Chapter 7: Competence and Malpractice
1. Counselor competency can be assured if
a. a counselor is licensed by his or her state licensure board.
b. a counselor has graduated from a CACREP-accredited master’s degree program.
c. a counselor is a National Certified Counselor (NCC).
d. a counselor has earned a master’s degree in counseling from a regionally accredited
university.
e. there is no way to assure counselor competency.
2. Which of the following statements regarding counselor competence is FALSE?
a. once counselors have become licensed, the burden of ensuring competent services
falls on the counselors themselves.
b. competence in counseling is difficult to define.
c. there is a continuum of professional expertise with gross negligence at one end and
maximum effectiveness at the other extreme.
d. licensure ensures that practitioners are competent to do what their licenses permit
them to do.
e. counselors are ethically required to counsel only within the boundaries of their
competence.
3. Graduate degree programs in counseling attempt to ensure their graduates are competent
counselors by doing all of the following EXCEPT
a. selecting and admitting individuals who are likely to succeed at developing the skills,
knowledge, and characteristics needed to become effective counselors.
b. using personal interviews, written essays, or other subjective criteria in selecting
candidates for admission.
c. providing a curriculum for master’s students that prepares students to be effective
counselors.
d. eliminating from graduate programs any students who have their own emotional
issues.
e. requiring successful supervised experience as a part of the graduate program.
4. Registration is the form of state regulation of a profession that
a. is the most rigorous form of regulation, in that only those who are registered may
practice the profession in a state.
b. protects a title, such as “Professional Counselor,” but anyone can practice the
profession without being registered.
c. requires members of a profession to sign up with the government if they practice the
profession in the state, but anyone may sign the registry without a review of their
credentials.
d. grants a state credential if a person has a national certification.
e. is issued by a state agency, but never by an independent state board.
5. Legislators agree to license a professional group, such as counselors, only when it can be
shown that
a. other professional groups that are already licensed do not oppose the licensing of this
new group.
b. the public cannot determine which practitioners are competent, and they might be
harmed by incompetent members of that profession.
c. the public cannot determine which practitioners are competent, and the services the
professional group provides require extensive education.
d. the rates for services of the professional group will go down if they are licensed.
e. the professional group needs to be licensed in order to gain the recognition it needs
to be recognized as a legitimate profession in society.
6. An argument AGAINST licensing specialties within the counseling profession (such as
marriage and family counselors, rehabilitation counselors, career counselors, etc.) is
a. it would confuse the public.
b. it would be very expensive for counselors to get multiple licenses instead of just
one.
c. the other professions, such as medicine and law, license professionals to practice their
profession generally, and those who are licensed decide which areas they are
competent to practice in.
d. counselors who practice in various specialty areas are so different from each other
that each specialty within counseling is like a separate and distinct profession.
e. the public should be counseled only by individuals who are specialists within the
counseling profession and they will be harmed if they are counseled by counselors
who have not proven their specialty expertise.
7. In return for the privilege of practicing autonomously, counselors must
a. attend no less than 20 hours of continuing education experiences each year.
b. limit themselves to practicing within the areas in which they are competent.
c. agree to see all clients who ask for their services.
d. join the American Counseling Association.
e. become certified as National Certified Counselors.
8. Distressed counselors or counselors suffering from burnout are terms used to refer to
a. incompetent counselors.
b. counselors who have committed malpractice.
c. counselors who have had their licenses revoked.
d. impaired counselors.
e. counselors who have recently been fired from their jobs.
9. Malpractice is a type of civil lawsuit that can be filed against counseling professionals for
practicing in a manner that leads to
a. injury to a recipient of their services.
b. dissatisfaction with the result of the counseling experience.
c. divorce, when a married couple has sought counseling.
d. the development of new behaviors that are counterproductive to clients, but not
injurious.
e. injury to other counselors.
10. When a counselor determines that a client may be at risk for harming self or others, the
counselor always must
a. call the police.
b. take the steps necessary to prevent harm.
c. call an ambulance to take the client to the hospital emergency room.
d. notify individuals with whom the client lives.
e. notify the parents of the client.
11. Factors that can increase counselors’ vulnerability to impairment include all of the
following EXCEPT
a. personal trauma in the counselor’s life.
b. pre-existing conditions.
c. working with a significant number of clients who have managed health care plans.
d. working with a significant number of traumatized clients.
e. having a history of substance abuse or depression.
12. With respect to a counselor’s legal liability when a client commits suicide
a. very few lawsuits are filed against counselors due to client suicide.
b. when lawsuits have been brought against counselors due to client suicide, the
counselors usually have been found negligent.
c. the case of Eisel v. Board of Education established that school counselors cannot be
held responsible for a student’s suicide.
d. counselors are held to the legal standard that they must correctly assess suicide risk.
e. counselors should not document consultations regarding suicidal clients, because the
documentation could later be used against them in a lawsuit.
13. Competence is most closely related to the moral principle of
a. fiduciary relationships
b. professionalism
c. integrity
d. do no harm
e. autonomy
14. A concern about continuing education that was raised by the authors of the text is that
a. continuing education seminars can be very expensive
b. busy counselors are tempted to cheat by claiming to have completed
continuing education activities that they didn’t have time to attend
c. consultation can’t really be considered as continuing education
d. some state licensure boards have unreasonable continuing education requirements
e. it is difficult to assess the comparative worth of different continuing education
activities such as attending aworkshop or reading a journal article
15.The court cases in Ward and Keeton have raised the question to whether
a. counseling students should be allowed to repeat practicum if they do not demonstrate
adequate
counseling skills
b. values-based referrals are ever acceptable
c. counselors can be sued when their clients commit suicide
d. counselor registry is an effective way to ensure practitioner competence
e. counselors should provide counseling over the Internet
Chapter Seven