Mastering the National Counselor Examination and the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination

by Bradley T. Erford, Danica Hays, Stephanie Crockett

Mastering the National Counselor Examination and the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination is specifically designed to help students preparing for the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE) and the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE) and professional counselors preparing to take the NCE as a licensure exam. This practical guide provides numerous sample questions, includes four full-length practice exams – two for the NCE and two for the CPCE – and presents pertinent information about the NCE and CPCE, including discussion of its rationale, structure, format, and scoring procedures. Readers have ample opportunities to test their knowledge and practice answering the types of questions that they will encounter on the exams. Fully updated to align with 2016 CACREP standards and current NCE/CPCE content, the 3rd Edition includes new test preparation items, additional case studies, and a revised glossary of key terms. An updated Chapter 1 includes test-taking strategies, and a revised Chapter 9 focuses on what future counselors need to know about getting a job and marketing themselves as professional counselors. NCE® is a registered trademark of the National Board for Certified Counselors®, Inc. (NBCC®). National Counselor ExamTM is a trademark of the NBCC. Counselor Preparation Comprehensive ExaminationTM and CPCETM are trademarks of the Center for Credentialing & EducationTM (CCE®). NBCC and CCE do not endorse or sponsor the services or products of any individuals, businesses, or other organizations. NBCC and CCE are not, in any way, responsible for such services or products, or the representations made concerning such services, products, or affiliations with other organizations or businesses.

Genres: Counselling, Nonfiction, Psychology

384 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2010

Reviews

[Laura Kindell]

Equally detailed and digestible, which feels like quite the feat given it summarized 3 years and 60 credits of content. Thank you, Dr. Erford, for serving as the director of my counseling program and for writing this study resource. Read through this book 6 days a week for the last 2 weeks and found it moderately enjoyable - a pleasant surprise!

I take the CPCE in 3 days and the NCE in 30 days (!!!) so I cannot yet speak to the practical impact of reading this cover-to-cover but, even now, I’m glad I did.

“This effort is dedicated to The One: the Giver of energy, passion, and understanding, who makes life worth living and endeavors worth pursuing and accomplishing, the Teacher of love and forgiveness.” - BTE

Quoted above is the dedication BTE has written in each of his textbooks I’ve read. For three years, I’ve been building up the courage to ask him, “Dr. Erford, to whom are you referring?”

[Meredith]

I used this book to help prepare me for the NCE, along with Rosenthal's Encyclopedia of Counseling and CDs.

I felt that this book had a lot of great information that is left out of Rosenthal's reviews. The organization of the book is fantastic, with bold and italic print for important terms, and the way the sections are laid out makes the information a bit easier to learn. At the beginning of each chapter, information is given about the difficulty level and amount of questions from previous years on the NCE and CPCE, which I appreciated. There are also end-of-section quizzes and end-of-chapter summaries which provide an excellent way to make sure you're comprehending the given information. Several times while taking the NCE, I found myself recalling things I had studied in this book rather than Rosenthal's reviews.

With that said, the book is very dry and overwhelming with the amount of information given. Every time I started reading it, I got extremely tired and would begin nodding off. So, I recommend this book, but I think you should give yourself plenty of time to read and review it. It's not something that you can "cram" with.

I haven't gotten my NCE scores back yet, so I can't definitively say that it helped me pass, but fingers crossed. :-)

[Sydney Walker]

Really enjoyed how simple yet detailed this was in preparation for my CPCE.

[Carly]

This is a much more thorough review (I felt) than the Howard Rosenthal book that was promoted heavily in my school program. The advantage that I feel this has over the Rosenthal text is that it is divided into the 8 sections (like Rosenthal's), but the contents of the chapters is an outline format of the key points (likely) to come up on the NCE or CPCE. There are questions throughout each chapter to ensure that you understand what you just read, and overall I felt it was easier to learn about a theory/technique/person from this text.

At the end there are also 2 practice CPCE tests (which I just took this past weekend...and did NOT think was all that similar to the practice tests, but I still feel those tests were worthwhile) and two NCE tests. The answer sheet for the tests were done in such a way that the test taker could easily see the chapters that the most improvement is needed on--so you can know where to focus your time.

There was also a VERY detailed glossary of people, theories, techniques, etc in the back of the book which I found extremely helpful. (The Rosenthal Human Services Dictionary was a waste of my money as it left out major things.)

If you are looking for a book to buy...I studied with both Rosenthal and this book, but I'd recommend this one over Rosenthal.

[Amy]

Helpful for my exam (used more recent blue version)

[Micheale]

The material in this study guide is adequate for exam review, but it is presented in the the driest, most boring way possible. After talking to friends, I switched to The Encyclopedia of Counseling by Rosenthal, which is so much more engaging and interesting. Plus, there’s an app with practice exams and study questions. Everyone I know who used the Rosenthal book passed their comps. Don’t waste your money on this book!

[Sylvia Berg]

Combined with Rosenthal, it's helpful. I used the material to make flashcards. I do feel it has a lot of information that is less likely to be on the exam but can make you stuck and stressed, thinking you should memorize all the dates and minor theories.

[Sarah Peterson]

Overall a great, digestible, and comprehensible book to prepare for testing. I knocked a star due to stark errors between written texts and a small number of “correct” answers. I chose to study the way of the text in these situations.

[Myni ~ myniturnspages]

Very, very thorough. I read through this book and studied from it and the Rosenthal purple book. Highly recommended. I really liked that this book is so detailed and thorough.

[Jia Elise]

NO AUDIO

AUDIO SHOULD BE ALLOWED as it would be very beneficial and helpful to the reader. Some information not provided in the text.

[Stella]

This book overwhelmed me. Tons of information thrown at you at once - not really sure if I retained anything, although I did read it cover to cover. With that being said - I passed! If you're looking for a truly extensive/comprehensive guide to studying for the CPCE/NCE, Erford could be the way to go. However, I felt that I gained a lot more information from Rosenthal's Encyclopedia of Counseling.

[Ilka]

Great and informative book about Counseling. I passed the exam after studding from this book. I definitely recommend.

[Stacy Marian]

I found the app more helpful in studying.