NCE Practice Test: Free National Counselor Exam Questions for the LPC and LMHC
505 practice questions for the National Counselor Examination (NCE), the exam most states use to license professional counselors (the LPC, LMHC, LCPC or LPCC, depending on the state). They follow the NCE content outline: six domains weighted the way the real exam is, from Counseling Skills and Interventions (30%) and Areas of Clinical Focus (29%) down to Core Counseling Attributes (8%), and every one of its 173 knowledge, skill and task statements. Many are vignettes (a client, a situation, and what the counselor should do FIRST or NEXT); the rest are the facts the NCE is known for: theorists and their techniques, developmental and group stages, DSM-5-TR criteria, assessment and statistics. Each question is tagged to its outline code, so your score report shows exactly which statements you miss. Every answer explains why the best choice is best and names its source: the ACA Code of Ethics, HIPAA, SAMHSA, CDC, NIMH and the counseling literature.
The real test: 200 multiple-choice questions (160 scored, 40 unscored field-test items) in 3 hours 45 minutes, at a Pearson VUE test center or online, with a 30-day wait between attempts. Pass or fail by a number of correct answers out of 160 that NBCC sets for each version of the exam; there is no fixed percent. A new 170-question NCE starts July 1, 2027. Our practice test is 80 scored questions plus 20 unscored, split by the six domains like the content outline, passing at 70%.
Here: 505 questions. Our own practice questions, written from the ACA Code of Ethics (2014), the HIPAA Privacy Rule, 42 CFR Part 2, SAMHSA Treatment Improvement Protocols, CDC, NIMH, NIAAA, DSM-5-TR criteria and the counseling literature, with every answer's source named. Topics are the six domains of the NCE content outline. Not NBCC's test questions. Free.
"On the test" is the rough share of a 80-question test for each topic, following the exam's published weights.
10 sample questions
A counselor trained in adult outpatient work is asked to start seeing a 9-year-old with selective mutism next week. She has no training with young children. What should she do FIRST?
A.See the child once to judge whether the case is harder than it looks, then decide whether to keep it
B.Decline or refer unless she can get training and supervision in child work before taking the case
C.Accept the case, since a license covers work with clients of every age
D.Accept the case and read about selective mutism over the weekend so she is ready for the intake on Monday
Show answer
B. Decline or refer unless she can get training and supervision in child work before taking the case
NCE-1 · 1. Professional Practice and Ethics
A counselor is doing a biopsychosocial intake. Which set of topics belongs in it?
A.Health and medications, mental health history, family, culture, work, school and supports
B.The client's insurance plan and payment history
C.Only the presenting problem, since anything else can wait until the treatment plan is in place
D.Childhood memories and dreams, explored at length before the counselor asks about current symptoms
Show answer
A. Health and medications, mental health history, family, culture, work, school and supports
NCE-61 · 2. Intake, Assessment, and Diagnosis
A 40-year-old runner lost a leg in an accident. Six weeks later he says he feels like 'half a person' and has stopped seeing friends. Which focus fits best early in counseling?
A.Setting a date for him to return to competitive running
B.Waiting until his prosthesis is fitted, since counseling cannot help before then
C.Teaching him to stop thinking about running so the loss no longer hurts him
D.Grieving the loss, rebuilding identity and roles, and watching for depression
Show answer
D. Grieving the loss, rebuilding identity and roles, and watching for depression
NCE-121 · 3. Areas of Clinical Focus
A counselor drafts a treatment plan before the second session and hands it to the client to sign. What is the main problem with this?
A.The plan should be written only after six sessions, never sooner
B.The plan should be built with the client, not written for her
C.A plan needs the signature of a psychiatrist before it is valid in any setting
D.Clients should never see their own treatment plans or sign them
Show answer
B. The plan should be built with the client, not written for her
NCE-270 · 4. Treatment Planning
A counselor is working with a 6-year-old who witnessed a house fire. Which approach best fits the child's developmental level?
A.Cognitive restructuring worksheets of the kind used with adults
B.A written trauma narrative she reads aloud
C.Play therapy, letting the child express the experience through toys and drawing
D.Talk therapy built on the child explaining her thoughts and feelings in words, as an older child would
Show answer
C. Play therapy, letting the child express the experience through toys and drawing
NCE-315 · 5. Counseling Skills and Interventions
A counselor notices she feels irritated and protective whenever a client describes his controlling father, much like her own. What is this, and what should she do?
A.Empathy; she should share her own story so the client feels understood
B.Transference; she should point out to the client that he is projecting onto her
C.Countertransference; she should notice it and take it to supervision
D.Burnout; she should transfer the client
Show answer
C. Countertransference; she should notice it and take it to supervision
NCE-466 · 6. Core Counseling Attributes
At the first session, when should a counselor explain the limits of confidentiality?
A.After the third session, once enough rapport exists that the news will not frighten the client away
B.Only if the client asks about it directly
C.Only when a situation comes up in which the counselor might actually have to break confidentiality
D.At the start of the relationship, before the client shares sensitive information
Show answer
D. At the start of the relationship, before the client shares sensitive information
NCE-2 · 1. Professional Practice and Ethics
On a mental status exam, a client says she feels 'fine,' but she is tearful and her face is flat. How should the counselor record this?
A.Mood as depressed, with affect left out
B.Mood and affect both as 'fine', since the exam records only what the client reports about herself
C.Mood and affect both as euthymic, since a client who denies distress cannot be scored otherwise
D.Mood as 'fine' in the client's words, and affect as tearful and constricted, as observed
Show answer
D. Mood as 'fine' in the client's words, and affect as tearful and constricted, as observed
NCE-62 · 2. Intake, Assessment, and Diagnosis
A 78-year-old woman's family says she became confused over two days, sees things that are not there and is drowsy in the afternoons. What should the counselor do FIRST?
A.Give her a memory screen such as the MoCA
B.Begin weekly counseling for late-life depression and grief over aging
C.Urge an urgent medical exam, since sudden confusion suggests delirium
D.Tell the family this is normal aging and nothing needs to be done
Show answer
C. Urge an urgent medical exam, since sudden confusion suggests delirium
NCE-122 · 3. Areas of Clinical Focus
Which treatment goal is written in the most useful, measurable form?
A.Client will use a coping skill when anxious and report anxiety below 5 of 10 on four of seven days within six weeks
B.Client will gain insight into the deep roots of her anxiety
C.Client will feel much less anxious and much happier about her life overall
D.Client will stop worrying
Show answer
A. Client will use a coping skill when anxious and report anxiety below 5 of 10 on four of seven days within six weeks