Motivators for Becoming a Certified Counselor

Benefits And Barriers of Taking the NCE Exam

The benefits of taking the National Counselor Examination are motivators because of the desire to become a certified counselor and hold the National Certified Counselor (NCC) designation. Without taking the examination, there is no possibility of becoming a certified counselor, and one cannot practice or attend to clients. Therefore, the NCE exam allows one to practice what they have been learning and use it to assist clients in tackling their psychological challenges. By taking the NCE exam, one demonstrates to colleagues that a person has met the high national standards of the counseling practice. The individual who takes the exam earns the right to use the National Board of Certified Counselors certification mark, demonstrating they are certified and approved to offer services to clients. One can market themselves using the NCC and NBCC certification marks, increasing their client base. The third benefit of taking the NCE exam is becoming nationally certified through the NBCC, and one becomes qualified to become a recognized provider in the military health systems.

The barriers to taking the NCE exam that might affect my decision to take the exam are the scores are only good for three years. If one does not start the NCC application process in that timeframe, one will have to retake the exam if one wishes to become a certified counselor. While there is enough time to begin the NCC application process, there are times one might become caught up with work and life commitments, denying them the chance to initiate the process. In such situations, they will be forced to retake the examination if they wish to become a certified counselor. In recent years there has been a high rate of failure by first-time candidates. The major reason is that most first-timers will have high test anxiety. Many people state the exam is not difficult but with a 60% fail rate, it can be intimidating to take the exam. The costs for taking the test can be intimidating especially considering that if one fails, they will have to send a new registration form, including examination fees. Therefore, there is pressure on the candidate to pass the exam on the first try.