Mesoskills and Microskills
$100: "This microskill involves rephrasing the client’s words to ensure understanding and clarification."
"What is paraphrasing?"
$100: "Counseling goals should follow this acronym to be effective."
"What is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound)?"
"This is the first color in the visible spectrum and is often associated with energy and passion."
"What is red?"
"Counselors must maintain this boundary when using social media to prevent dual relationships."
"What is professional distance?"
"In the NCMHCE, clinical decision-making is assessed through these types of case-based formats."
"What are clinical simulations?"
$200: "This skill involves summarizing key points from a session to reinforce insights and track progress."
"What is summarization?"
"A counseling objective should be measurable so that progress can be evaluated based on this."
"What is observable behavior?"
"This color represents happiness and optimism and is located in the middle of the spectrum."
"What is yellow?"
"Before sharing client-related information on social media, a counselor must obtain this."
"What is informed consent?"
"A counselor should always prioritize assessing this when a client presents with severe depressive symptoms and hopelessness."
"What is suicide risk?"
$300: "A counselor uses this skill to restate the client’s thoughts and ideas, demonstrating active listening."
"What is reflection of content?"
"Client goals should be set collaboratively, promoting this essential element of counseling."
"What is client autonomy?"
"This cool color symbolizes calmness, serenity, and stability in psychological interpretations."
"What is blue?"
"Ethically, counselors should avoid this type of interaction with current or former clients on social media."
"What is ‘friending’ or following?"
"When formulating a diagnosis in the NCMHCE, the counselor should rely on this primary source of information."
What is the client’s reported symptoms and clinical presentation?"
"This technique helps clients feel validated by mirroring the emotions they are expressing."
What is reflection of feeling?"
"This term refers to short-term objectives that help clients achieve their long-term counseling goals."
"What are benchmarks or sub-goals?"
"In chromotherapy, this color is often associated with creativity and transformation."
"What is orange?"
"The ACA Code of Ethics recommends that counselors create one of these to outline their online interactions with clients."
What is a social media policy?"
"A key difference in the NCMHCE scoring process is that responses are categorized into these two types of options."
What are essential and non-essential (or effective and ineffective) options?"
These two microskills are often used together to highlight both the facts of a client’s experience and their emotional response."
"What are reflection of content and reflection of feeling?"
"Counseling goals must be flexible enough to adapt based on these changing client needs."
"What are life circumstances or therapeutic progress?"
"This final color of the rainbow is often linked to spirituality and introspection."
"What is violet?"
"When using social media for professional purposes, counselors must avoid sharing this type of information that could compromise client confidentiality."
"What is personally identifiable information (PII)?"
When treating a client with trauma, an effective intervention should align with this evidence-based approach."
What is trauma-informed care?"