My comprehensive illustrated & interactive study guide for the National Counselor Exam (NCE) uses images, colors, mnemonics, and humor to engage brains in effective study.

When I began studying for the NCE, I did exactly what my graduate school professors told me to do to study: I ordered the “purple book”, some test prep flashcards, and an encyclopedia of counseling.

When my study materials arrived, I was scared.

Page after page of unbroken text blocks and too-complicated flashcards made me realize that if I wanted a good visual study guide resource for the NCE, I was going to have to make it.

So I made a study guide for people like me: folks who learn a little differently and recall visually – and also for people who struggle with traditional textbooks (common for ADHD, Autism, and other neurodivergences)

How I Made my NCE Study Guide

With my test date a few months on the horizon, I set up a dedicated study desk, chose a color palette, and set to work reviewing each chapter of the primary texts that are recommended for NCE study prep. As I went through each chapter, I consolidated. I omitted fluff, unnecessarily technical language, and content that any 1st year grad student would know by heart.

I created my study notes by focusing on:

• 📝 Things predicted to be most likely to be on the test,
• 🧠 Concepts that were novel to me,
• 🤔 Concepts that are particularly difficult to remember.
• 🎨 and ideas that I believed I could represent in a unique, memorable way.

It took me weeks of total immersion in reference books, but by the morning of my test, I’d created 20 pages (later edits condensed down to 17) of visual notes to review for the National Counselor Exam.

What Tests are Covered by the NCE Visual Study Guide

How to Study for the NCE using a Visual Study Guide

While you can’t take these notes into your NCE test, I’m confident that they can be a powerful tool for visual thinkers preparing for the National Counseling Exam. In my study activity book, you’ll find notes to review as well as pages to interact with and make your own.

Included Sections in the Activity Book:

Tips for taking the NCE as a visual thinker.

Sadly for us visual thinkers, the days are over when we could take tests on paper*, interact with questions visually, and write on our test paper—but there are still ways to use your visual thinking skills to boost your test score!

Opt for an In Person Test

If doodling and writing help you recall information, I recommend taking the NCE tests in person at a testing center. While online testing is available—and in many cases more convenient—absolutely no scratch paper or writing utensils are allowed for online NCE tests.

In-person testing centers provide a pen and a surface to write on. Once your test officially starts (wait until the timer begins counting down, not when the proctor leaves), spend the first few minutes of your test drawing the visuals that are the toughest to remember.

Before I even looked at the first question, I wrote out all the mnemonics that were floating around in my head and drew the simple illustrations I struggled with the most (for me, a bell curve with standard deviations, and Piaget’s developmental stages). Once you have completed your visual reference sheet, you can begin your test, referring back to the reference sheet you created as needed.

* The NCE and CPCE may still be taken with pen and paper if an accommodation is requested and approved. If you’re an aspiring therapist with an ADHD, Autism, learning disabilities, consider arranging to take the test on paper.

What are these notes?

Sketchnotes? Doodle Notes? You decide.

I’m not exactly sure what to call my notes. Some people who create in a sketchy but similar fashion call their notes sketch notes. I settled on the term doodle notes for my own reference but avoid using it online because made up words aren’t good for much on micro-niche sites like mine on the internet!

Instead, I like to think of these pages as “visual soundbites” that are carefully placed together, like a jigsaw puzzle, to invite the eye to flow around the page, taking in chunks of data.

Why study visual notes: Supporting Research

See footnotes for references used.

• Brains are designed to form memories: Forming memories is one of the most important tasks of a brain.² Because of that, brains evolved to have a lot of redundancy for remembering!
• Brains use multiple regions to form, store, and recall memories. Research shows that multiple areas of the brain are involved in encoding memories¹.
• Intentionally engaging more parts of the brain during learning can lead to improved recall.³,⁴
• Visual engagement with study material can improve recall. ⁴ While memory research gets complex, the simplest takeaway is this: text and language primarily activates the left hemisphere of the brain, while images and visuals primarily activate the right hemisphere. ⁵

Test prep represented in both text and image, improves our chance of recalling information by physically storing it in more brain-real-estate.⁵

How I Learned to Study Visually

Visual learners like me often recall information in a visual way. Ever since textbooks and quizzes became part of my education, I’ve recalled information based on how and where it’s placed on a page. (And usually, I’d score lower when tested on a plain-text reading than if the study material was disrupted by insets, illustrations, and text boxes.)

Over time, I learned how to use my learning style and recall style to create my own resources. After being inspired by illuminated texts that I saw in a museum, I began doodling in the margins of my reading. At first, I focused on interacting visually with plain text— I’d use highlighting, underlining, and other visual markers to help me process and remember what I was studying.

In graduate school to earn my Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology school, I became more practiced at filtering my assigned reading through my own visual mind. Creating visual study sheets became a task that I used in many courses in graduate school. While other students created a cheat sheet crammed with tiny text, I’d make a page of small doodles that illustrated concepts I needed to remember. When our study sheets were put away and tests were on our desk, I would draw the visuals on the back of my test paper before starting the test- as a visual way to recall the information I learned.

Final Thoughts:

My comprehensive illustrated study guide for the National Counselor Exam (NCE) is a labor of love designed for visual learners and those who think and remember in neurodivergent ways.

By transforming dense text into engaging visuals, mnemonics, and humor, I believe I’ve created a resource that makes studying not only more effective but also more enjoyable! Whether you choose to download the digital reference or get yourself a copy of the spiral-bound activity book, you’ll find a variety of tools to help you master the material in a way that resonates with your unique learning style. Happy studying, and best of luck on your exam!

Want to be a part of my team that supports the creation of resources like this, gets early previews of new releases, and access to a portfolio of psychology visuals active since 2018? Join my community on Patreon.

1. Robertson, L. T. (2002). Memory and the brain. Journal of dental education, 66(1), 30-42. [↩] [↩]
2. Bisaz, R., Travaglia, A., & Alberini, C. M. (2014). The neurobiological bases of memory formation: from physiological conditions to psychopathology. Psychopathology, 47(6), 347-356. [↩]
3. Zivan, M., Vaknin, S., Peleg, N., Ackerman, R., & Horowitz-Kraus, T. (2023). Higher theta-beta ratio during screen-based vs. printed paper is related to lower attention in children: An EEG study. Plos one, 18(5), e0283863. [↩]
4. Dando, C. J. (2013). Drawing to remember: External support of older adults’ eyewitness performance. PloS one, 8(7), e69937. [↩] [↩]
5. Schacter, D. L. (2002). The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. United States: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pg 26-27 [↩] [↩]