"Client will feel less anxious" fails the NCE. Here is the objective that passes, and why
Treatment Planning is nine percent of the exam and most of its items are one question in disguise: can you tell a measurable objective from a hope?
By Dr. Andrew Wichterman · September 22, 2026 · 5 min read · Updated October 22, 2026
Treatment Planning is nine percent of the exam and most of its items are one question in disguise: can you tell a measurable objective from a hope?
The practice item discussed here was written for this site in the style of the NCE. It is not a question from the actual exam. NBCC does not release its items, and candidates sign a nondisclosure agreement.
The item
A client with social anxiety wants to be more comfortable at work. Which objective is BEST formulated for her treatment plan?
A. Client will feel less anxious in meetings
B. Client will understand the roots of her social anxiety
C. Client will speak at least once in each weekly team meeting for four consecutive weeks, rating her anxiety at 5 or below on a 0 to 10 scale
D. Client will work on social confidence with the counselor
Keyed answer: C. A usable objective is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Option C names a behavior, a frequency, a measure and a deadline. The others describe a feeling, an insight or a process, none of which can be tracked.
What the item is really testing
Whether you can spot the option with a number in it. On the exam, the best-formulated objective almost always contains a count, a scale score, a frequency or a date, usually more than one. "Feel," "understand," "improve," "work on" and "gain insight" are the words that mark distractors.
Why each wrong answer tempts you
A. A feeling with no measure and no deadline. It cannot be shown to have happened.
B. Insight is not observable and is not what she asked for.
D. Describes the counseling process, not an outcome.
Goal versus objective
The goal is the client's, in her words, broad and positive: "be comfortable at work." The objectives are the steps that show the goal is being reached, and they are the counselor's craft. A plan needs both. Items that offer a well-written goal where an objective was asked for are testing whether you know the difference.
The other elements a plan entry needs
A baseline (she currently speaks in zero meetings), the intervention that will get her there (graded exposure with cognitive preparation), the measure (her 0 to 10 rating, or a standardized scale like the Liebowitz), and a review date. The exam sometimes gives a complete objective and asks what is missing from the plan; the answer is usually the intervention or the baseline.
Why "achievable" is on the list
An objective the client cannot realistically meet in the time frame produces failure and dropout. A client who has never spoken in a meeting should not have "present to the team" as a four-week objective. The exam's second most common treatment-planning error, after vagueness, is an objective that is precise and impossible.
Where this lives in the course
Domain 4, Treatment Planning: the lesson "From case formulation to treatment plan: problems, goals, objectives, interventions". Read it, take its quiz, and add the key terms to your flashcard queue.
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Every deep-dive item on this site was written for the site in the style of the NCE. None is from the actual exam.