DSST Fundamentals of Counseling study guide
DSST Fundamentals of Counseling · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The DSST Fundamentals of Counseling exam is a multiple-choice, credit-by-examination test in the Social Sciences subject area, listed at Level 3 Baccalaureate and worth 3 semester hours at institutions that accept it. It is intended for students who have already acquired knowledge equivalent to an introductory counseling course - through coursework, military training, professional development, or independent reading - and want schools to award credit for that knowledge rather than repeat the class. The DSST Fundamentals of Counseling study guide has 4 sections and about 1,648 words.
01Historical Development of Counseling
The historical development domain tests whether you can place a person, a book, or a law on a timeline and say what changed in practice because of it. DSST items here are usually recognition questions: a name in the stem with four movements in the options, or a date attached to a paradigm shift.
422 words, about 2 min02Counselor Roles and Functions
Roles and functions questions ask what counselors actually do, in which setting, and where the legal and ethical lines sit. Expect items on the moral principles, confidentiality and its limits, mandated reporting, informed consent, the Tarasoff duty, supervision and gatekeeping, and the difference between direct and indirect services.
404 words, about 2 min03The Counseling Relationship
The counseling relationship domain tests the conditions and skills that make counseling work. Items ask you to identify Rogers's core conditions, name a microskill from a therapist statement, recognize transference or countertransference, judge an ethical boundary call, or choose the best opening response to a client statement.
434 words, about 2 min04Theoretical Approaches to Counseling
Theories questions ask you to attribute a technique to its founder, match a case description to a model, or predict what a therapist in a given orientation would do next. Group theories by their view of the problem: past and unconscious, present experience, learned behavior and cognition, or the system around the client.
388 words, about 2 min