CLIN Midterms

• Psychological Assessment


  An iterative decision-making process in which data are systematically collected on the person (or persons); the person's history; and the person's physical, social and cultural environments
• Who can administer psychological assessment

  • Registered psychologist = psychological assessment and intervention
  • Registered psychometrician = psychological assessment (Testing)
• Goals of psychological assessment

  • Diagnosis of mental problem
  • Monitoring treatment
  • Hiring and promotion of employees
  • Admission and monitoring of students with special needs
  • Supporting the case in trial court about adoption and child's custody
  • Discovering the strengths
• Procedure of psychological assessment

  1. Receiving and clarifying the referral question

  2. Know the reason of Assessment

  3. Plan your data gathering procedures

  4. Conduct your data gathering Plan

  5. Process data and form conclusions

  6. Communicate assessment results

  7. Making your psychological evaluation report

  8. Check for the quality of the assessment instrument or procedure

  9. The value of Multiple Assessment Sources
• Clinical Interview


  Any assessment technique used by a clinical psychologist should possess the qualities of validity, reliability, and cynical utility
• The Interviewer


  • Minimize excessive internal, self-directed thoughts that detract from listening
  • Know how you tend to affect others interpersonally, and how others tend to relate to you
  • Develop positive working relationships
  • Listening—the primary task of the interviewer, consisting of numerous building blocks: Eye Contact, Body Language, Vocal Qualities, Verbal Tracking, Referring to the client by the proper name
• Components of Interview


  • Clarification
  • Paraphrasing
  • Reflection
  • Summarizing
• Pragmatics of the Interview

  • Note Taking
  • Audio and Video Recordings
  • The interview room
  • Confidentiality
• Types of Interview


  • Intake interviews
  • Diagnostic interviews
  • Mental status exam
  • Crisis interviews
  • Collateral contact interviews
• Psychological Evaluation Report
• Diagnostic interviews


  • To provide DSM diagnosis
  • Structured interviews often used
• Mental status exam


  • Typically used in medical settings
  • Quickly assess how client is functioning at that time
• Crisis interviews


  • Assess problem AND provide immediate intervention/treatment
  • Clients are often considering suicide or other harmful act
  • Used to asses and secure safety
  • Ex: Suicidal, Psychotic Break, Harm to others, Mid-Panic Attack
• Collateral contact interviews


  Obtain additional or verifying client specific information from the sample client's family, representative, case manager, or other identified contact person
• Psychological Evaluation Report Table of Contents

  • IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
  • REASON FOR REFERRAL
  • INFORMED CONSENT
  • ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES
  • BACKGROUND INFO
  • PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS
  • PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST RESULTS
  • SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
  • DIAGNOSTIC IMPRESSION
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
• IDENTIFYING INFORMATION


  • Name: Maria A. Dela Cruz
  • Date of Birth: January 1, 1990
  • Sex: Female
  • Date of Report: January 8, 2021
• REASON FOR REFERRAL


  Ms. Maria A. Dela Cruz, 31-year-old female client, was referred for psychological assessment by her physician, Dr. Jonathan A. Santos last January 4, 2021. The assessment was conducted to identify the suspected presence and severity of clinical depression of the client as well as to recommend possible interventions.
• INFORMED CONSENT


  Prior to the conduct of the evaluation, Mr. Solomon A. Alcantara, RPm, obtained the informed consent for the assessment from the client last January 4, 2021. This was documented by the client signing the ABC Psychological Clinic Informed Consent Form on the same date.
• ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES


  • Observation and Interview with client conducted last January 6, 2021
  • Interview with client's father, Mr. Mario A. Dela Cruz, conducted last January 6, 2021
  • Beck Depression Inventory 2nd Edition (BDI-II) administered last January 6, 2021
  • Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) administered last January 6, 2021
  • PROMIS Emotional Distress for Depression Short Form administered last January 6, 2021
  • Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology – Self Report (QIDS-SR) administered last January 6, 2021
  • Review of client's pertinent documents (Social Worker Progress Report dated 12/28/2020; St. Anthony's Medical Hospital Medical Certificate issued by Dr. Jonathan B. Santos dated 12/22/2020; Barangay 256 Blotter Report No. 20-1234 dated 12/20/2020)
• Background History


  • Birth and early development
  • Childhood
  • Social history
  • Marriage
  • Education
  • Occupational history
  • Sexual history
  • Family history
  • Medical history
• Beck Depression Inventory 2nd Edition (BDI-II)


  • It is an instrument used to assess the severity of clinical depression symptoms of people with age 13 years old and above in the past two (2) weeks including the date of testing.
  • Results on this test indicate that she experienced moderate depressive symptoms in the past two (2) weeks.
• Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)

  • It is an instrument used to measure severity of depressive symptoms of people with age 18 and above during the last seven (7) days.
  • Results on this test show that she experienced moderate depressive symptoms in the past seven (7) days.
• Given the information stated above, it can be said that in the past two weeks, Maria experienced moderate level of depressive symptoms as indicated in the results of her psychological tests. However, it must be noted that these are due to pangs of grief triggered by the thoughts of the death of her mother. Although she has feelings of emptiness and guilt associated with her loss, she can still experience pleasant emotions such as happiness and hope for a better future. She can also maintain her relationship with her friends by them visiting in her house and by connecting through her Facebook account.
• Diagnostic Impression


  With the above findings, it can be said that the client does not meet the diagnostic criteria for clinical depression. However, Maria resembles a person experiencing Uncomplicated Bereavement. This is characterized by intense yearning for the deceased associated with emotional pains and sorrow which is considered as normal reaction to the death of a loved one.
• Interviewed and Tests Administered by: SOLOMON A. ALCANTARA, RPm, Registered Psychometrician, PRC License No. 1234, Valid Until November 2022
• Tests Interpreted and Evaluated by: ARIES D. MAGIBA, RPsy, Registered Psychologist, PRC License No. 4567, Valid Until April 2023
• Clinical assessment


  The collection of information and drawing a conclusion through the use of observation, psychological tests, neurological tests, and interviews to determine the person's presenting problems
• Value of assessment: Reliability, validity & clinical utility
• Validity


  • It measures what it claims to measure
• Reliability


  • It yields consistent, repeatable results
• Clinical utility


  • It can be used in clinical settings
• Content validity


  The extent to which the assessment technique has content appropriate for what is being measured
• Internal validity


  Relates to the way a test is performed
• Psychopathologist


  A scientist who studies the cause of mental disorders and the factors that influence their development
• It is hard to define abnormal behavior - a. no single descriptive feature is shared by all abnormal behavior, no one criteria are sufficient to define abnormal behavior, and b. there is no discrete boundary between abnormal and normal behavior
• Mental illness definition


  • A behavioral or psychological syndrome (cluster of abnormal behaviors) must be linked to distress, disability, or risk of problems
  • Represents a dysfunction within an individual
  • Not all deviant behavior or conflicts in society are indicative of a mental disorder (ex: cultural, religious, or sexual deviance)
• Diagnosis


  A type of categorization; categorization allows us to make distinctions for survival
• Advantages of diagnosis


  • Communication - conveyed through a diagnostic term ("verbal shorthand")
  • Diagnosis promotes empirical research in psychopathology
  • Standard diagnostic criteria allow for research into the etiology/causes of abnormal behavior
  • Diagnosis allows/suggests which model of treatment is most likely to be effective
• Early classification systems


  • Emil Kraepelin - father of modern systems of psychiatric diagnostic criteria
  • 1889 - Congress of Mental Science adopted a classification system in Paris
  • 1948 - World Health Organization developed a classification system
  • 1952 - American Psychiatric Association developed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-I)
  • 1968 - DSM-II
  • 1980 - DSM-III (Major change in diagnostic criteria)
  • 1987 - DSM-III-R
  • 1994 - DSM-IV; published an additional DSM for children aged 0-31
  • 2000 - DSM-IV-TR
  • 2013 - DSM-V
• DSM-IV-TR


  • Changes made were based far more on empirical data than was previous versions
  • Multiaxial Assessment: Complete diagnostic evaluation; clients are evaluated on 5 domains
  • Principal Diagnosis: Main diagnosis or condition for which patient seeks treatment