224
Chapter 2 Back to Top
The Counselor: Person and Professional
MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEMS
Note: Below are test items for chapter 2 of Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy.
1. It is especially important for counselors who work with culturally diverse client populations to:
a. be aware of their own cultural heritage.
b. have a broad base of counseling techniques that can be employed with flexibility.
c. consider the cultural context of their clients in determining what interventions are appropriate.
d. examine their own assumptions about cultural values.
e. all of these
2. According to the text, research shows that counselor values influence:
a. therapy goals.
b. assessment strategies.
c. treatment outcome.
d. all of these
e. none of these
3. Clients place more value on ________________than on ___________________
a. the personality of the therapist; the specific techniques used.
b. the specific techniques used; the personality of the therapist.
c. the therapist’s theoretical orientation; the quality of the services being provided.
d. the aesthetics of the therapeutic setting; the personality of the therapist.
4. Regarding psychotherapy treatment outcome, research suggests all of the following except:
a. the therapist as a person is an integral part of successful treatment.
b. the therapeutic relationship is an essential component of effective treatment.
c. both the therapy methods and the therapy relationship make contributions to treatment
outcome.
d. therapy techniques are the key component of successful treatment
5. An authentic counselor is best described as:
a. having the highest regard for all clients.
b. being willing to be totally open and self-disclosing.
c. being a technical expert who is committed to objectivity.
d. being willing to shed stereotyped roles and being a real person.
225
6. In the text, all of the following are listed as characteristics of the counselor as a therapeutic person
except:
a. counselors have a sense of humor.
b. counselors no longer have to cope with personal problems.
c. counselors feel alive and their choices are life-oriented.
d. counselors make mistakes and they are willing to admit them.
e. counselors appreciate the influence of culture.
7. Which of the following statements about theories or models of counseling/ psychotherapy is true?
a. Extensive research has shown that certain popular models of psychotherapy are “wrong.”
b. There is a clear place for theoretical pluralism in our society.
c. Accepting the validity of one model implies rejecting the validity of other models.
d. Theoretical pluralism has been frowned on by several major professional organizations.
8. In the text, the main reason given for having counseling students receive some form of psychotherapy
is to help them:
a. work through early childhood trauma.
b. learn to deal with countertransference.
c. recognize and resolve their co-dependent tendencies.
d. become self-actualized individuals.
9. Personal therapy for therapists can be instrumental in assisting them:
a. to heal their own psychological wounds.
b. to gain an experiential sense of what it is like to be a client.
c. to understand their own needs and motives for choosing to become professional helpers.
d. to work through their own personal conflicts.
e. all of these
10. With regard to the role of counselors’ personal values in therapy, it is appropriate for counselors to:
a. teach and persuade clients to act the right way.
b. maintain an indifferent, neutral, and passive role by simply listening to everything the client
reports.
c. avoid challenging the values of clients.
d. avoid the imposition of their values, yet expose their values to clients.
11. The author describes the characteristics of an effective counselor. By including this information in the
chapter, he is hoping to convey the message that:
a. if you do not possess all of these characteristics, you are doomed to fail in the helping professions.
b. deficits in these qualities almost always require years of psychoanalysis.
226
c. you should develop your own concept of what personality traits you think are essential to strive for to
promote your own personal growth.
d. those who possess all of these qualities can bypass the requirement to participate in clinical supervision.
12. During an initial session, an adolescent girl tells you that she is pregnant and is considering an
abortion. Which of the following would be the most ethical and professional course for you to follow?
a. Encourage her to get the abortion as soon as possible, without exploring any other option.
b. Steer her toward having her baby and then consider adoption for her baby.
c. Suggest that she go to church and pray about her situation.
d. Help her to clarify the range of her choices in light of her own values.
13. Culturally encapsulated counselors would be most likely to:
a. depend entirely on their own internalized value assumptions about what is good for people.
b. have an appreciation for a multicultural perspective in their counseling practice.
c. recognize the cultural dimensions their clients bring to therapy.
d. accept clients who have a different set of assumptions about life.
14. You are working with an ethnic minority client who is silent during the initial phase of counseling.
This silence is probably best interpreted as:
a. resistance.
b. a manifestation of uncooperative behavior.
c. a response consistent with his or her cultural context.
d. a clear sign that counseling will not work.
15. Which of the following is not considered an essential skill of an effective culturally competent
counselor?
a. being able to modify techniques to accommodate cultural differences
b. being able to send and receive both verbal and nonverbal messages accurately
c. being able to get clients to intensify their feelings by helping them to vividly
reexperience early childhood events
d. assuming the role of consultant and change agent
16. Which of the following is not considered essential knowledge for a culturally competent counselor?
a. knowing how to analyze transference reactions
b. understanding the impact of oppression and racist concepts
c. being aware of culture-specific methods of helping
d. being aware of institutional barriers that prevent minorities from making full use of counseling
services in the community
17. Essential components of effective multicultural counseling include all of the following except:
a. Counselors avoid becoming involved in out-of-office interventions.
b. Counselors feel comfortable with their clients’ values and beliefs.
c. Counselors are aware of how their own biases could affect ethnic minority clients.
d. Counselors employ institutional intervention skills on behalf of their clients when necessary or
appropriate.
18. In working with culturally diverse clients, it helps to understand and assess:
a. what these clients expect from counseling.
b. the degree of acculturation that has taken place.
b. the attitudes these clients have about seeking counseling for their personal problems.
c. the messages they received from their culture about asking for professional help.
e. all of these
19. Which of the following is not a method of increasing effectiveness in working with diverse client
populations?
a. Learn about how your own cultural background has influenced your thinking and behaving.
b. Realize that practicing from a multicultural perspective will probably make your job very difficult.
c. Be flexible in applying techniques with clients.
d. Identify your basic assumptions pertaining to diversity.
e. Pay attention to the common ground that exists among people of diverse backgrounds.
20. The_______________ factors —the alliance, the relationship, the personal and interpersonal skills
of the therapist, client agency, and extra-therapeutic factors—are the primary determinants of therapeutic
outcome.
a. logistical
b. contextual
c. psychodynamic
d. technical
TRUE-FALSE TEST ITEMS
1. If we are inauthentic, it is unlikely that our clients will detect it.
2. A meta-analysis of research on therapeutic effectiveness found that the personal and interpersonal
components are, at best, only moderately related to effective psychotherapy.
3. Effective therapists are not the victims of their early decisions.
4. Therapists should not admit their mistakes since that could diminish their clients’ confidence in
them.
5. Truly dedicated therapists carry the problems of their clients around with them during leisure
hours.
6. The vast majority of mental health professionals have experienced personal therapy, typically on
several occasions.
7. Therapists need to be free of conflicts before they can counsel others.
8. It is not our function to persuade clients to accept or adopt our value system.
9. Your role as a counselor is to provide a safe and inviting context in which clients can explore the
congruence between their values and their behavior.
10. The general goals of counselors must be congruent with the personal goals of the client.
11. If you try to figure out in advance how to proceed with a client, you may be depriving the client of
the opportunity to become an active partner in her or his own therapy.
12. Counselors from all cultural groups must examine their expectations, attitudes, biases, and
assumptions about the counseling process and about persons from diverse groups.
13. Practitioners must have had the same experiences as their clients in order to have empathy for
them.
14. The skill of immediacy involves revealing what we are thinking or feeling in the here and now with
the client.
229
15. Ideally, our self-care should mirror the care we provide for others.