According to the National Organization for Human Services, the following is TRUE
concerning dual relationships:
a. There is a clear consensus among practitioners regarding nonsexual relationships in
counseling.
b. Due to the fact that there are clinical, ethical, and legal risks, all blending of roles
must be avoided.
c. Objectivity in counseling is enhanced with dual relationships.
d. Professionals support the trust implicit in the helping relationship by avoiding dual
relationships that may impair professional judgment, increase the risk of harm to
clients, or lead to exploitation.
Many professionals struggle with the issue of how to work within a system while
retaining their dignity, vitality, and convictions. The most important component in any
effort to bring about change is to:
a. engage in honest self-examination to determine the degree to which the ‘system” is
actually a hindrance.
b. start the process of changing the system by speaking to the director of the
organization.
c. make assumptions about the reasons for the problems in the organization.
d. scold those who appear to be at the root of the problem.
When a practitioner has a license, he or she is:
a. competent to work with all populations.
b. competent to work with populations he or she had never worked with before.
c. not competent to work with all populations.
d. finally exempt from having his or her competence evaluated.
_______________is an end point evaluation typically completed at the end of a
professional program or when applying for licensure status.
a. Formative assessment
b. Summative assessment
c. Therapist competence
d. Technique
Generally, the best way to proceed when you have concerns about the behavior of a
colleague is to:
a. not address the problem until a client has been injured emotionally or physically.
b. speak with other colleagues to determine if they have the same concerns.
c. speak directly with the client about your colleague’s behavior.
d. deal directly with the colleague, unless doing so would compromise a client’s
confidentiality.
___________________is the appropriate and ethical course of action to take when a
client’s needs are outside the scope
of your competence.
a. Referral
b. Privileged communication
c. Consultation with an attorney
d. Termination of services
Ignoring evidence of peer misconduct is:
a. self-preserving.
b. ethical.
c. an ethical violation.
d. illegal, but not unethical.
Inappropriate socialization with clients, burdening clients with a counselor’s personal
problems, and putting clients in awkward business situations are examples of:
a. inappropriate crisis intervention.
b. established therapeutic practices.
c. unhealthy transference relationships.
d. seeking balance in the counseling relationship.
_________________was passed by Congress to promote standardization and efficiency
in the health care industry and to give patients more rights and control over their health
information
a. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
b. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1994 (FERPA)
c. The H1N1 Prevention Act
d. The Confidentiality and Privileged Communication Act
If each professional organization developed specific guidelines pertaining to students’
successful completion of a
program, faculty in training programs:
a. would not have to work as hard to help students understand the material.
b. would then have the backing of their professional association in determining the
evaluation procedures to be used when decisions regarding retaining or dismissing
students are made.
c. would have the correct information needed to train students to become therapists.
d. would be able to give the students the guidelines to study without training them.
Mental health professionals must move forward and beyond the traditional approach of
focusing solely on the intrapsychic, accept and recognize the impact of sociopolitical
factors on our clients and their families, and determine how our advocacy can
effectively address those issues. Part of their ethical and moral obligation is to:
a. decide how they will work within the system and how they can get the most out of it
for themselves.
b. advocate with the aim of creating a just society in which all people have equal
opportunities and resources to strive toward their personal goals.
c. not support the philosophy and policies of agencies they may work at.
d. change the agency’s norms, values, and expectations to match their own.
Self-care involves:
a. compassion for and dedication to serving others.
b. searching for positive life experiences that lead to zest, peace, excitement, and
happiness.
c. good public relations skills and an outgoing personality.
d. high verbal reasoning abilities and a high I.Q.
Gender sensitive models of training family therapists are aimed at:
a. raising consciousness concerning the role of cultural and ethnic factors in influencing
the outlooks and behaviors of individuals and families.
b. overcoming trainee gender bias and sex-role stereotyping.
c. understanding the collaborative nature of family therapy.
d. direct clinical contact with all members of the family system.
Which of the following models of ethical decision making focuses primarily on the
social aspects of decision making and redefines the process as being interactive rather
than intrapsychic?
a. Social constructionist model
b. Transcultural integrative model
c. Feminist model
d. Sociocultural model
Few professional codes of ethics specifically address the topic of giving or receiving
gifts in the therapeutic relationship. The AAMFT does have such a guideline and it
states that marriage and family therapists:
a. cannot give to or receive from clients gifts of substantial value or that impair the
integrity or efficacy of the therapeutic relationship.
b. can give to or receive from clients small gifts of little monetary value.
c. can give to or receive from clients gifts when given during an appropriate and healthy
therapeutic relationship.
d. cannot give or receive gifts under any circumstances.
When a complaint is lodged against a member of a professional organization, the ethics
committee:
a. launches an investigation and deliberates on the case, eventually reaching a
disposition.
b. always dismisses specific charges within the complaint.
c. imposes sanctions nine times out of ten.
d. transfers the case to law enforcement.
Signs of an impaired supervisor include all of the following EXCEPT:
a. boundary violations and substance abuse.
b. availability, accessibility, and being technically competent.
c. misuse of power and extreme burnout.
d. sexual contact with supervisees and diminished clinical judgment.
Ruth is counseling a woman who describes an extremely unhappy marriage. Ruth
suggests she consider leaving her husband; however, the client has a deep spiritual
conviction that marriage is for life and is not willing to consider divorce as an option.
Ruth attempts to change her client’s viewpoint. In this case, Ruth is:
a. teaching her client to look at the negative consequences of her decision.
b. exploring the client’s spiritual reasons for staying in the marriage.
c. imposing her values on the client instead of exploring the client’s reasons for staying
in the marriage.
d. helping her client to explore healthy options.
Which of the following statements is NOT consistent with the values that create the
basis for the feminist perspective on family therapy?
a. Therapists should empower their clients to make their own choices.
b. Therapists help demystify differences between partners when examining the power
differential in their relationship.
c. Therapists challenge traditional gender roles and the impact this socialization has on
relationships and families.
d. Therapists educate clients on the benefits of our patriarchal society and encourage
them to continue in these genderroles.
The movement toward grounding psychotherapy practice on a scientific foundation led
to the concept of:
a. differential diagnosis.
b. psychometric testing.
c. psychological diagnosis.
d. empirically supported treatments.
The family systems perspective is grounded on the assumption that a client’s
problematic behavior may be:
a. an individual problem that needs to be resolved before the family can meet in a
group.
b. the issue that is keeping the family in crisis.
c. a symptom of dysfunctional patterns handed down across generations.
d. a result of the individual’s maladjustment and psychosocial development.
Counselors practice unintentional racism when they:
a. show sensitivity to cultural variations among individuals.
b. challenge stereotypes associated with culturally diverse clients.
c. claim to be free of any traces of racism.
d. accept unreasoned assumptions about other cultures without proof and without regard
to rationality.
As therapists, we are often in the role of giver; to preserve our vitality, we need to
create spaces in which the “giver” can be supported. A necessary form of ongoing
self-care to help in this support is:
a. personal therapy.
b. decreasing number of clients.
c. engaging in fieldwork and internship experiences.
d. to begin practicing psychotherapy.
Which of the following actions would maximize the risks inherent in dual or multiple
relationships?
a. Setting healthy boundaries from the outset
b. Securing informed consent of clients and discuss with them both the potential risks
and benefits of dual relationships
c. Documenting any dual relationships in clinical case notes
d. Becoming romantically involved with the client
Fran has decided to start an online counseling practice. Which of the following have the
potential to result in unethical behavior?
a. Refusing to accept psychotic and/or seriously disturbed individuals as clients
b. Charging fees that are covered by insurance companies
c. Limiting and/or providing general diagnoses due to lack of behavioral clues
d. Promising confidentiality and privacy
Research in group counseling and psychotherapy notes that evidence-based practice
reflects a commitment to what works, not on what theory applies. Groups should
incorporate three pillars, which include all of the following EXCEPT:
a. clinical expertise.
b. client characteristics.
c. best available evidence.
d. frequent use of behavioral techniques.
Self-compassion involves:
a. searching for positive life experiences.
b. a basic component of many counseling programs, providing students with the
opportunity to share their values.
c. developing attitudes of caring, being nonjudgmental, being accepting, and being kind
to ourselves.
d. rejecting clients.
In regards to boundaries in the counseling relationship, Lazarus takes the position that:
a. certain ethics and boundaries actually diminish therapeutic effectiveness.
b. all boundaries should be eliminated because they destroy the counseling relationship.
c. strong boundaries must be maintained in order to avoid malpractice suits.
d. traits such as flexibility, spontaneity, and warmth tend to be characteristics of
therapists who maintain strong boundaries.
Joe has a counseling practice and is also teaching psychology part-time at a university.
He is well-liked and trusted by students and some have asked for private counseling.
Joe has decided to wait until semester break before taking them on as clients. Joe would
be:
a. exhibiting ethical behavior by telling his students that he will counsel them at the end
of the semester.
b. in a dual relationship with his students, which may cause ethical problems.
c. playing favoritism by not counseling all of his students.
d. not qualified to counsel his students because he is a part-time instructor.
Which of the following focuses NOT ONLY on how professionals can harm clients,
but also on how therapists can do better at helping clients?
a. Mandatory ethics
b. Principle ethics
c. Aspirational ethics
d. Positive ethics
Mary is seeking abortion counseling from a practitioner who has been actively involved
in the pro-life movement.
The therapist has extreme discomfort with Mary’s values and doesn’t think he could
maintain objectivity. It would be best if he:
a. doesn’t share his values with Mary and work within the value system of his client.
b. help Mary understand his values so she can make a different decision concerning her
pregnancy.
c. not refer Mary, but work within the client’s values rather than his own. If he cannot
obtain objectivity, he will need supervision to work through his issues. Referring Mary
to another therapist for this reason could be determined as abandonment.
d. set firm boundaries with Mary on what she can discuss in regards to her pregnancy.
A cross-cultural counselor who perceives reality exclusively through the filters of his or
her own life experiences is said to be culturally:
a. immersed.
b. ignorant.
c. encapsulated.
d. biased.
The basic purpose of professional codes of ethics is to:
a. educate professionals about sound ethical conduct, provide a mechanism for
professional accountability, and serve as a catalyst for improving practice.
b. protect professionals from lawsuits.
c. set standards that must be followed no matter the situation.
d. enhance the image of the helping professions.