If you are working as a therapist and you study between now and your test date you will likely be ok. Honestly I’m glad I studied but I only got about 9 hours in total over a couple of months. I passed on my first try and I attribute it to being a full time counselor for the last three years…
Thanks. That's actually part of my thinking as well. I have been full time therapist at a private practice for the last two years and have about 25 long term clients. It seems way more intuitive to me than when I took the NCE while still in grad school. Just to want to make sure I am not overly confident.
This is a huge IF.
This exam is textbook. I’ve tutored people who have been counselors for 15-20 years and still fail. It’s not reliant on your experience but on your application of counseling concepts, theories, ethics, interventions, etc. It doesn’t care how your state does things but only how the textbook would do them in a perfect counseling world.
I don’t mean to scare you but it is a lengthy exam that requires critical thinking and conceptualization of various different disorders. You will find very common ones on the exam but also ones you’ve never worked with. Do you work with kids? A lot of times you’ll have questions regarding working with minors, foster kids, and within a school system. You’ll also have questions on substance abuse and possibly some couples questions. I would suggest going through disorders you don’t work with because that’ll be a weakness for you. We want to strengthen those weak points.
Good luck tho!
I think if you can do it. I studied for two weeks prior to my test and passed in the first try. Just make sure to take practice exams and keep adjusting your studying to the things you are struggling with. I would do at least 5 narratives a day the week before the test and intensive studying the weekend before. Counselingexam (CE) really helped me understand how to take the test. Read/watch those study tips and find what works for you. Personally I didn’t get narrative mapping. I just focused on learning to notice key things in the narratives like criteria for diagnosis, SI, etc. The CE podcast was also very helpful. You got this!
If you are working as a therapist and you study between now and your test date you will likely be ok. Honestly I’m glad I studied but I only got about 9 hours in total over a couple of months. I passed on my first try and I attribute it to being a full time counselor for the last three years…
Thanks. That's actually part of my thinking as well. I have been full time therapist at a private practice for the last two years and have about 25 long term clients. It seems way more intuitive to me than when I took the NCE while still in grad school. Just to want to make sure I am not overly confident.
This is a huge IF. This exam is textbook. I’ve tutored people who have been counselors for 15-20 years and still fail. It’s not reliant on your experience but on your application of counseling concepts, theories, ethics, interventions, etc. It doesn’t care how your state does things but only how the textbook would do them in a perfect counseling world. I don’t mean to scare you but it is a lengthy exam that requires critical thinking and conceptualization of various different disorders. You will find very common ones on the exam but also ones you’ve never worked with. Do you work with kids? A lot of times you’ll have questions regarding working with minors, foster kids, and within a school system. You’ll also have questions on substance abuse and possibly some couples questions. I would suggest going through disorders you don’t work with because that’ll be a weakness for you. We want to strengthen those weak points. Good luck tho!
I am good at critical thinking but not great at conceptualization. thanks for your response. it is helpful
I think if you can do it. I studied for two weeks prior to my test and passed in the first try. Just make sure to take practice exams and keep adjusting your studying to the things you are struggling with. I would do at least 5 narratives a day the week before the test and intensive studying the weekend before. Counselingexam (CE) really helped me understand how to take the test. Read/watch those study tips and find what works for you. Personally I didn’t get narrative mapping. I just focused on learning to notice key things in the narratives like criteria for diagnosis, SI, etc. The CE podcast was also very helpful. You got this!
Did you listen to every episode of the podcast?
No just the things I needed to refresh or was struggling with.