A Flashcards
NCE
abc theory of personality
Albert Ellis’s rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) method of conceptualizing the origin of human feelings and their resulting behaviors. A stands for an activating event or experience, B stands for a person’s thought (s) or belief(s) about A, and C represents feeling(s) or emotion (s) resulting from the thought(s) in B.
ab research design
A simple time series experimental research design method in which a baseline (A) is established before an intervention strategy (B) is introduced.
ABAB research design
A more complex and involved experimental research design than an AB simple time series experiment. In this method, a baseline (A) is established, followed by an intervention (B), which is then discontinued after a time, followed by a second baseline (A) and intervention (B). The ABAB research design is used to confirm that the treatment intervention (B) really had an effect on the baseline behavior.
A-B-C-D-E paradigm
Albert Ellis’s rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) method of correcting illogical or irrational thinking and promoting and maintaining change. In this model, the A, B, and C are the same as in the A-B-C theory of personality. D is the counselor disputing any irrational thoughts or beliefs of the client. E refers to the presumed consequences (or effects) of the counselor’s interventions, that is, the client gaining a different perception of an event and the new feelings the client has in regard to the event or situation in A.
ABCX model of a crisis
The theory that the combination of an event or situation (A), coping resources, (B) and perception (C) determine the extent of a crisis (X).
ability test
A test that measures the extent to which a person is presently functioning in a particular area, such as math. An ability test provides an estimate of what the person is capable of performing in regard to a certain task.
ableism
A type of discrimination that excludes people who are disabled in any way (e.g., have mental, emotional, behavioral, or physical disabilities).
abnormal
Functioning that is divergent or maladaptive from what is considered normal among a population, especially if the behavior is persistent. Abnormal is a culturally sensitive concept because what is considered appropriate in one society may not be seen as such in another.
abreaction
A psychoanalysis term for the therapeutic relieving of painful or distressing emotion by a client through calling into awareness experiences or material that has been repressed.
absolutism
A term in Jean Piaget’s stages of moral development for the concern that children, beginning at approximately age 5 years, have about right and wrong and the rules of life. At this stage, children have absolute faith in the rules their parents have given them (e.g., “Never talk to a stranger”).
abstract (2 definitions)
- A brief formal summary at the beginning of a research study or theoretical paper. 2. The ability to understand symbolic concepts.
absurdity
A statement that is half truthful and even silly if followed to its conclusion (e.g., “I’ll simply fall apart if my son acts that way again”). Counselors sometimes work with individuals and families by using absurdities and exaggerating client statements to help them recognize realities. The use of absurdities is a favorite method of many rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) therapists.
abuse (2 definitions)
- All forms of maltreatment or improper behavior of one person or group by another (or on oneself), whether physical, sexual, behavioral, cognitive, economic, or emotional. 2. The misuse of substances, such as alcohol or drugs, to the detriment of a person’s physical, mental, spiritual, and moral health and well-being.
ACA Code of Ethics
The American Counseling Association (ACA) has a Code of Ethics that each member of the association is expected to follow. The first Code was initiated by Donald Super in 1961. Since that time, the Code has been revised six times: in 1974, 1981, 1988, 1995, 2005, and 2014. The Code has nine main sections: The Counseling Relationship; Confidentiality and Privacy; Professional Responsibility; Relationships With Other Professionals; Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation; Supervision, Training, and Teaching; Research and Publication; Distance Counseling, Technology, and Social Media;
ACA Competencies
These documents contain information on advocacy in a number of counseling areas. See the full list at www.counseling. org/knowledge-center/competencies.
academic enablers
In schools, interpersonal skills, motivation, engagement, and study skills that can improve or hinder academic success.
accent
When the last few words of a client’s statement are highlighted by a counselor to give them emphasis. For example, if a client says, “The situation I’m in now is driving me crazy,” the counselor might reply, “Driving you crazy?”
acceptance (4 definitions)
- Also known as unconditional positive regard. A deep and genuine caring for the client as a person; a prizing of the person just for being. Carl Rogers stated that acceptance is one of the three necessary and sufficient conditions for change. The other two are congruence (genuineness) and empathy. 2. A simple acknowledgment by the counselor of the client’s previous statement with a response such as “Yes” or “Uh-huh” that encourages the client to continue. 3. The act of acknowledging what is happening in a counseling session as opposed to evaluating it. 4. The final stage in Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief. This stage is one of peace, almost devoid of feeling.
accommodation (3 definitions)
- The ability of a person or group to modify cultural ways to fit in better with a new environment or another group. 2. The process in which a counselor joins with a client to achieve a therapeutic alliance based on the nature of the client. To accommodate, counselors make personal adjustments, such as modifying their speech patterns or behaviors. 3. Jean Piaget’s term for the way in which children alter their thinking when new experiences cannot be incorporated through assimilation into their intellectual framework (e.g., when a child realizes that not all women are his or her mother). The opposite of assimilation.
accountability
Documenting effectiveness through the use of measured means such as outcome research or feedback. To be responsible to their clients and the profession, counselors must be able to document that the procedures and methods they use are effective, such as informing clients that the treatment being used has been found to be effective in 80% of similar kinds of cases.
accreditation
An approval process, usually involving an academic program of study, in which members of an outside agency authorized by a profession, such as counseling, inspect and certify that program training standards as well as practicum and internship site requirements are being met at or above a minimum level. In counseling, approved programs of study are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
acculturation
- The ways in which people learn the customs, beliefs, behaviors, and traditions of a culture. 2. The degree to which individuals from minority cultures identify with or conform to the attitudes, lifestyles, and values of the majority culture. For example, a member of a minority culture may act, dress, and speak like persons from the majority culture in an attempt to fit in. 3. Cultural adaptation that occurs as a result of contact between multiple cultures.
acculturation stress
The psychological, somatic, and social difficulties that may accompany the acculturation process by a member of a minority group.
achievement test
An instrument that measures an individual’s degree of competence or learning in regard to a given subject or skill (e.g., the National Counselor Examination [NCE] ).
acquired culture
Learned habits picked up from others outside one’s own culture, such as shaking hands instead of bowing when greeting someone.
acrophobia
An exaggerated fear of being in high places or being up in the air.
acting as if
An Adlerian counseling technique in which clients are instructed to act as if they were the people they want to be, the ideal people they envision. For example, a person may act as if he or she is brave even if scared.
acting out
- A psychoanalytic term for the direct or indirect enactment of unconscious tensions or wishes by a client in the form of disruptive or irrational behaviors. For example, a person may take a step backward every time he or she approaches a door. 2. A term for the disruptive and inappropriate behavior(s) of children, such as running around a classroom when other children are seated as requested.
action
- When a client translates insights gained in counseling into a change in behavior. For example, a client may come to realize that he or she can obtain more of what he or she desires in life by using the assertiveness skills learned in counseling. 2. Slang for the act of gambling or placing a bet.
action bias
The tendency by a client to become mired in a problem situation because of a preference for reaction and following rather than action and initiation. For example, instead of telling someone before the fact that he or she is upset with the way he or she is usually treated, the person may wait until he or she has been treated that way again and then complain.
action exercises
Sensory awareness methods or guided imagery used in the warm-up phase of a group session or a psychodrama to help members discover common themes within the group as well as focus more on individual concerns.
action phase
- When clients in counseling put insights into action. 2. The second part of a psychodrama process that involves the enactment of a protagonist’s concerns. For example, the protagonist may tell someone how he or she feels about him or her rather than bottling up the emotion.
action research
Experience-near research and that focuses on resolving practical, relevant problems that counselors routinely encounter, such as evaluating the effects of a psychoeducational program or treatment on clients. This type of research may not be as tightly controlled or as easily generalized as other types of research.
action stage
The working stage of individual, group, or family counseling in which clients focus on changing their behaviors. For example, clients may work on asking for what they want instead of being passive.
action therapy
A term for treatment procedures that are based on direct alterations of behavior, such as behavior modification.
active imagination
A Jungian technique of analysis in which individuals actively focus on experiences or images, such as in dreams or fantasies, and report changes in these images or experiences as they concentrate on them.
active listening
Attending to verbal and nonverbal aspects of a client’s communication without judging or evaluating to encourage trust, client self-disclosure, and exploration within the counseling relationship. Hearing what is being implied as well as what is explicitly stated. For example, when a client says, “It’s not the same for me anymore,” he or she may be implying that he or she is discouraged.
active mastery
A concept from the microcounseling supervision model (MSM) that is defined as the ability to produce specific and intentional results from chosen counseling skills. activity 1. Movement or behavior, including mental processes, on the part of a person. 2. In transactional analysis (TA), a way of structuring time that deals with external reality (e.g., work ).
activity group guidance (AGG)
Group guidance that involves activities that are developmental in nature, for example, learning proper etiquette. AGG typically includes coordinated guidance topics.
activity theory of aging
The idea that adults who are older should remain as involved in life-satisfying activities as long as they desire. The opposite of the disengagement theory of aging.
actors
Also known as auxiliary individuals who play the parts of important people or objects in a psychodrama play. With prompting from the protagonist, actors play the protagonist’s double, an antagonist, or even a piece of furniture. In the same psychodrama, an actor can play more than one part, such as the protagonist’s best friend and worst enemy.
actualizing tendency
An innate tendency or motivation in human beings toward growth and the fulfilling of their potential— an important concept in the person-centered counseling theory of Carl Rogers and in humanistic approaches to counseling.
acute
The relatively rapid or sudden onset of a condition, such as a school phobia, that is generally of brief duration (i.e., less than 6 months).
adaptive behavior
Also known as adaptation and adjustment. A response intended to deal positively with changes in one’s environment, for example, working harder instead of complaining at certain times of the day when the workload picks up.
adaptive child
A term in transactional analysis (TA) theory for the part of the child ego state that learns to adapt to the expectations of others (e.g., being courteous to adults) to gain acceptance and approval.
adaptive coping strategies
Key factors in education and prevention, such as exercise, sleep, meditation, anticipation, and social support.
addiction
Psychological or physiological dependence on a substance (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, cocaine ) or preoccupation with an activity (e.g., gambling, sex) in order to function. Addiction is characterized by increased tolerance of the drug or behavior and withdrawal symptoms when the substance or activity is unavailable. Behavior moves from normal to addictive when it both produces pleasure and reduces negative moods and includes two key features: (a) Individuals are unable to control, cut back, or stop the behavior (i.e., they are compulsive in their actions and out of control) and (b) individuals continue to use the behavior despite substantial negative consequences.
addiction counseling
Counseling that focuses on working with clients who have addictions. adding cognitive constructions The verbal component of structural family therapy consisting of advice, information, pragmatic fictions, and paradox.
additive responses
Empathetic verbal responses counselors give that add to a client’s understanding of a situation (e.g., “and that frustrates you”). Additive responses clarify thoughts and feelings as well as provide a fresh perspective on meaning.
ADDRESSING
A multicultural model in counseling created by Pamela Hays. The letters of the model stand for the following factors: Age and generational influences, Developmental disabilities, Disabilities acquired later in life, Religion (and/ or spirituality), Ethnicity (may include race), Social status (or social class), Sexual orientation, Indigenous heritage, National origin, and Gender (and gender socialization).
adequate yearly progress (AYP)
A provision in the No Child Left Behind Act that mandates that children make adequate academic progress on specific tests. 5 ADHD See attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Adjective Checklist
A pencil-and-paper personality test generally used with adults. The test contains 300 adjectives and measures 37 dimensions of personality. It is not timed but usually takes from 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
adjourning
Also known as mourning and termination. The final stage in group development, when counseling comes to an end.
adjustment
The degree of harmony between people and their environments, for example, being able to speak the predominant language spoken. Successful adjustment results in adaptive behavior; unsuccessful adjustment results in behavior that is maladaptive.
adjustment test
A personality test that measures the ability of a person to function well in society and achieve personal needs.
Adlerian counseling
An approach to counseling devised by Alfred Adler. It includes an emphasis on the family constellation (especially birth order ), fictions (subjective evaluations of oneself or the environment), and an analysis of a client’s lifestyle. Treatment involves both the promotion of insight and reeducation with accompanying behavioral changes. See also individual psychology.
administrative model
A model of providing student activities in which professionals in college administration (e.g., admissions, records, food, health, financial aid) are put in charge of offering services.
administrative (regulatory) law
Specialized regulations passed by authorized government agencies that pertain to certain specialty areas, such as the profession of counseling.
adolescence
A term originated by G. Stanley Hall at the beginning of the 20th century for the age span between childhood and adulthood beginning at puberty. Adolescence is characterized as a period of transitions, a time of unevenness and paradoxes marked by physical, emotional, moral, and intellectual change. The basic challenge of adolescence according to Erik Erikson is to develop a self-identity. Failure to do so leads to role confusion and an identity crisis.
Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA)
The first federal program devoted exclusively to addressing concerns about adolescent pregnancy. AFLA programs promote abstinence as a primary prevention.
adult children of alcoholics (ACoAs)
Adults who, as children, spent part or all of their childhood in a stressful family environment in which one or more caregivers abused alcohol. Many ACoAs have special issues to resolve through counseling, such as establishing trust and establishing a clear identity. Many ACoAs suffer from similar emotional disorders, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and anger.
adult ego state
A term in transactional analysis (TA) for the objective part of the personality that functions rationally in a planned and organized way. The adult ego state receives and processes materials from the parent ego state and the child ego state as well as the environment and makes decisions based on available information.
adulthood
A developmental stage of life of being fully grown. Adulthood encompasses physical, mental, social, and emotional factors. Adulthood encompasses a wide range of ages, from 18 years and older. It is usually broken down into early, middle, and late periods. According to Erik Erikson, the challenge of young adulthood is to achieve intimacy (i.e., a sharing of self in a close relationship with others). A failure to do so leads to isolation. The challenge of middle adulthood is to become generative (i.e., to create and become productive through one’s career, family, or leisure time). A failure to achieve generativity leads to stagnation. Finally, according to Erikson, the task of late adulthood is to achieve a sense of integrity (i.e., an acceptance of life in all its multiple dimensions). A failure to do so leads to despair.
advance beneficiary notice (ABN)
A written notice that a physician must give a Medicare patient before materials or services are provided.
advanced empathy
A process in which the counselor gets at feelings and meanings in the client’s life that are hidden or beyond the immediate awareness of the client. Advanced empathy goes beyond what has been stated to what is implied. Sometimes advanced empathy is expressed in the identification of and/or linking of themes in the client’s life, such as anxiety. See also primary empathy.
advice
A suggestion or recommendation (e.g., “I think you should take the job and move”). advice giving Instructing or providing someone with information or recommendations about what to do in a particular situation. Advice giving was one of the main techniques of E. G. Williamson and his directive counseling approach of the 1930s. Advice giving was challenged as a technique by Carl Rogers because of its tendency to promote client dependency and interfere with the client’s growth. Advice is used sparingly in most counseling approaches today. It is used mainly in crisis situations in which it either prevents clients from engaging in destructive acts or gives clients something beneficial to do when they are not able to generate constructive plans of action because of being overwhelmed by trauma. Advice giving, if not used judiciously, prevents clients from struggling with their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
advocacy
Organized actions that support or espouse a cause or person(s), such as lobbying, writing, petitioning, speaking, or politicking. Advocacy occurs on many levels (e.g., local, state, national). Counselors advocate for the welfare of their clients and the profession of counseling. Outreach, empowerment, social justice, and social action are all terms associated with advocacy.
Advocacy Competencies
This document (https:// www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/competencies/advocacy_competencies.pdf?sfvrsn=9) contains information on advocacy in a number of counseling areas, including client/student empowerment, community collaboration, systems advocacy, public information, and social/ political advocacy.
advocacy counseling
Counseling that includes outreach, empowerment, and social action.
Advocates for Youth
A national organization that champions efforts to help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health (www. advocatesforyouth.org).
affect
Pertaining to emotion, feeling, mood, or a person’s overt emotional state. Affect is a primary emphasis of some counseling approaches.
affect blocks
Rollo May and Irvin Yalom’s term for places where a client gets emotionally stuck, for example, not being able to get over his or her anger. Affect blocks are like roadblocks in the journey of life.
affect disorder
Also known as mood disorder. A disorder associated with inappropriate expression of emotion (e.g., depression ).
affectional orientation
An alternative term for sexual or romantic orientation. The reason this alternative term is used is that sexual orientation is but one part of a larger dynamic.
affective experiencing
Ways of feeling .
affective-oriented counseling
Theories in counseling, such as gestalt therapy, that focus on making an impact on clients’ emotions to bring about change. The objective is to arouse, handle, and/or modify emotional responses in clients.
affiliation
A positive emotional relationship with someone (e.g., smiling and talking) but without attachment.
affirmation
When a counselor affirms the correctness of information or encourages a client’s efforts at self-determination. For example, the counselor might state, “That’s helpful new information” or “You seem to be gaining more control.”
African Americans
People in the United States whose ancestors came from Africa. African Americans constituted approximately 13.3% of the total population of the United States in 2015.
aftercare
Any follow-up or continued care services given to clients after their release from counseling. For example, individuals released from mental health facilities are often seen in aftercare groups periodically.
age discrimination
The unfair treatment of individuals based on their age.
age norms
Scores or values on tests that represent the typical or average performance of individuals at certain chronological ages, for example, age 12 years.
age of majority
The age when a young person is considered to be an adult. The age of majority depends on state laws and is usually between 18 and 21 years.
ageism
A form of prejudice exhibited when people are categorized and judged on the basis of their chronological age.
aggression
Any behavior —verbal, physical, or relational— directed at an individual or group with the intention of causing harm.
aging
A biological and psychological phenomenon composed of physiological changes as well as a mental process of considering oneself older.
aging family
A family in which the head or heads of the household is age 65 years or older.
agoraphobia
An exaggerated and irrational fear of being in an unfamiliar place or of leaving one’s home.
aha reaction
A sudden insight into one’s situation or environment; it may be accompanied by the exclamation “Aha!”
ahistorical counseling
Theories or techniques of counseling that focus on the present and not the past.
airtime
The opportunity and amount of time given to speak and express one’s concerns during a group .
Al-Anon
A voluntary mutual-help group organization founded in 1951. It is composed of relatives of alcohol abusers who meet regularly to discuss common problems. The Al-Anon World Service Office is located at 1600 Corporate Landing Parkway, Virginia Beach, VA 23454 (www.alanon.alateen.org).
Alateen
A similar program to Al-Anon but for younger people, usually ages 12 to 19 years.
Albert Ellis Institute
Formerly known as the Institute for Rational Living and later the Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. A not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1959 to promote rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). The institute is located at 145 East 32nd Street, New York, NY 10016 (212-535-0822; www.albertellis.org).
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
An organization that helps alcohol abusers gain and maintain control of their lives by remaining sober. Established in the late 1930s, there is a dependence within the AA program on a higher power outside oneself. Much of the work of AA is carried out in self-help groups. AA’s address is PO Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163 (212-870-3400; www.aa.org).
alcoholism
The chronic abuse of and compulsive increased use and tolerance of alcohol. Alcoholism is considered a progressive disease in which the client becomes physically and psychologically dependent on drinking alcohol.
alexia
The loss of ability to understand written words and/or sentences. ALGBTIC See Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling.
