Deck 4: How Do Counselors Integrate Personal and Professional Identity

Question 1

The motivations for becoming a counselor have been conceptualized as falling into three main categories. Which of these has NOT been identified as one of the most common motivations that counseling students have _____

A) to do for others what someone has done for me
B) to do for others what I wish someone had done for me
C) to obtain the prestige and power of a graduate degree
D) to help inspire others to make changes in their lives

Answer 1

to obtain the prestige and power of a graduate degree

Question 2

Carl Rogers talked about the need for counselors to attend to their ever-changing personhood. In this context, what is meant by the term? _____

A) Understanding of a counseling theory that works for them
B) Understanding of self, being aware of who you are, including subjective experiences and feelings
C) Understanding of how all people share the same basic human needs
D) Understanding of how all people have inherent dignity

Answer 2

Understanding of self, being aware of who you are, including subjective experiences and feelings

Question 3

Counselors are at risk for burnout because _____

A) They do not have the knowledge to implement strategies to lessen burnout
B) The high emotional demands of the profession can lead to emotional and physical exhaustion
C) Most counselors find little comfort in religious or spiritual beliefs or practice
D) All of the above

Answer 3

The high emotional demands of the profession can lead to emotional and physical exhaustion

Question 4

The best personality type (as measured by the MBTI) for a counselor is _____

A) Extraverts who are thinkers
B) Introverts who are feelers
C) Thinkers who are perceivers
D) None of the above is better than any others

Question 5

The definition of "empathy" that most closely matches what counselors should strive for is: _____

A) Feeling sorry for the client's situation and letting the client know you feel sorry for him or her
B) Understanding the client's meanings and feelings and being able to communicate that understanding to the client
C) Letting clients know that other people have similar stories and helping them to connect to those people
D) Having hope that the client's situation will improve and being able to communicate that hope to the client

Question 6

One of the personality traits that is useful for counselors to possess is the ability to tolerate ambiguity. Which statement most accurately describes this trait? _____

A) Counselors must be comfortable living with uncertainty and allowing their clients time and space to sort through complex problems without definitive answers
B) Counselors must be comfortable with many different types of clients and problems, allowing people from different cultures to come to different solutions
C) Counselors must be willing to get into the mindset of the client, because the answer to the client's problem always resides within
D) Counselors must provide different solutions to a problem so that clients can select the answer that is right for their current situation

Question 7

Some of the major criticisms of the developmental models generally argue _____

A) The male-normative approach to the models is inappropriate for women
B) The reality of how people progress developmentally is seldom as clear and linear as the models suggest
C) Development is not cross-contextual. In other words, just because a person has obtained a particular developmental level in one area of his or her life does not mean that s/he will have obtained the same level in other areas.
D) All of the above

Question 8

The "helper therapy principle" is the idea that both the helper, as well as the client, benefit from the counseling relationship. In general, this theory is _____

A) Based on a body of research that says counselors' own psychological well-being improves from their counseling practice
B) Inappropriate, because only the client should benefit from counseling
C) Discounted, because research shows that over time, counseling leads to burnout and impairment for the counselor
D) Male-normative (found to be true only for male counselors)

Question 9

Being a "wounded healer" can _____

A) Provide the counselor with some empathy into a client's suffering
B) Negatively affect a counselor's ability to be objective and fully present with the client
C) Increase the risk that the counselor is operating from his or her own needs, rather than the needs of the client
D) All of the above

Question 10

Which of the following is/are true about the developmental models as they apply to counselors-in-training? _____

A) Beginning counseling students often want more structure and more answers than students later in their programs
B) Counseling students at the end of their graduate program often seek concrete answers and direction, hoping to get as much advice as possible before they graduate
C) Counseling students cannot be allowed to make any decisions because they do not have a counseling license
D) All of the above are true

Question 11

The guilty feeling that you have deceived others (faculty, peers) into thinking are you are more competent and able to perform counseling than you actually feel is called _____

A) The Beginning Counselor Blues
B) The Uncertainty Stage of Counselor Development
C) The Imposter Phenomenon
D) The Counterfeit Counselor

Question 12

Carl Rogers' core conditions include _____

A) Congruence
B) Unconditional positive regard
C) Empathy
D) All of the above

Question 13

Counselors who are "feelers" (rather than thinkers) may have a strength in their ability to be empathetic, but they may struggle with _____

A) Understanding the clients feelings
B) Helping the client explore the emotions in sufficient depth
C) Being objective
D) Letting clients know that they care about them

Question 14

Adult Development Models include all of the following principles EXCEPT _____

A) Adult learners do not want to engage in the "passive-recipient" model of education
B) Adult learners want to take more responsibility for their own learning
C) Adult learners typically have life experiences to incorporate into their learning
D) Adult learners have more respect for their elders, and therefore are more likely to see their professors and supervisors as experts who have all the answers

Question 15

All of the following have been identified as important personality traits for counselors to possess in order to be effective EXCEPT _____

A) A sense of humor
B) An extraverted personality
C) A belief that people can change
D) A strong respect for the clients

Question 16

In Perry's Model of College Student Learners, which has been applied to counseling students, the overall trajectory is from _____

A) Dualistic (black & white) to Multiplistic (lots of possible answers) to Relativistic (based on best available information) thinking
B) Novice to Apprentice to Neophyte Learners
C) Ambiguity to Uncertainty to Doubt
D) Cognitive (thinking) to Behavioral (action-based) to Affective (emotional) Ways of Knowing

Question 17

The term that is used to describe the counselor's own unresolved conflicts from the past is _____

A) Past Painful Problems (PPPs)
B) Conflicts and Commitments
C) Unfinished Business
D) Counselor Chaos Theory

Question 18

The type of humor that has been found to be most effective to help counselors avoid burnout is _____

A) Sarcastic
B) Cynical
C) Acerbic (sharp or cutting)
D) Playful

Question 19

Counselors who are extraverted (rather than introverted) may have a strength in their ability to make initial contact with their clients, but they may struggle with _____

A) Using silence
B) Making the client feel comfortable and at ease
C) Thinking of something to say to the client
D) Making eye contact

Question 20

According to research, counseling professionals _____

A) Peak right after graduate school, when they are most invested and excited about their careers, with a steady decline afterward
B) Seldom reach a stage where they feel authentic or genuine in their careers
C) Typically engage in a long, slow process of professional development over the course of their entire careers
D) Have difficulty recognizing their abilities and skills, even long into their professional careers

Question 21

The counseling profession attracts students with many different motivations and reasons for becoming a counselor.

Question 22

To be psychologically healthy, counselors must be comfortable with their own power.

Question 23

The typical developmental trajectory for counselors peaks during graduate school training.

Question 24

The strategy of mindfulness involves "calling into mind" all the potential solutions to the problem one is facing.

Question 25

Unconditional Positive Regard means valuing the core worth of the person, rather than judging someone by their actions and behaviors.

Question 26

Novices and experts differ not just in the amount of information they have about a topic, but in the way they store and retrieve that information.

Question 27

How can understanding one's own personality type (as measured by the Myers-Briggs or other personality tests) help counseling students become more effective counselors?

Question 28

Compare and contrast the arguments of those who believe counseling is an art with those who believe it is a science.

Question 29

List and describe at least five personality traits of effective counselors

Question 30

What strategies can counselors use to help avoid burnout?

Question 31

Describe one of the developmental models discussed in the chapter and apply the model to the professional development of counselors