Preparing for the NCMHCE
It took me just over 3 years to finish my master’s program. For the first 2, I was working full-time as a product manager in tech and made a point to take things slow. In March of 2024 I was laid off, and though it came as a shock, it allowed me an incredible amount of space to grow into my clinical practice when I started seeing clients for the first time that Fall.
And though it had been demanding to be working while in grad school, taking 2 classes at a time felt totally manageable. There were times when I thought “if I had one more thing to do, I would die.” But it was mostly fine.
It wasn’t until a 2-week period in my final semester that it felt like I was super busy all of a sudden - everything was happening at once, and I was doing all I could just to stay afloat. And I think the reason for that was the timing of my exam.
So here are some things I learned:
After passing the exam, I was basically done - cognitively, emotionally, psychically. It was SO DIFFICULT to muster up any effort or motivation because of the cramming I had done in the days leading up to it. I was relieved to have finished the bulk of my final assignment by this time, because I would not have had the brainpower afterwards.
You don’t need to study for 6 months. But you do need to study. And the best way to study is to familiarize yourself with the exam format. Understand the basics, those haven’t changed in a long time. Older resources can still be valuable. Know differential diagnoses and CBT.
Things I did that I would recommend:
Schedule your exam early. I don’t mean take it early, I mean get it on the books. This will give you the most options as far as when and where you can take it. By the time I had registered and paid to take the NCMHCE, there was only one option left before September that didn’t conflict with some upcoming travel.
Take the exam in person. There’s less to risk with technology going wrong if you take it at the center.
If you’re going to take the exam in person, visit the location ahead of time if you can. Getting familiar with how to get there, where to park, which room the test would be in, and where the bathrooms were helped me feel more prepared the day of.
If you get period dumb like me, and you track your period, schedule your exam for a time you will be less vulnerable to cognitive… uh… deficiencies. Seriously.
Consider other things happening in your life when you schedule your exam - is it going to be a busy week at work? Will you just be getting back from a wedding with your drinking-est friends? I scheduled my exam with at least a couple days of padding on either side before any big commitments.
I brought throat drops because we were not allowed to bring water bottles into the room. My throat drops came in a blister pack, so they made me take them out and put them in a tissue to bring them into the exam room. If you think you will need water with you in the room, it might be a good idea to apply for accommodations. It did not occur to me that accommodations might include being able to bring a water bottle.
Other things to know:
If you’re not happy with the date of your exam, keep checking back to see if other times become available. It will cost $50 to change the date, but maybe that is a worthwhile trade-off.
There is such a thing as studying too much! The day before the exam, I did some basic review and then spent the rest of the day trying to chill out, eat healthy, and think about anything else. All of that helped me get some good sleep the night before the exam.
Apparently, the NCE has more application questions than we’d been led to believe, from what I have heard. The NCMHCE is pretty much all application. I opted to take the NCMHCE because I felt I would do better on an exam based on application than rote memorization. But apparently, they were pretty similar in that regard.
Counselingexam.com was the best resource I used to study. It had tons of information about the exam itself, which was the most helpful in feeling less nervous and more prepared. There were a ton of scenarios to self-test, and the questions were, as a whole, more difficult than the exam, which I think is a great way to prepare. The format was also closer to the actual exam, which was valuable. PocketPrep was not worth the money imo.
I chose to take the NCMHCE before I would graduate because once I was done with classes, I wanted to be DONE. I could not fathom having to study for a 3 hour exam after finishing school. If you’re also working, it may make more sense for you to wait until your program is behind you to take a long exam. It’s all about making the choices that fit your circumstances.
Make sure to get some great rest the night before your exam! Going in relaxed will make it easier for you to access everything you have learned and experienced. Good luck!
