2026 blueprint · updated for this cycle

A new standard in NCMHCE exam prep.

33 client scenarios unfolding across 99 case parts — 495 case questions — plus simulation exams, flashcards, and a tutor who explains every decision, all scored by one readiness number you can trust.

$1.99 today · 3 days of full access · then $29.99/month · cancel anytime

11:10

Good morning, Sam

60 days to exam day

SA
76readiness
🔥 12 day streak 76% accuracy
Today's quest +226 XP
Practice Counseling Skills5/5 Spend time in the study guide1/1 Finish a session at 80%+ accuracy0/1
🎓5

Practice

to hit today's target

🔒0

Mock exam

unlocks at 70

1

Mistakes

to review — clear them

Mad Minute

your free play is ready

11:33LTE
4 / 10
Counseling Skills Counseling Skills

A counselor working with a client who has Social Anxiety Disorder decides to use "Cognitive Rehearsal." What does this intervention involve?

APractise deep breathing while thinking about a social event BMentally walk through a social interaction to identify obstacles CReview the client's childhood memories of social rejection DUse biofeedback to monitor heart rate during social scenarios
Correct · +12 XP

Cognitive rehearsal is a CBT technique where the client practices an upcoming challenging event in their mind, identifying obstacles before facing them in real life.

Next question
11:41LTE
Intake & Assessment Card 14 of 62
Question

What information should be included when assessing a client's presenting problem?

Answer

Assess the onset, duration, frequency, intensity, triggers, functional impairment, prior episodes, coping attempts, and the client's own explanation of the problem.

Memory aid — a presenting problem has a biography — when it started, how it behaves, and what the client believes about it.

How well did you know it?

Again

10 min

Hard

2 days

Good

6 days

Easy

3 weeks

48 cards mastered · 14 in review today

11:33LTE
59 seconds 1/10

The sense of belonging and 'we-ness' that bonds a therapy group together is called:

AGroup norming BGroup cohesion CUniversality DGroup polarization

Head to head

You

7

VS

Friend

5

Send the challenge
11:41LTE
Cleo Your tutor · always on History

In case questions, how do I choose when two interventions both fit?

They describe two different things:

Anchor to where you are in the case — intake, planning, or treatment. Early parts reward gathering and diagnosing; later parts reward intervening and evaluating. Re-read the client's last statement — the best answer responds to it, not to the whole case.

Exam tip — the case's timeline picks the answer — match the move to the phase.

Give me a practice question Explain a confused concept
Ask anything…
11:10LTE

Progress

Last 30 days +21 pts

Accuracy by section

Intake & Assessment 82%
Treatment Planning 78%
Counseling Skills 71%
Progress Evaluation 66%
Group Counseling 61%
Last 90 days 38 active days

Everything included in every plan

1,410

Exam-style questions

750 practice + 660 in simulation exams

33

Client scenarios

99 case parts · 495 case questions

669

Flashcards

with spaced repetition

60s

Mad Minute battles

race a friend on the same set

How it works

Three steps, and the app does the deciding for you.

No study plan to build, no guessing what to review. Answer questions, and your readiness score tells you exactly where you stand and what to do next.

1

Take the diagnostic

Ten questions across the blueprint set your real starting score in about eight minutes — no self-assessment, no guessing where you stand.

8 minutesSets your baseline
2

Practice in short sessions

Ten-minute sets pulled from your weakest sections. Every answer comes with the reasoning and why each wrong option is wrong — the part that actually moves your score.

Explained answersWeak-area targeting
3

Level up to Exam Ready

Each section climbs from Novice to Exam Ready as coverage and accuracy build. Mock exams 99 case parts · 495 case questions, so your first full attempt actually means something.

5 clinical domains trackedMocks at 70 readiness
11:10HOME
27readiness

Take the diagnostic to set your starting score.

🔥 1 day streak 29% accuracy
Today's quest +226 XP
Practice Counseling Skills0/5 Spend time in the study guide0/1 Finish a session at 80%+ accuracy0/1
Counseling Skills Item 7 of 10

A counselor working with a client who has Social Anxiety Disorder decides to use "Cognitive Rehearsal." What does this intervention involve?

APractise deep breathing while thinking about a social event BMentally walk through a social interaction to identify obstacles CUse biofeedback to monitor heart rate during social scenarios DReview the client's childhood memories of social rejection
Correct · +12 XP

Cognitive rehearsal is a CBT technique where the client practices an upcoming challenging event in their mind, identifying obstacles before facing them in real life.

Practice

Mock exams 3 h 45 min · 165 questions

Your level path

Level up each area from Novice to Exam Ready — coverage and accuracy both count.

Intake & Assessment Strong

61 of 74 answered · 82% accuracy

Treatment Planning Proficient

48 of 79 answered · 78% accuracy

Counseling Skills Developing

22 of 86 answered · 71% accuracy

Progress Evaluation Developing

14 of 62 answered · 66% accuracy

Group Counseling Novice

Not started · 58 questions waiting

Everything you get

Nine ways the app keeps you moving.

Questions are the core. Everything around them exists to keep you honest about where you stand and coming back tomorrow.

11:10

Progress

DA
0 readiness 0 day streak 29% accuracy

Holding steady at 0%. One extra session this week moves the needle.

60 days to exam day

Readiness trajectory

Your trajectory appears after a few days of practice.

Accuracy trend

FriWed

14

questions answered

3

study days

10

mistakes to review

Activity

3 study days · 14 questions in the last 6 months

HomePracticeCardsProgress

Progress report

Accuracy trend, study days, mistakes waiting for you, and every active day on one screen. It tells you the truth even when the truth is "not yet".

11:12

Progress

DA

Mastery by area

Intake & AssessmentNot started
Treatment PlanningNot started
Counseling SkillsNeeds review
Progress EvaluationNot started
Group CounselingNot started
HomePracticeCardsProgress

Mastery by area

Every content area, tracked. "Needs review" is flagged in gold so you always know which one to open next.

11:14
0 day streak29% accuracy

Today's quest

+226 XP
Practice Counseling Skills0/5
Spend time in the study guide0/1
Finish a session at 80%+ accuracy0/1

5

Practice

to hit today's target

0

Mock exam

Unlocks at 70% readiness

Cleo

×

History

Hi, I'm Cleo — your personal clinical counseling tutor. 60 days to your exam — ask me anything you're unsure about.

Give me a quick practice question What topic should I focus on today? Explain a commonly confused concept
Ask a question...

Instant tutor help

Cleo sits one tap away on every screen. Ask why an answer is right, or what to study next, without leaving your session.

11:16
×

Intake & Assessment

Card 1 of 17

ANSWER

Assess the onset, duration, frequency, intensity, triggers, functional impairment, prior episodes, coping attempts, and the client's own explanation of the problem.

Rate your recall

intake

MEMORY AID

A presenting problem has a biography — when it started, how it behaves, and what the client believes about it.

Again Hard Good Easy

Flashcards with memory aids

Spaced repetition on the concepts you keep missing — each card comes with a mnemonic written for the way this exam actually asks it.

11:18

Mad Minute

Beat the clock. Beat a friend.

You both get the same questions — answer as many as you can in 60 seconds. Most correct wins; the faster run breaks a tie.

Create a challenge

Have a challenge code?

A B C 2 3 4 Play

Codes last 14 days. Playing a friend's challenge is always free.

Mad Minute

Sixty seconds, same ten questions, one shared link. Most correct wins and the faster run breaks the tie.

11:20

League

STUDENT

You're in Student — 25 pts from Candidate.

121 candidates sitting the NCMHCE this week · ranked by readiness

1Malik F.89 readiness
2Troy P.86 readiness
3Heather F.86 readiness
4Eric J.84 readiness
5Melissa H.80 readiness
6Omar A.80 readiness
7Jasmine N.79 readiness
8Miguel W.78 readiness
121You0 readiness

League

Ranked by readiness against everyone sitting the same exam this week. A quiet, effective reason to open the app again tomorrow.

11:22

Achievements

Badge Progress

1 of 14 earned

7%

You are on your way — every badge counts.

EARNED (1)

First Steps

Answer your first 10 questions

Jun 26

LOCKED (13)

Half Century

Answer 50 questions

Centurion

Answer 100 questions

Powerhouse

Answer 500 questions

Sharp Shooter

Score 80%+ accuracy in any category

Achievements

Fourteen badges tied to real milestones — questions answered, accuracy held, days in a row. Earned, never given.

11:24
🔥 0 day streak29% accuracy

Today's quest

+226 XP
Practice Counseling Skills0/5
Spend time in the study guide0/1
Finish a session at 80%+ accuracy0/1

5

Practice

to hit today's target

0

Mock exam

Unlocks at 70% readiness

Daily quests, XP and streaks

Three small targets a day, worth 226 XP. Enough structure to start, short enough to actually finish.

11:26

Practice

Mock exams

3 h 45 min · 165 questions

Bookmarked questions

Jump back into anything you saved

Your level path

Level up each area from Novice to Exam Ready — coverage and accuracy both count.

Intake & Assessment

Not started

10 answers to Novice

Treatment Planning

Not started

10 answers to Novice

Counseling Skills

Not started

1 answers to Novice

Simulation exams & client cases

Three full-length simulation exams — 165 questions on the real 3 h 45 min clock. The NCMHCE is a case-simulation exam — studying with standalone questions alone trains the wrong skill. Our 33 scenarios train the actual rhythm of the test: “Scenario 1: a 28-year-old male presents two months after a job relocation with persistent low mood and difficulty adjusting…”

Coverage

Every clinical domain the NCMHCE tests. Nothing padded.

Five clinical domains mapped to the NBCC content outline — in the order a real case unfolds. We wrote questions until each domain had enough to matter.

5

Clinical domains

1,410

Questions

Clinical Intake & Biopsychosocial Assessment

150

Treatment Planning

150

Counseling Skills and Interventions

150

Progress Evaluation & Treatment Modification

150

Group Counseling in Clinical Practice

150

Question counts per domain are approximate and shift as the bank grows. Domain names are our own groupings, mapped to the NBCC content outline.

Pricing

One plan. Every feature. Pick your billing.

1,410 questions33 client cases3 simulation exams669 flashcards

WEEKLY

$7.99/week

A short sprint before your exam date. Billed immediately.

Get Weekly

Cancel anytime.

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MONTHLY

$29.99/month

$1.99 for a 3-day trial, then $29.99/month — about $1 a day.

Start 3-Day Trial — $1.99

$1.99 charged today. Cancel anytime.

Best value

ANNUAL

$149.99/year

Save 58% vs paying monthly

Equivalent to $12.50 a month — billed once yearly.

Get Annual

One payment. Cancel anytime.

Every plan includes

1,410

Exam-style questions

33

Client cases · 99 parts

3

Simulation exams

669

Flashcards

Your personal tutor — instant explanations and topic help

Mad Minute — 60-second battles against a friend

Daily quests, XP, streaks and the Novice → Exam Ready level path

Realistic timed mock exams (99 case parts · 495 case questions)

Spaced-repetition flashcards with generated memory aids

Readiness score, weak-area drills and leaderboard

Every plan includes the tutor, mock exams, flashcards, Mad Minute, quests and the readiness score. Cancel anytime.

Who writes the questions

Written and reviewed against the NBCC content outline.

Every question is written and reviewed against the NBCC content outline by licensed clinical counselors — then rewritten when the outline changes. If an item is ambiguous, we cut it. That is why the bank is 1,410 questions and not 5,000.

Blueprint-mapped

Each item is tagged to one of the five clinical domains before it ever reaches you.

Reviewed, not generated

Questions are drafted by licensed clinical counselors, checked against the NBCC content outline, and retired when it changes.

Explanations first

Nothing ships without the reasoning and a note on why each distractor fails.

Frequently asked

Everything about the NCMHCE.

How do I register for the NCMHCE?
You apply through your state licensing board or NBCC, receive your authorization through the Center for Credentialing & Education, and then schedule your appointment — at a Pearson VUE test center or online through OnVUE. Each step is a separate organization, so start the paperwork early.
What does the exam actually look like?
It's a case-simulation exam: 11 clinical case studies, each a client narrative followed by 9–15 multiple-choice questions with four options. That's 130–150 questions in total, of which exactly 100 are scored — the rest are unscored pilot items you can't identify, so treat every question as if it counts. You get 225 minutes of testing time, just under four hours of total seat time.
What score do I need to pass?
The exam is pass/fail. NBCC sets the passing score through expert standard-setting, then adjusts it per test form through statistical equating, so there's no fixed number to aim for. If you pass, your official score goes to your state board within 30 days.
What does the exam cover?
The NBCC content outline: professional practice and ethics, intake, assessment and diagnosis, treatment planning, counseling skills and interventions, and core counseling attributes — with counseling skills and interventions carrying the heaviest weight. Our bank covers all of it across five clinical domains, ordered the way a real case unfolds.
How does this app help me pass?
The NCMHCE tests clinical judgment inside unfolding cases, not isolated recall — so we built the study experience the same way. 33 client scenarios progress from intake through follow-up parts with cumulative context, our three simulation exams run the real exam's 3-hour-45-minute clock, and Cleo explains every decision — including why the other three options fail.
How does the 3-day trial work?
$1.99 charged today gives you three days of complete access — all 1,410 questions, all 33 client scenarios, all three simulation exams, flashcards and Cleo. After three days it becomes $29.99/month unless you cancel, which takes two taps in your account settings.
How do I cancel?
Open your account settings and tap Cancel subscription. It takes effect at the end of your current period and you keep access until then. No email, no support ticket.

Ready when you are.

Three days of full access for less than a coffee. If it isn't the best prep you've used, cancel before it renews.

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