NCE Success Stories Podcast - Ep. 14 - Stefhanie

How do you stay motivated when the journey to becoming a counselor takes longer than expected?

In this episode of NCE Success Stories, I sit down with Stefhanie Howe to discuss her path to passing the National Counselor Examination (NCE), the lessons she learned along the way, and the excitement of beginning the next chapter of her counseling career.

Stefhanie earned her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Mount Olive in 2023. After recently passing the NCE, she is now pursuing licensure in North Carolina and looks forward to building a career centered on compassionate, client-focused care. She also shares her growing interest in EMDR and how she hopes to incorporate trauma-informed approaches into her future practice.

In our conversation, Stefhanie shares:

• What inspired her to pursue a career in counseling

• Her experience preparing for the NCE

• The study habits and strategies that helped her succeed

• How she stayed motivated throughout the process

• Advice and encouragement for future counselors preparing for their own exam

Whether you're just beginning graduate school or counting down the days until your NCE, Stefhanie's story is a reminder that perseverance, preparation, and confidence can carry you across the finish line.

🎓 Ready to prepare for the NCE with confidence?

Learn more about the NCE Guaranteed Study Package:
https://pass.nceexamprep.com/guaranteedstudypackage

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another future counselor who could benefit from Stefhanie's story. Every success story has the power to encourage someone else on their journey to becoming a licensed counselor.

Podcast Transcript

[00:00:11] Josh: Hello and welcome to the NCE Success Stories podcast where we ask a counselor who's recently passed the national counseling exam all the burning questions that you have as you wonder how to pass with confidence. My name is Josh Keller and I'm the owner of nceexamprep.com. and can you. Today I have with me Stephanie. Stephanie earned her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Mount Olive in 2023. She recently passed the national Counselor exam and is pursuing licensure in North Carolina. Stephanie has special interest in EMDR and is dedicated to providing compassionate client centered mental health care. Stephanie, thanks for being here with me today.

[00:00:51] Stefhanie: Thank you.

[00:00:52] Josh: Yeah, Very excited to have you here and just to hear a little bit about your journey and kind of what that was like you, I know a little bit of your story just because I've, you know, we've been working together for a while, but share with some of our listeners just kind of that journey towards test today for you and what, what was involved there.

[00:01:14] Stefhanie: Sure. So I graduated, as you had shared, In 2023, and I took the test right after graduation and did not pass.

And my school was in the process of going through accreditation. And so anyway, it was a long time before I decided that I was ready to start trying to study to take the exam. I had things in my life going on and so I felt overwhelmed with studying. I, I bought like a purple book, I bought a yellow book. I bought different things that people said they were using.

[00:01:52] Josh: Right.

[00:01:54] Stefhanie: And would take the practice test and just felt a little overwhelmed and defeated.

So I heard from another classmate about your course and so that's when I decided to enroll and try to begin a journey towards passing the exam.

[00:02:14] Josh: Yeah.

[00:02:14] Stefhanie: And, and I was very thankful to find you, Josh.

[00:02:17] Josh: Well, I was very, very glad that you did as well. Um, I, I grow really attached to the people that are in the course, especially when they're coming to their tutoring. And so it's a little bittersweet for me. I'm obviously like super excited when people pass, but there's also this moment of like, oh, not gonna see them anymore. So, you know, I was very excited to hear that you had passed. So you passed. Remind me when, when did you pass the test?

[00:02:44] Stefhanie: So I took the test on May 29 and I found out the same day that I passed.

[00:02:49] Josh: Okay, and did you take it in person or online?

[00:02:53] Stefhanie: I took it in person at a testing center in, in Charlotte.

[00:02:57] Josh: Gotcha. So you, you clicked finished and went up to the counter and they gave You. The paper. Talk to me about what that was like for you. What did you. Did you look at it right away, or did you wait until.

[00:03:08] Stefhanie: So, to be honest, like, walking out of there, I was, you know, just down to the wire with time. Just tried to, like, just go back, like, some of the little things that you had recommended doing.

Not to go back and change everything, but to go flag questions.

And I was down to the wire with time, and walking up to the desk, I was like, I honestly don't know if I passed. That's kind of how I felt. I felt good about some things, but there was a lot of things that it was like. I had got it down to the, you know, the two. Two best answers and just wasn't really sure.

So when I was handed the piece of paper, I was like, I'm just going to wait until I go outside.

And there was another person in the testing center, and she was doing the same thing. It was a different exam she was taking. But we both got outside and we opened the paper and we knew we passed, and we just totally hugged each other. Total strangers

[00:04:05] Josh: together. Yeah.

[00:04:06] Stefhanie: Yeah. And I was just elated. And for this. For this exam, it was a little different because it showed the passing score.

And so, like, I was really surprised to see that not only did I pass, but I passed by, like, 20 points.

[00:04:24] Josh: Wow.

[00:04:25] Stefhanie: Yeah. I mean, it was great. Yeah.

[00:04:27] Josh: Yeah. That's awesome. That just goes to show you, like, sometimes our confidence, like, our brain's gonna play these tricks on us and try to convince us that we. We didn't do as great as we thought. But we're probably a lot of times in better shape than we realize.

[00:04:40] Stefhanie: Absolutely.

[00:04:41] Josh: Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. So how did you celebrate passing other than hugging a stranger?

[00:04:47] Stefhanie: So my. My family, we went out and we celebrated dinner. And then my supervisor for my clinical internship from three years ago, we stay in contact. And he knew that I was taking the exam. He. He owns three clinics in South Carolina. In North Carolina. We're right on the border of South Carolina.

And he shared with me, you know, it took me three times to pass this exam. He said, there's no reflection of how good of a counselor that you will be.

But he was the first person to call me. He's like, how did it go? You know, So I had a lot of people call, so I felt very supported and celebrated. And, yeah, it was great. And I slept really well that night.

[00:05:33] Josh: Yeah. Not having to worry about waking up the next day and studying. Yeah.

[00:05:37] Stefhanie: Right.

[00:05:38] Josh: Awesome. Awesome. So talk to me about Some of the strategies that you use, like as you were preparing and studying that you think helped you to feel the most successful on test day.

[00:05:50] Stefhanie: So thanks to your class, the strategies, I think that really helped me. I can't remember, I'm not quoting you, but I remember you saying, like taking this exam, it's not really a true reflection of you knowing the knowledge, but you need to, I mean, obviously do, but you also need to understand like how this test works.

It's like a reading test in some ways.

And so for me, when I took the exam the first time, it was the first time I had ever taken, you know, almost a four hour long test.

And so when I joined your class and you talked about reading the book through and doing the quizzes and taking, you know, the 3 hour and 45 minute exam, I was like, whoa. I remember the first time I did it, I was like, this is exhausting. But then the second time I did it, it was a little bit better. And I think I, I don't think I got through all six, but I think I took it like a total of four times maybe.

But it was so helpful just kind of to flex your endurance, you know, with that.

[00:06:58] Josh: Exactly. Yeah, it is, it is important to know the information, Right. They've got a content outline for a reason.

But the reason we take these simulated practice tests is because we need to know how we test. Right. What are your tendencies going into test day? And if you've not sat through a practice test that's like a simulation, you're not going to know.

After 50 questions, your brain turns to mush. Right. We need to know how we react under those stressful circumstances.

[00:07:29] Stefhanie: One strategy too, and I think you mentioned this, I'm pretty sure that you did in the class or in your class content online, but was to try to take it the same time every day or around the same time.

You know, I really consider myself like a morning person, but I noticed that if I waited and I felt like I did a little better on the quizzes if it was a little bit later. So anyway, I scheduled my exam, I had a choice to do that around like lunchtime.

[00:08:03] Josh: Right.

[00:08:03] Stefhanie: And did it around that time. And I feel like that, that was helpful for me too, to try to decide like what time of day, you know, works best.

[00:08:12] Josh: Yeah, yeah. I think for people who have the ability to, you know, to study during their most optimum time, testing, Testing during your most optimum time, you know, is ideal. A lot of people that I like, I do strategy sessions with, you know, they'll work all day and then they'll have their evening time with their families and they won't start studying until 8 or 9 at night when they're just completely depleted.

And I just think, man, for three months, just give yourself the, like, give your best time to this test if you can, and then try to take the, the actual exam during your best time. That's again part of knowing yourself as you're preparing. So.

[00:08:53] Stefhanie: Yeah, and I think honestly one thing that I did different this time with, with, with your class is that I just decided I'm just going to do exactly like what you say. I'm just going to follow all your recommendations because a lot of times I'm like, oh yeah, that's good, but I'm going to do it this way or I'm going to study this way. But I'm like, no, you know, there were so many people in the class that would come back that had said they passed the test and that they just followed your formula. And I'm like, you know what, I'm just going to do it.

[00:09:24] Josh: Yeah.

[00:09:25] Stefhanie: And it was very helpful.

[00:09:26] Josh: Good, good. Well, I'm glad, I'm glad to hear that.

You know, we've been, I've owned this business since 2020, but for 20 years prior to that, my friend Daryl owned the business and you know, he, he brought it to a place where I was able to just begin fine tuning it and kind of updating it with technology and offering the live lessons. And so we have a 26 year track record of helping people to pass successfully.

[00:09:53] Stefhanie: And so that's amazing. I wish that all the universities would tell us about you too.

[00:09:59] Josh: I wish that too.

[00:10:00] Stefhanie: Yeah.

[00:10:00] Josh: If you're listening to this, go tell your university about it.

[00:10:04] Stefhanie: I will tell them.

[00:10:05] Josh: Yeah. Well, what I've, what I've realized is that universities are a little bit hesitant to form partnerships. Right. They're very careful about who they kind of, you know, put on their website and things like that. And understandably so. But a lot of times there's you know, like student forums and you know, discussion boards and things like that. And so, you know, I, I just want for people to feel great about passing and being a part of this is, you know, nobody wakes up in the morning super excited about test prep. Like that is not, that's not what got me into this. It's being able to work with people on this step of their career, helping them, you know, move, move the needle closer to doing exactly what they dream. Like to me it's, that's what's exciting for me. So.

Yeah. So.

So you did, did you use other resources? You said you had the purple book and the yellow book.

Did you use anything else with NCE exam prep or. Once you bought my program, was it just my resources? How did you.

[00:11:09] Stefhanie: Once I got into your program, I just used yours because I'm just like, this is enough.

I felt like, because your quizzes were hard and the test was hard. So, you know, a lot of times I was like, you know, I read this chapter, I felt like I knew it. So that, and that's a little bit of my personality. I'm like, okay, I've gotta, I've gotta get this, you know, gotta get it down. But, but it was a great way for me to be tested. To do the quizzes right after the chapters.

[00:11:37] Josh: Yeah. Yeah. Well, then being able to immediately recall that knowledge or at least apply it in some way, you know, there's, there's quiz questions that aren't in the study manual, but that's by design because there's questions on the NCE that you're not going to find in any study manual. It's just, you know, our best guess is what you need to know. So is there anything that looking back on it, even this time that you passed that, that you would do differently if you were to rewind the clock and approach it somehow? Different?

[00:12:08] Stefhanie: You know, I think because at the timing of me being in your class and some things that were happening in my life, but then also the time that I had allotted to take the exam, I was going to have to reapply like with, you know, to, to do my exam at a whole other block of time, you know, how they do it in. I don't know if it's three month increments.

So I felt a little bit under the gun. Like I didn't have the whole three months just totally dedicated. I think I would do that differently and so I wouldn't feel quite as much pressure, but I would definitely do the whole, try to do the whole three months.

I feel like you could just be able to take your time more.

And then also, I mean, I was, I was pretty diligent about being on with the live sessions, but I would say that those are also really important. I know some people will say, you know, I've heard that, well, I'm just going to use that time to study instead of like being on live. But for me it was so helpful just to hear it and for people to ask questions and to be on with like really a community and so, yeah, I think having an extra month of that would have been really helpful.

[00:13:30] Josh: Yeah. Yeah, I hear a lot of people say that. You know, I did another podcast with someone recently who did the whole thing in 30 days, which is. That's a lot. That's a lot.

[00:13:41] Stefhanie: That's a lot.

[00:13:43] Josh: And, you know, the program enrollment is for 90 days, regardless. Regardless of how you pace it out for yourself. And so if, you know, some people just don't have that much time, and some people do, it can be done in 30 days. Right. Clearly, people are passing doing that, but I advocate for people to take 90 days if they can. Some people take longer than that, and that's fine, too. So.

Yeah.

So suppose you were to catch somebody, you know, a day before they go to test, and you just had 30 seconds to. To share with them some. Some wisdom or, you know, something valuable or encouraging that that you'd want for them to know, and you just had a very short little bit of time. What would you want to pass on to them to help them feel great about going into their test?

[00:14:30] Stefhanie: Yes, that's a really good question.

I. I think that I.

What I did before the test was very helpful that I hadn't done the first time was just to tell myself over and over, just positive affirmations that I had studied, that I was ready, that I'd done the prep, and that for each question. And there were. There were a couple of questions that seemed like, right off that felt like, oh, no, you know, I'm not sure I know this. There's two best answers, but just like, just to take a breath and just maybe flag that question and know that you can go back to it. But I also intentionally did not go back and change any answers.

[00:15:13] Josh: Right.

[00:15:13] Stefhanie: You know, but I just really went with what, because there was something that told me to pick that first answer.

[00:15:19] Josh: Right.

[00:15:20] Stefhanie: So I think the positive affirmation and then just not doubting yourself when you get nervous in the exam and going back and changing.

[00:15:27] Josh: Love it. Love it. Yeah, I. I hear so many people consistently talk about mindset coming into this, that. That plays a huge part and just moving through it and being confident. So, yeah, I think that's great advice.

[00:15:42] Stefhanie: And the practice exams helped me with that because it didn't feel quite so overwhelming.

[00:15:47] Josh: Right, good.

Well, Stephanie, that's great advice. Thank you so much for joining me today on this podcast.

One quick question before we wrap up.

What is next for you? You've got this under your belt. You don't have to take the NCE ever again.

[00:16:06] Stefhanie: Right.

[00:16:06] Josh: What's next for your career?

[00:16:09] Stefhanie: So I'm really excited about next steps for my career. I'm in the process of getting my North Carolina licensure now. Right.

And reaching out to different people about supervision. I have a little office space here in Charlotte, and so I would like to start doing just some maybe private practice with a lot of heavy supervision.

[00:16:37] Josh: Yeah.

[00:16:38] Stefhanie: For that. But then also I'm really interested in getting certified trained. Not sure the correct terminology. And emdr. Yeah, that's something that I'm really excited about. I have a real big interest in, like neuropsych, and I just think that it would be really fascinating to dive deeper into that.

[00:17:01] Josh: Right, right. Yeah.

EMDR is such an incredible tool. Right. So many therapists are seeing that. So I think that'd be awesome.

Well, I wish you the best and thanks again for coming on here and sharing your experience with people. I know our listeners are going to love hearing what you have to say.

[00:17:19] Stefhanie: And thank you. Thanks for having me.

[00:17:21] Josh: Yeah, definitely. And I wish you the best moving forward.

[00:17:25] Stefhanie: Thank you. And keep doing what you're doing. It's great.

[00:17:27] Josh: Absolutely.

[00:17:28] Stefhanie: Okay, thanks.

[00:17:32] Josh: NCE Exam Prep seeks to provide quality, reliable and easy to use preparation material to help test takers confidently pass the National Counseling Exam. For more information, go to nceexamprep.com.

NCE Exam Prep seeks to provide quality, reliable and easy to use preparation material to help test takers confidently pass the National Counseling Exam. For more information, go to NCEexamprep.com.