NCE: Review and Impression

For the past 4 months I have been studying for the National Counselors Exam (NCE). I knew from the beginning it would not be easy, so I decided to study for it early. I researched the Internet and found a good book, Encyclopedia of Counseling by Howard Rosenthal. The book covers all content areas, and has over 1000 questions designed to give you a basic understanding of the format and content of the NCE. I knew, however, this one book was not enough to cover all aspects of the NCE, so I decided to use my class notes and go through all my textbooks from graduate school as well as search the Internet for flashcards and practice tests.

After looking for flashcards, I decided I needed to make my own. I created over 500 flash cards for the NCE, which can be found here. I then devised a study schedule. I was to read about a specific theory each day, look over 200 flash cards at random, and read over the late minute boot camp within the Encyclopedia of Counseling. I decided this would be enough if I was to pass the exam. I will now be blunt with you, I was dead wrong.

I took the exam on the 7th of January. If you do not know, it is computer based, which is a very good thing. For one, you get your score as soon as you finish, and second, you can bookmark items you want to look over. As I took the test, I began to notice most questions were quite difficult. As I progressed, my self esteem began to collapse, as I did not know a definite answer for around 80% of the items. Most items I could get to 2 choices, however on most I was not 100% sure. As the test ended, I was sure I was to fail, as I did not see any hope on passing. I was shocked to find I passed the exam, with 120 questions correct out of 160. I answered 29 questions correct more then I needed to pass. I was shocked and dumbfounded. How did I pass, when I did not know 80% of the answers?

Now that I have had a few days to think, I figured it out. The NCE is NOT a test of facts and theories. It’s main purpose is to determine if you can come to a logical, rational answer when given facts you do not know. This makes sense, as Psychology is a relativistic profession with few black or white choices. If you cannot be objective, and figure things as you go, you will fail in this profession. During the exam, I had to take many examples where I did not know all the facts. I had to look at each answer choice and reason it out. In that sense, I must have preformed well.

I will admit, the NCE was much harder then I expected it to me. I know application was one of the main components, however almost all the facts and information I studied was not on the exam. If I was to study again for it, I would learn the specifications of each main theory in each content area, but I would also learn more about group work, program design and evaluation, ethical situations, and research studies. While the Encyclopedia of Counseling is a good book, it covers the basics only. You can answer most questions correctly in the book and easily fail this exam.

So, how do you study for it you ask? Talk with those who have taken it, just do not expect to get specifics as to the questions on it. Also note, there are many different versions of this exam, so the one I took most likely will not be the same for you. The best thing you can do is read many different books, research articles, and psychology journals. Do not sit and memorize facts, it is pointless. As long as you know the ins and outs of all main theories in all content areas, do not stress yourself to memories everything you see. Take a holistic approach and look at all aspects of the profession. Last but not least, do not give up. I felt defeated as I took the last half of the test, but I did not give up. I tried my best to finish and to score as high as I could. Even when I did not know most of the answers, I took each question one step at a time. In the end, it worked, and soon I shall be a Licensed Professional Counselor – Intern. If you do not give up, you will be as well.

About the author:  Psychcomp is owned and maintained by Nathan Driskell, a recent graduate of Houston Baptist University’s Masters of Psychology program. Nathan has worked for the past five years creating and maintaining websites, and has experience managing small business networks. Contact Nathan at the following locations: ndri...@psychcomp.com">E-Mail Twitter

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Tags: LPC-Intern, nce, nce exam, Psychology

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 9th, 2010 at 6:10 PM and is filed under Psychology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.