CPCE Glossary

• ABCD Model

Used for developing program objectives and includes A - audience (individuals influenced by the program objective), B - behavior (expected action or attitude), C - conditions (context or mode in which behavior will occur), and D - description (concrete performance criterion)

• ABCDEs

An acronym used to explain the core beliefs of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). The activating event (A) is any event or experience that elicits negativity or unease. People’s belief systems (B) can be either rational or irrational in response to (A) and are what contribute to an emotional consequence (C) that is either beneficial or detrimental. By delineating this idea to clients, clients can see that (C) actually results from (B) and not (A), as often thought by clients. Next, irrational beliefs must be disputed (D) with the goal of developing (E), an effective new philosophy that allows people to replace their irrational beliefs with rational beliefs

• ABC-X Model of Family Crisis and Stress

Acronym for the model created by Hill through observations of families experiencing separation and reunification during and after World War II (A) provoking stressor/event; (B) family resources; (C) meaning attached to the stressor/event; and (X) the crisis, which is an acute state of family disequilibrium/immobilization

• Ability Assessment

A broad category of assessment instruments that measure the cognitive domain (e.g., knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information). Assessment of ability includes tests that measure achievement

• Ableism

The belief that individuals with disabilities are limited in what they can do and undervalues their abilities

• ACA Code of Ethics

A set of guidelines established by the American Counseling Association (ACA) to guide the professional practice of counselors in order to ensure the welfare and safety of clients

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

A cognitive-behavioral therapy that emphasizes acceptance and mindfulness processes. A central tenet of ACT is that maladaptive behaviors develop from clients’ attempts to avoid or suppress negative thoughts and feelings

• Accommodation

An individual perceives and interprets new information in a way that causes the restructuring of existing cognitive structures

• Accountability

From a program evaluation perspective, a process of providing feedback about a program to its stakeholders

• Accreditation

A process that eligible educational institutions and organizations can elect to undergo (i.e., it is voluntary) to demonstrate that the institution meets set standards

• Acculturation

A process by which groups of individuals from differing cultures exchange cultural attributes as a result of continuously close contact. Typically, the minority group’s adoption of the dominant culture’s beliefs, values, and language however, the dominant group can also adopt minority cultural patterns

• Aggression

Taking actions with the intent to cause pain or harm. Aggression can be verbal, physical, or relational

• Aggressiveness

Displayed in a group as frequent disagreement with, and forceful attempt to impose ideas upon, the leader and other members

• Aging

A set, predictable process involving growth and change in an organism over time. Aging is categorized as biological (how the body functions and changes over time), psychological (one’s perception of personal age), and social (how one’s chronological age is viewed within the societal, or cultural context). Two primary theories of aging have been proposed

• Agnosticism

The belief that any ultimate being is unknown or unknowable

• Ainsworth, Mary

Described four patterns of infant attachment

• Alcoholics Anonymous

An organization that provides self-help groups and resources to persons who abuse alcohol. AA assists individuals with gaining and maintaining control over their lives through sobriety

• Alignments

Alliances between family members (i.e., the ways family members join with and oppose each other)

• Army Alpha

Developed by Robert Yerkes, the Army Alpha is an intelligence test developed during World War I to screen the cognitive ability of military recruits

• Army Beta

The language-free version of the intelligence test used during World War I to screen the cognitive ability of military recruits who could not read or speak English

• Asking the Question

The question, often asked of clients in Adlerian psychology, “How would your life be different if you were well?” Many variations of this question are used, the primary goals being to help clients think about the possibility of no longer having their problem and to show clients that they have the ability to change their lives. This question also helps counselors gain a clearer picture of what the client would like to change and whether the problem is physiological or psychological

• Aspirational Ethics

The optimal standard of behavior and the highest professional standards of conduct to which professional counselors can aspire

• Assertiveness Training

The use of behavioral techniques such as shaping, modeling, and behavioral rehearsal to assist clients in learning how to be assertive and speak up for themselves in an appropriate manner without being passive or aggressive

• Assessment

The systematic process of gathering and documenting information regarding a client’s knowledge, skills, attitudes, and/or beliefs

• Alliances

The subgrouping of members in group therapy. Positive alliances can provide sources of support and strength and lead to high levels of group performance and cohesion, serving much the same intimacy function as friendships and families. However, alliances that are exclusionary can prevent members from forming productive relationships and achieving individual and group goals

• Alternative Hypothesis

A hypothesis developed in order to be eliminated it addresses the question “What else could be causing the results?” Alternative hypotheses usually involve outlining potential extraneous variables. It is notated H1.

• American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

The division of ACA that serves as the professional association for school counselors committed to increasing student achievement and success

• American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP)

Founded by J. L. Moreno, this professional association promotes standards in training, research, and practice in psychodrama, sociometry, and group psychotherapy

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

Prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, public services, and telecommunications, and requires accommodations for access

• Annulment

The voiding of a marriage

• Aptitude Tests

Assess what a person is capable of learning and attempt to predict how well that individual will perform in the future

• Beneficence

In contrast to nonmaleficence, means doing only good

• Berne, Eric

Developed transactional analysis (TA)

• Between-Groups Design

A general category of experimental research designs that involves exploring the effects of a treatment or intervention between two groups or among more than two groups

• Bias

In assessment, a broad term that refers to an individual or group being deprived of the opportunity to demonstrate their true skills, knowledge, abilities, and personalities on a given assessment

• Biculturalism

A model of acculturation in which individuals identify with both their own culture and the host culture

• Biography

A qualitative research tradition that seeks to identify personal meanings individuals give to their social experiences. The researcher gathers stories and explores meanings for an individual as well as how the stories fit into a broader social or historical context

• Biological Aging

Categorization of aging as biological (how the body functions and changes over time)

• Biracial Individuals

Individuals who are the biological children of parents from two different racial backgrounds

• Birth Order

Also referred to as sibling position

the position children occupy in their families of origin. Alfred Adler believed that where individuals fall chronologically in their family influences their personalities. He proposed five ordinal positions

firstborns, second children, middle children, youngest children, and only children

• Bisexual

Said of an individual who is attracted to members of the same and opposite sex

• Blind Study

A study in which the participants are not aware of the condition (treatment or control group) to which they have been assigned

• Blocking

A technique used in group counseling to stop a counterproductive member behavior in order to protect other members from potentially damaging interactions

• Boundaries

The physical and psychological factors that separate the family system from outsiders, as well as define roles and responsibilities within a family unit. Boundaries can be either rigid (closed family system) or flexible (open family system)

• Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC)

A division of ACA created to promote the incorporation of spiritual, religious, and ethical values into counselors’ educational programs and professional practice

• Atheism

The disbelief in the existence of God

• Attending

A basic counseling skill that involves the counselor’s use of verbal and nonverbal behaviors to convey to the client that the counselor is actively listening and is interested in client self-disclosures. Nonverbal attending behaviors include eye contact, an open stance, head nodding, gestures, and silence verbal attending behaviors include “door openers” (e.g., “Tell me more about that”) and minimal encouragers (e.g., “Okay, I see”)

• Attention-Seeking Behaviors

Behaviors that call attention to the group member and away from other members

• Attenuation

A misleading correlation that occurs when unreliable measures indicate a lower relationship between two variables than actually exists

• Attribution Theory

Concerned with how people perceive their own as well as others’ behaviors. It also examines the cause an individual attributes to events and how these cognitive perceptions shape one’s behavior

• Authoritarian

A group leadership style in which the group leader takes control of and responsibility for the group; sets the agenda, goals, and rules; and serves as the conduit for member interaction (i.e., discussion occurs through the leader)

• Bandura, Albert

Developed social learning theory, which is based on the principle that people learn through observation, imitation, and modeling

• Bar Graph

A graph that displays nominal data. Each bar represents a distinct (noncontinuous) response, and the height of the bar indicates the frequency of that response

• BASIC ID

An acronym used to describe the seven assessment domains in multimodal therapy

• Belmont Report

A report prompted by the ethical issues arising from the Tuskegee syphilis study. Created by the former U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to outline ethical principles and guidelines for research involving human participants

• Case Study

(a) Used in human development research to collect data on a developmental change from a single individual, or a single group of individuals experiencing a similar developmental phenomenon. (b) A qualitative research approach that describes a case, a distinct system of an event, process, setting, or individuals or small group of individuals

• Catching Oneself

An Adlerian counseling technique that encourages clients to catch themselves when they are engaging in the behaviors that are perpetuating their presenting problem

• Central Nervous System

A part of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord

• Central Tendency

Measures of the typical or middle value of the data set. Measures of central tendency include the mean, median, and mode

• Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC)

Professionals who seek to help individuals with disabilities work through personal and vocational issues they may encounter as a result of impairment

• Chi Sigma Iota (CSI)

The international honor society for professional counselors, counselor educators, and counseling students. CSI was created in 1985 to foster achievement and scholarship within the profession as well as to acknowledge exceptional leaders in the field

• Chi-Square Test

A nonparametric statistical test used to determine whether two or more categorical or nominal variables are statistically independent

• Choice Theory

A theoretical approach developed by William Glasser that holds people make choices to meet their five basic needs

• Circular Questioning

A Milan family therapy technique that uses questions to highlight family connections and differences among family members

• Clarifying

A counseling technique used in individual or group therapy to help the counselors check their understanding of what clients have said

• Classical Conditioning

A learning process, first described by Ivan Pavlov, that occurs when an environmental stimulus is consistently associated with a naturally occurring stimulus. Specifically, classical conditioning involves the pairing of an unconditional stimulus (US) that automatically elicits an unconditioned response (UR), with a neutral, conditioned stimulus (CS) that, after a

• Color Consciousness

A process by which Whites experience guilt for their role in perpetuating racial discrimination for racial minorities and, as a result, begin to focus solely on racial differences

• Colorism

A form of discrimination in which individuals receive differential treatment based on skin color. Traditionally, individuals whose skin color approximates that of Whites receive preferential treatment

• Coming Out Process

The process of recognizing oneself as a sexual minority and disclosing one’s sexual identity to others. Aspects of the coming out process include becoming aware of attraction to the same sex; being sexually involved; becoming familiar with the sexual minority community; identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender; coming out to the community

being sexually involved

• Communication Disorders

A group of disorders that involve problems in speech, language, and hearing

• Comparative Design

A type of nonexperimental design that allows the researcher to investigate group differences for a particular variable in order to determine if there is a difference between the groups

• Compassion Fatigue

Occurs when helping professionals experience overwhelming feelings after being exposed to client crisis states (e.g., pain, suffering). Professionals may experience hopelessness, a decrease in pleasure, constant stress and anxiety, and a pervasive negative attitude

• Complainants

A term used in SFBT to characterize clients who recognize the existence of a problem and can define it but have yet to commit to solving it

• Complementary Relationships

Relationships in a family between unequals, where one member is “one down” and the other is “one up.” Although this description appears negative, complementary relationships are not necessarily objectionable

• Complex

A Jungian term used to describe amalgamating unconscious feelings, thoughts, and desires. Jung proposed the existence of many kinds of complexes and that each complex revolves around a universal experience, or archetype (e.g., “mother complex”). Complexes symbolize issues that a person needs to resolve

• Compromise

A method professional counselors can use to help group members detach their ideas from their egos in order to promote group goals and enhance the group process

• Computer-Adaptive Testing

A type of testing that has the ability to adapt the test structure and items to the examinee’s ability level (e.g., GRE)

• Computer-Assisted Career Guidance (CACG) Systems

Computer-based systems that provide vocational assessments, occupational and educational information, and career planning tools. Commonly used CACG systems include DISCOVER, SIGI PLUS, Choices, and Guidance Information Service

• Cognitive Therapy

A type of therapy developed by Aaron Beck which posits that peoples’ emotions and behaviors are a direct result of their cognitions. Cognitive therapy seeks to assist clients in identifying, testing, and restructuring their distorted, dysfunctional thoughts

• Cohort Study

Involves assessing the same population over time

• Co-Leadership

Occurs when more than one leader shares or helps to facilitate the group process

• Collective Trauma

A community’s reaction to a crisis

• Consultation Process

The process of consulting can be divided into four steps

• Consciousness

A total awareness of one’s self. Psychoanalytic theory proposes that individuals have a conscious mind (awareness of everything occurring in the present), a preconscious mind (contains forgotten memories and vast stores of knowledge and information that can be easily recalled with assistance or cues), and an unconscious mind (contains memories, instincts, and drives that are exceedingly difficult to bring to a person’s conscious awareness)

• Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR)

A qualitative approach that combines elements of phenomenology and grounded theory and involves researchers selecting participants who are very knowledgeable about a topic and remaining close to data without major interpretation with some hope of generalizing to a larger population

• Consistency

The degree of similarity between the six different Holland types. Holland developed the hexagon model to illustrate the degree of similarity among the different types

• Constructivism

A philosophical paradigm that contends there are multiple realities or perspectives for any given phenomenon. Truth differs for individuals and is an internal manifestation, as opposed to positivism and post-positivism, which propose that truth is external to the individual

• Contact Summary Sheet

A data management tool used in qualitative research that provides a single-page snapshot of a specific contact, such as an interview or observation

• Continuous Development

Emphasizes the small shifts or gradual, sequential, changes that occur in behaviors and abilities over time and that are difficult to separate

• Control Group

Used in experimental designs, this group comprises those participants in a study who share very similar attributes with the experimental group but do not receive treatment. Three types of control groups are commonly used: (a) wait list control group (individuals who are awaiting treatment, but not receiving any treatment at all); (b) placebo control group (individuals who receive some “treatment” that will not affect the dependent variable [e.g., sugar pill]); and (c) treatment as usual (TAU) control group (individuals receive whatever treatment they would ordinarily receive if they sought treatment but do not receive the special treatment under study)

• Conversion Therapy

Also known as reparative therapy, attempts to convert individuals of gay or lesbian sexual identities to a heterosexual identity

• Consultation

A formal process by which professional helpers and individuals/groups form a relationship voluntarily in order to solve a problem. Typically the professional helper (consultant) assists the individual/group (consultee) with defining and resolving an issue. The three primary models of consultation are the triadic-dependent model, the collaborative-dependent model, and the collaborative-interdependent model

• Counterparadox

Counselors’ technique of asking family members not to change too quickly in order to assist the family in avoiding resistance

• Countertransference

A psychoanalytic term used to describe the emotions and fantasies a counselor unconsciously transfers to the client. Typically, these feelings stem from the counselor’s own unresolved conflicts and past relationships

• Cross-Sectional Design Studies

A research method that allows the researcher to simultaneously compare several groups from differing levels of development (e.g., 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds, 40-year-olds) with respect to the independent variable(s)

• Crystallized Intelligence

A type of intelligence proposed by Cattell (1971) that is gained through learning and is greatly affected by life experiences and culture

• Cultural Encapsulation

Occurs when the dominant cultural view is regarded in counseling as more important than minority values. Cultural encapsulation can lead counselors to evaluate and treat diverse clients from the dominant perspective, disregarding clients’ individual cultures and values

• Customers

A term used in SFBT to characterize the most ideal clients; such clients recognize a problem that needs to be fixed and are committed to finding a solution. Until clients become customers, it is difficult to help them effectively improve their lives