Ch 6: assessment as vital component of counseling process Flashcards
name 6 purposes Assessment serves?
screening diagnosing case conceptualizing treatment planning goal identification evaluating client progress
What is the first stage in the counseling process?
screen client and identify the client’s problems and reasons for being assessed
what are three reasons clients are screened?
- get a snapshot of client and their issues
- provides knowledge to make informed decisions about treatment
- helps determine next step needed (sometimes realize clients may not need further treatment
Assessments are a blending of what two things
art and science - relying on instincts at times
what percentage of communication is nonverbal
70-93%
what are some nonverbal cues counselors should assess?
appearance activity/motor skills motivation who presents with the client is it voluntary or involuntary
what is an intake interview?
an assessment technique that provides counselors with information about clients’ past functioning and how it relates to their current situations and problems they are facing
what are 8 core areas most often addressed in an intake interview
- demographic information
- referral reasons
- current situation
- previous counseling experience
- birth and development history
- family history
- medical history
- educational and/or vocational background
what type of questions are mostly used in an intake interview?
open-ended questions
What do you need to establish with the client during intake?
rapport
what two other areas does the intake let the counselor identify about the client?
their interpersonal style and skill
their personal history
What stage comes after the screening stage?
diagnosis stage
After intake and diagnosis, what comes next?
Case conceptualization
what is case conceptualization?
a method and clinical strategy for obtaining and organizing information about a client, understanding and explaining the client’s situation and maladaptive patterns, guiding and focusing treatment, anticipating challenges and roadblocks, and preparing for successful termination.
What are the four distinct phases of case conceptualization?
- Diagnostic formulation: gather as much information as possible to understand issues
- clinical formulation: organizing information collected into a meaningful manner - ie biopsychosocial, T/C model
- Cultural formulation: examine the role a client’s cultural background plays in the problems they are experiencing
- Treatment formulation: establish treatment goals, select interventions, monitor treatment progress, and assess outcomes.
what comes after case conceptualization?
developing client treatment plans
what is a treatment plan
a roadmap for the counseling process showing how they’ll move from presenting problems to the goal, while alleviating the symptoms/patterns and establishing improved coping skills
What are the four components of treatment plans
- operationally defining the problem
- establishing treatment goals
- selecting counseling interventions
- evaluating client progress
What happens during part 1, operationally defining the problem?
Collaboratively Establish target problem and prioritize problems (as others come up)
What are three guidelines for part 2, establishing treatment goals?
- goals should be measurable
- goals should be challenging yet attainable
- include process and outcome goals (break down into manageable, ie lose 3lbs/wk for 16 weeks not lose 50 lbs)
what happens during part 3, selecting counseling interventions?
be intentional that what you choose matches the needs of the client and is evidenced-based and best-practices
during part 4, evaluating client progress, what are two ways to do this?
- formative evaluation = real time assessments during counseling process to determine efficacy of treatment
- summative evaluation = occurs at the end of the counseling process. assesses outcomes
What 3 parts does an assessment report include:
- outlines the presenting problem that led to counseling,
- summarizes services provided
- addresses the outcomes of the services provided
What are four primary objectives of an assessment report?
- provide accurate assessment-related aspects to the referral source and other concerned parties
- serves as sources of clinical hypotheses, appropriate interventions, and information for program evaluation and research
- to furnish meaningful baseline information for evaluating the examinee’s progress after the interventions have been implemented or changes that occur as a result of time alone
- to serve as a legal document
