Psychological Assessment

Psychological Assessment

Psychological Assessment

William P. Wattles, Ph.D.

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Francis Marion University

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Peter Medawar

Good writing: Brevity, cogency and clarity are the principal virtues and the greatest of these is clarity.

a (persons) style of writing is an important part of his character

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People who write obscurely are either unskilled in writing or up to some mischief.

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Psychological Report

The end product of assessment.

More than merely test results

Must interact with the data to make useful conclusions about

Referral question

Making decisions

Problem solving

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Referral Question

A brief description of the client

general reason for conducting the evaluation

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Referral Question

Orients the reader to the initial focus of the report and what follows.

Clinician must clarify the referral question.

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Referral Question

Referred for a psychological

lacks focus and precision

leads to shotgun reports

A wide variety of often-fragmented descriptions in the hope that something useful can be found.

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Referral Question

Example

Mr. Smith is a 35-year-old, white, married male with a high school education who presents with complaints about depression and anxiety.

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Report Format

Please follow example

Add Discussion (case conceptualization) section before Impressions and recommendations.

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Discussion Section

This is where you put it together.

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clarity

She was attractive, well spoken, and had high mannerisms

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Translate Technical concepts

Examples page 568

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Be concise

Jesse S is a 23-year-old Caucasian female who presents with having the desire to feel fully fulfilled. She wants to feel settled in her life. The current evaluation was designed for the patient to gain personal insight regarding dissatisfaction with her current daily activities. (44)

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Be concise

Jesse S is a 23-year-old Caucasian female who is dissatisfied with her daily activities and wants to feel fully fulfilled. (21)

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Be concise

The patient answered all:

The inquiries presented to him

my questions.

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Simple language

When this issue was further questioned, MT .

Asked to elaborate, MT

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Simple language

She displayed a euthymic mood, which she described as great.

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Avoid pejorative terms

She was low on the Lie scale indicating that she received a normal score and appeared to answer honestly and openly.

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Avoid jargon

People with this profile tend to be narcissistic, selfish, and self-indulgent.

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Seek active verbs

The older sister was described as stubborn implying a strain in the relationship.

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watch for redundancy

Her past work history consists of working on a local

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Seek clarity

Mrs. Ls Mother is a resigned OB/GYN nurse

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Short

She made no eye contact even though she was familiar with the interviewer. Her eyes focused on the hairline of the interviewer.

She appeared to look over my head rather than making eye contact.

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Dont over do quotes

we werent poor but we werent well off either.

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quotes

because the other students think [she gets] all of the questions correct but [she] still doesnt know everything [she feels] like [she needs] to know.

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Be concise

Given the behavioral observations, length and depth of clinical interview and MMPI-2 test profile, I believe this evaluation is an accurate assessment of TSs current level of functioning.

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Details and examples

She admits that they sometimes overcompensate in caring for their children because neither of them received enough attention from their parents growing up

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Be direct, dont repeat

After high school, she felt that college was the next logical step for her. She felt that my parents were completely behind me as though it was the next natural step, but also to make sure that I did end up going to college. She repeated many times that you dont really have a choice about college in my family; they make you think you do, but you really dont. Ms. Davis went on to say that she had been brought up thinking this, and she didnt even consider any other options after high school. (95)

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Interpretation goes in discussion

The results of CAs WAIS-III indicates that she has above average intelligence especially with regards to her phenomenal attention span and her ability to solve visual problems using her visual motor skills. Her very high scores on her WAIS-III could be contributing to her unhappiness in her present occupation. She may feel that she is not using her strengths in the best possible fashion and that she has not lived up to her expectations.

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Case Conceptualization

S.L. is currently experiencing a great deal of subjective distress. Her current difficulties with depressive and anxiety symptoms are likely related to her self-concept, which has been shaped and distorted by her long-term interpersonal relationships with her family and her ex-boyfriend. The unreasonably high demands she places on herself set the stage for what she views as failure.

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Details and behavior

During this time, G admitted to having been in trouble with the law. She refused to specify the type trouble. She also reported that she got into a lot of other trouble due to her sexual behavior. Again, she would specify what this other trouble was

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Initial Reports

Length of papers 627-1960 words

Best paper was relatively long

You can check length

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Referral Section

Brief

Guides report

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General Comments on Papers

Appearance example: wearing house slippers, relevant to psy functioning.

Good use of quotes: Would keep cats until it killed her

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Use examples

One patient had strict parents

Examples help identify where the blame lies

Didnt want to rat on her friends

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Language

Proof read. One paper good content many errors in verbs etc.

Avoid slang or colloquial language (I.e., blew it off) unless they are the clients words in quotes

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She did not display irregular emotion during the interview.

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Colloquial Language

Kim was kicked out of college her freshman year because of poor grades.

The university suspended Kim her freshman year due to poor grades.

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Simple language

Ms. Heather presented, in the interview, congruent behaviors to that of someone with lower self-esteem.

Ms. Heather shows signs of low self-esteem.

Low self-esteem may contribute to her eating problems.

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Psychological Functioning

Conceptualize

Collect facts and observations

Dont stop there

Synthesize those observations and data into a picture of psychological functioning

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Strengths and Weaknesses

Important to identify strengths to use and encourage

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Example

The client was alert and oriented to all spheres. Her affect was full range, and her mood was euphoric. Her speech rate, quality, and content were within normal limits.

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Observation vs Interpretation

Her calm demeanor while discussing her anxiety about graduate school, and her boyfriend suggested that this client keeps her emotional reactions to herself and maintains an intellectual stance on her personal issues.

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Example

Mrs. H is a 57-year-old, Caucasian, married female who presents with concerns regarding a specific goal, her future retirement in order to spend time with her grandchildren.

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Passive voice

Also, should his emotional situation persist or worsen, it is recommended that Andrew seeks the help of a counselor.

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Referral Section vs. Summary

C.S. states this is not what I imagined doing with my life. This dissatisfaction results in physical, emotional and social problems whose effects she seeks to minimize.

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Good but can we improve?

The client was very articulate and well educated, but her appearance was incongruent. She was dressed in very sloppy and causal attire.

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Precise Language

Articulate

Expressing oneself easily in clear and effective language.

Redundant

Needlessly repetitive; verbose

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Example

When describing her family background, however, the possible use of reaction formation became evident.

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Explore for data

She also stated that she felt inferior and lacked confidence in herself as a teacher, but offered no substantial reason why.

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Example

his mood changed from enthymic to closed and quiet

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Diagnosis

Andrew is a 24-year-old man referred because of his current unemployment and because he has been unable to find a job. Due to this situation, Andrew is going into a state of depression

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Kim is a 23-year-old white female who presents with difficulties coping with stress brought upon her by school.

Better:

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Kim is a 23-year-old white female college student complaining of stress related to school.

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Kim approached the interview very willingly and appeared to be excited to do the interview. She wore sweatpants and a tee shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a clip. She was very talkative and maintained appropriate eye contact. She was very cooperative and answered all questions willingly, many times volunteering information beyond what had been asked of her but still remaining on the subject. She willingly expanded on all of her answers, many times without being prompted.

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He is the only child of John and Vickie Xxxxxx . He has an older brother that his mother gave birth to out of wedlock prior to marrying Eric's father.

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She wore coordinating accessories and seemed very contentious of her attire and posture.

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At age ten his father became a member of AA,

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Laura C. is a 23 year old woman who is self-referred because she not happy with her current living situation. She says that she feels so alone. She reportedly has gained weight over the last several months. She claims it is due to her unhappiness about being alone.

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Laura also reports that her weight gain has not affected her relationship with her boyfriend.

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Verify with examples

Her problems stem from her current occupation as a teacher. She has undergone significant life events in the last year.

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She reports that she makes friends easily

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Use Examples

In addition to confronting his wifes mortality, Harold is being forced by her illness to recognize his own vulnerabilities

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quit her job as a registration representative at _______ because of the unfair working conditions.

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Example

His affect was full range, although his mood was quite dysphoric.

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Example

In an effort to alleviate her frustration and anger, and to come to a compromise with Mr. Oranda about their differences in their expected roles, Mrs. Oranda states that she has made a conscious effort to talk to, rather than argue with, Mr. Oranda.

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Example

Her affect was full range, however her mood was agitated.

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Example

Within normal limits.

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Example

She states she has many friends, and socializes with them on a weekly basis.

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As for an example, quantify.

Example

Ms. A described her high school academic performance as above average, stating that she never studied

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Expand

Wordy

Brittany was explicit during the interview when discussing her home environment in reference to how physically violent it is.

Brittany explicitly described the violence in her home.

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Specifics? Exaggeration?, behavior while discussing this

Example

Brittanys academic and behavior problems began when her parents started drinking and fighting 2 years ago.

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Not before?

Be succinct 38 vs 29

In order to improve her sleep schedule, she could be given information on sleep principles. For example, some principles are going to bed at the same time each night and not doing anything in the bed but sleeping.

To help with fatigue she could be given information on sleep such as going to bed that same time each night and not doing anything in bed but sleeping.

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The You in a Report

Personal opinion versus observation and hypothesis

Sort through the abundant information

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Presenting problem versus reason for referral

reported that she wished to be thinner

She reports 9-10 year struggle with anorexia. As a result of this, she has had to seek medical treatment to pass four kidney stones and treat multiple stomach ulcers. Ms. Heather has had difficulty in maintaining a regular menstrual cycle and has experienced fainting spells due to low blood sugar a few times per month.

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She is approximately 5 foot tall, 100 pounds

She appears

She reported that she is

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5 feet 100 lbs is BMI 19.5

BMI Categories:

Underweight =

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Psychological Assessment