Clinical Assessments Flashcards
what is a clinical assessment
when a professional counselor/therapist gathers information using interpretive skills
What differs an assessment from a test?
Assessments put together multiple pieces of information that includes tests (wheras tests are singular)
What’s the difference between counseling psychologists and clinical psychologists (theoretically)?
Theoretically:
- counseling focus on those with normal developmental problems
-clinical focus on those with mental illness/abnormal behavior
What’s the difference between counseling psychologists and clinical psychologists (in reality)?
- counseling use assessments as part of therapy
- clinical use assessments to gather information
What are some examples of critical uses of clinical evaluations?
- addiction and substance use
- forensic assessments
- custody evaluations
- child abuse and neglect
How does a diagnosis work?
- an assessment provides information about symptoms
- symptoms reported are compared to a classification system
- the diagnosis is used to identify treatment or intervention plans
What does the DSM-V NOT do?
A. Provides a classification system for mental illnesses
B. Provides treatment/interventions for mental illnesses
C. Provides information about what to expect from a mental illness
D. Provides descriptive lists of symptoms
B. Provides treatment/interventions for mental illnesses
What types of clinical interviews are there?
- Structured
- unstructured
- semistructured
Differentiate between structured and semistructured interviews.
Structured
- a standard set of questions/prompts to follow
-scoring guides available
Semistructured
- Still set of questions/prompts to follow but more flexibility
Explain what unstructured interviews look like and the steps within them.
Typically 3 phases:
- Initial (rapport building, observation of client, get client’s perception of problem)
- Middle (social/medical history, observe coping behaviors, hypothesize about diagnosis and test for it)
-Termination (ask if client has questions, summarize interview, explain/schedule further assessments/treatments)
What is a concern with unstructured interviews?
- could be susceptible to biases (self-fulfilling prophecy, ethnocentrism, hypothesis confirmation bias)
What are some concerns with using unstructured interviews as tests?
-typically have poor interrater reliability
- reliability and validity are out the door if diagnostic criteria are not well-developed
- criterion-related validity varies a lot depending on interview and criterion
What are pros of structured clinical interviews?
- good interrater reliability
- bias reduced
- predict outcomes better
What do we use case history for? What is it made up of?
Getting information beyond the interview to understand a client fully
Includes
- biography/life story
- interviews with family/friends
- educational/medical history
- employment history
What are some examples of specialized interviews and what are they?
- Stress interviews (Place pressure on interviewee with combined questions, context, and interviewer)
- Hypnotic and cognitive interviews (Used to aid in recall, the goal is to put interviewee in an extremely focused state of mind to remember events clearly)
- Collaborative interview (interviewee and interviewer work together with assessment and to set clear goals)
