CACREP core area 5 of 9
Counseling & Helping Relationships for the NCE
45 topics, each with a free study summary, a cheat sheet, and a practice question with rationales. New to this area? Start with the Counseling theories for the NCE overview.
Psychodynamic Approaches
- Freudian psychoanalysisstructural model (id/ego/superego), levels of consciousness, core techniquesHigh-yield
- Defense mechanismsthe classic set with definitions and examplesHigh-yield
- Transference & countertransferencerecognition, therapeutic use, managementFrequently tested
- Adlerian individual psychologyinferiority/striving, birth order, lifestyle, early recollections, encouragementHigh-yield
- Jungian analytical psychologycollective unconscious, archetypes, individuation, persona/shadowFrequently tested
- Object relations & attachment-informed therapyinternalized relationships, overview level
Humanistic & Existential Approaches
- Person-centered therapyRogers's core conditions, actualizing tendency, nondirective stanceHigh-yield
- Gestalt therapyhere-and-now, contact, empty chair, unfinished business, layers of neurosisHigh-yield
- Existential therapyYalom's four givens, existential anxiety, meaning-makingFrequently tested
- Frankl's logotherapywill to meaning, paradoxical intention, dereflection
Cognitive & Behavioral Approaches
- REBTEllis's ABC(DE) model, irrational beliefs, disputationHigh-yield
- Beck's cognitive therapyautomatic thoughts, schemas, collaborative empiricism, Socratic questioningHigh-yield
- Cognitive distortionsthe standard list with examples (catastrophizing, dichotomous thinking, etc.)High-yield
- Systematic desensitizationWolpe, reciprocal inhibition, anxiety hierarchiesHigh-yield
- Exposure & floodingin vivo vs. imaginal, response prevention, when each appliesFrequently tested
- Operant-based techniquestoken economies, contingency contracting, shaping, Premack principle
- Modeling & behavioral rehearsalvicarious learning as technique, assertiveness training
- Reality therapy / choice theoryGlasser's five needs, WDEP system, total behaviorFrequently tested
- DBT essentialsdialectics, four skill modules, target hierarchyFrequently tested
- ACT essentialspsychological flexibility, defusion, values work, hexaflex overview
- Mindfulness-based interventionsMBSR/MBCT distinctions, mechanisms
Postmodern & Constructivist Approaches
- Solution-focused brief therapymiracle question, scaling, exceptions, complimentsHigh-yield
- Narrative therapyexternalizing, unique outcomes, re-authoringFrequently tested
- Motivational interviewingspirit, OARS, change talk, rolling with resistanceHigh-yield
- Transtheoretical model / stages of changethe six stages, matching intervention to stageHigh-yield
Family & Systems Approaches
- Bowen family systemsdifferentiation, triangles, multigenerational transmissionHigh-yield
- Genogramsconstruction conventions, clinical and career uses
- Structural family therapyMinuchin; boundaries, subsystems, enactment, joiningFrequently tested
- Strategic family therapyHaley; directives, paradoxical interventions
- Satir's experiential approachcommunication stances, family sculpting
- Transactional analysisego states, strokes, games, life positions
Integrative Practice & Common Factors
Counseling Process & Microskills
- Attending & listening skillsnonverbals (SOLER), minimal encouragers, use of silenceHigh-yield
- Reflecting skillsparaphrase, reflection of feeling, summarizationHigh-yield
- Questioning & probingopen vs. closed questions, avoiding interrogationHigh-yield
- Confrontationchallenging discrepancies supportivelyFrequently tested
- Immediacy & self-disclosurehere-and-now process comments, disclosure criteria
- Stages of the counseling processrelationship building through termination, goal settingFrequently tested
- Resistance & reluctancesources, reframes, working with involuntary clients
- Empathy, genuineness & unconditional positive regardoperational definitions, primary vs. advanced empathyHigh-yield
Crisis & Safety Work
- Crisis intervention modelssix-step model, ABC model, psychological first aidHigh-yield
- Suicide risk assessment & safety planningrisk/protective factors, structured inquiry, safety plan elementsHigh-yield
- Violence risk assessmentrisk indicators, protective actions, duty contextsFrequently tested
- Disaster mental healthphases of disaster response, counselor roles
Study this area with practice that adapts
Practice questions, flashcards, and a spaced-review queue for every topic, plus timed NCE practice exams. Start with a free topic.