Mindful Continuing Education

Encouraging Cognitive Complexity in the Counseling Profession

1. Cognitive complexity has been described as the ability to absorb, synthesize, and make use of disparate perspectives, and it is gaining recognition as a skill to be cultivated among professional counselors and supervisors.

A. True B. False

Influence on Empathy

2. In a study investigating the relationship between an individual’s cognitive complexity and one’s style of relating to simulated client situations, master’s-level counselors who displayed higher cognitive complexity were more likely to respond to client affect, display an understanding toward the client, encourage client exploration, and:

A. Demonstrate compassion and remain non-judgmental B. Display authenticity C. Maintain attention to core issues D. Exhibit patience while processing with clients

3. Therapeutic receptivity is the term used to describe a counselor’s ability to understand and integrate cognitive and affective information when developing clinical interventions with clients.

A. True B. False

Counselor Characteristics in Predicting Cognitive Complexity

4. Research indicates that significant predictors of counselor cognitive complexity include level of education, years of counseling experience, and recovery status.

A. True B. False

5. In addition to establishing positive counseling relationships with clients, counselors with higher cognitive complexity have demonstrated each of the following characteristics EXCEPT:

A. They have been more open to multiple perspectives B. They have been less reliant on concrete rules or external authority figures for decision-making C. They have shown flexibility in their interventions during challenging situations D. They display a sophisticated set of interpersonal skills, including verbal fluency, interpersonal perception, and affective modulation and expressiveness

6. Problem-based learning is one pedagogical tool grounded in constructivism that can be utilized to foster cognitive complexity in counselor training programs, and problem-based tasks that can be integrated into counselor training include adaptation tasks, role-taking and observation tasks, and:

A. Collaborative inquiry B. Goal setting and planning C. Brainstorming and evaluation D. None of the above


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