emotionally focused therapy |
| 8. Adult veteran with guilt-laden trauma beliefs | ____ | H. Cognitive processing therapy |
Show answers
Drill answers. 6.1: 1-C, 2-A, 3-B, 4-E, 5-D, 6-G, 7-F, 8-H.
Chapter 7 Indirect Client Care
Drill 7.1 · Sort the task. Write the task number (5.1–5.8) that best fits each action. One action belongs to Domain 6; write “D6” for it.
| Action | Task |
|---|---|
| 1. Calling a hospital interpreter line before an intake | ______ |
| 2. Reading last week’s note to recall a client’s safety plan | ______ |
| 3. Attending a wraparound meeting with a teen’s family and caseworker | ______ |
| 4. Recording a client’s report of tremor after a new prescription | ______ |
| 5. Checking that a local food bank’s hours are still accurate | ______ |
| 6. Writing a BIRP note after a session | ______ |
| 7. Joining a hospital’s interdisciplinary team meeting | ______ |
| 8. Submitting a claim with CPT code 90834 | ______ |
| 9. Speaking with a client’s employer about a return-to-work plan, with a signed release | ______ |
Show answers
Drill answers. 7.1: (1) 5.7. (2) 5.6. (3) 5.1. (4) 5.4. (5) 5.5. (6) 5.8. (7) 5.3. (8) D6 (billing; Task 6.7). (9) 5.2.
Chapter 8 Legal and Ethical Compliance
Drill 8.1 · Subpoena, order, or neither? For each situation, write S (treat as a subpoena: contact client, consult, assert privilege), O (comply narrowly with a court order), or R (release only with the client’s written authorization).
| Situation | Answer |
|---|---|
| 1. An attorney’s letter demands records “within 10 days” | ____ |
| 2. A judge signs an order for treatment dates and diagnosis | ____ |
| 3. A client’s employer asks whether she attended sessions | ____ |
| 4. A document titled “subpoena duces tecum” arrives from opposing counsel | ____ |
| 5. A client’s new counselor requests a treatment summary | ____ |
| 6. A court order requires records, and the counselor believes some are irrelevant | ____ |
Show answers
Drill answers. 8.1: (1) R; a letter from an attorney is neither a subpoena nor a court order. (2) O. (3) R. (4) S. (5) R. (6) O; ask the court to limit the scope rather than withholding.
Chapter 9 What's New: A Closer Look
Drill 9.1 · Sort the task. Write the domain number (1–6) next to each new task.
| Task | Domain |
|---|---|
| 1. Ask clients for feedback on how counseling is going | ____ |
| 2. Arrange a qualified interpreter | ____ |
| 3. Train in the ethical and legal use of AI | ____ |
| 4. Plan for interruptions in service | ____ |
| 5. Update the practice’s emergency plan | ____ |
| 6. Obtain telemental health informed consent | ____ |
| 7. Carry professional liability insurance | ____ |
| 8. Check for contraindications to an approach | ____ |
| 9. Practice under the Counseling Compact | ____ |
| 10. Complete continuing education | ____ |
Show answers
Drill answers. 9.1: (1) 4; (2) 5; (3) 1; (4) 3; (5) 6; (6) 2; (7) 6; (8) 3; (9) 6; (10) 1.
Chapter 10 The 2027 NCMHCE Case Format
Chapter 10 has no drill. Its 10 flashcards are on the flashcards page.
Back to the chapter list