Facilitated by: Anjan Kumar

Dhakal • Assessment and testing in

M.Phil in Clinical Psychology
Ph.d Scholar
Psychological Counseling
 Introduction of Participants
• Name
• Permanent Address: District: VMC/ Municipality/
Ward No
• Temporary: District: VMC/ Municipality/ Ward No
• Academic Qualification: College
• Working Institutions:
 Objective of Training
• The following are the objectives of Training
After training participants will be able to:
• 1. Understand the importance and role of assessment in
counseling.
• 2. Distinguish between standardized and nonstandardized
assessments.
• 3. Identify relevant historical issues of assessment and the
implications for assessment today.
• 4. Recognize the role and importance of professional
organizations with respect to the practice of assessment.
• 5. Identify competencies related to assessment practices.
• 6. Identify ethical and legal codes affecting assessment.
 Out Come of the training
• after completion of training the participant
will develop the competency about the
assessment of client and use of relevant
testing according to the nature of their
problems.

• using of integrative therapeutic method for an

individual client to reduce their problems.
What is Psychological Assessment
• A Psychological Assessment involves the planned
use of interviews (generally semi-structured) and
specific psychometric assessments (tests) to
answer questions highlighted in a referral.

• Questions are typically around teasing out

complex diagnoses, helping clarify
symptoms/coping style/personality, or, specifying
the types of therapy and therapist most likely to
assist the Client/patient.
• The components all play a specific role. The
interview helps define the current
situation/problems and important elements of
personal history. It also engages the patient with
the assessment process.

• The tests themselves act as both lens and lever:

getting a unique perspective on relevant issues
while also highlighting where and how therapy
probably needs to be focused.
• When it comes to tests, there are many psychological tests assessing
almost any variable you could imagine.

• Categories of test more relevant to clinical assessment include:

• Tests of intelligence and neuropsychological functioning (such as tests
of executive function, memory, attention, reasoning et cetera);
• Brief face-valid symptom measures (such as the Beck Depression
Inventory or the K10);
• Omnibus measures such as the Rorschach, the MMPI – 2 or the PAI-2
(which combine personality, coping style and psychopathology
assessments), and; ‘Pure’ personality measures such as the Hogan
Personality Inventory, the NEO or the IPIP-120 which do not assess
psychopathology.
• The practice of assessment entails the collection of
information in order to identify, analyze, evaluate, and
address the problems, issues, and circumstances of clients
in the counseling relationship.

• Assessment is used as a basis for identifying problems,

planning interventions, evaluating and/or diagnosing
clients, and informing clients and stakeholders.

• Many novice counselors may make the mistake of

identifying assessment as a means to an end, such as
providing a label or diagnosis to a client.
• Assessment involves identifying statements,
actions, and procedures to help individuals,
groups, couples, and families make progress in
the counseling environment.

• Although counselors have the opportunity to

limit their scope of practice with respect to
modalities, theories, and types of clients, a
counselor cannot function without an
understanding of the processes and procedures
of assessment in counseling.
• Some academics may discern between assessment and testing
( Cohen & Swerdlik, 2002 ; Gladding, 2009 ).

• The focus of assessment is on gathering information; testing

refers to the measurement of psychological constructs through
instruments or specified procedures.

• In this sense, a construct refers to a phenomenon that exists

but cannot be directly observed. For example, variables such as
height and weight can be directly observed.

• Measurement systems for height and weight are available to

minimize errors and guarantee accuracy of results.
 REFERRAL TRIGGERS
• When should you refer a patient for a psychological
assessment? Whilst it’s easy to say “with every patient”, I think
there are a few points when psychological assessment is
particularly worthwhile. These include:
• Pre-treatment evaluations, particularly if you know a patient
has been referred to you because of limited success in previous
treatment or the patient has complex problems/presentation;
• When treatment has stalled and psychological assessment can
be used to identify the factors limiting progress, and;
• Questions of fitness where decisions are being made about
patients based on their psychological functioning (i.e., return
to work). Psychological assessments give you relatively
objective evidence to be used in decision-making processes.
 Need of Psychological Assessment
• Other reasons for assessment may not be so dramatic.
Assessment can help with all of the following, so the
need of assessment is as follows:
1. Clarifying diagnosis
2. Differentiating difficult diagnoses where symptoms
overlap such as ADHD and Hypomania
3. Identifying intellectual strengths and giftedness
4. Quickly identifying maladaptive interpersonal
patterns or coping methods
•
5. Recognizing underlying issues that perpetuate psychological
symptoms
6. Highlighting personality or cognitive strengths to help clients find their
best path or career
7. Understanding difficult therapy dynamics leading to “stuck” treatment
8. Obtaining objective results to aid with medication management
9. At the start of therapy, creating a list of goals based on difficulties
revealed by testing
10. Obtaining school or home based services
11. Ruling out organic causes of dysfunction or neurological issues
impacting life
12. Determining the best type of treatment given a client’s personality
 Psychological Tests
• Psychological tests are written, visual, or
verbal evaluations administered to assess the
cognitive and emotional functioning of
children and adults.
•
 Description
• Psychological tests are formalized measures of
mental functioning. Most are objective and
quantifiable; however, certain projective tests may
involve some level of subjective interpretation.
Also known as inventories, measurements,
questionnaires, and scales, psychological tests are
administered in a variety of settings, including
preschools, primary and secondary schools,
colleges and universities, hospitals, outpatient
healthcare settings, and social agencies. They
come in a variety of formats, including written,
verbal, and computer administered.
 Achievement and ability tests
• Achievement and ability tests are designed to measure the
level of a child's intellectual functioning and cognitive
ability. Most achievement and ability tests are
standardized, meaning that norms were established during
the design phase of the test by administering the test to a
large representative sample of the test population.
Achievement and ability tests follow a uniform testing
protocol, or procedure (i.e., test instructions, test
conditions, and scoring procedures) and their scores can be
interpreted in relation to established norms. Common
achievement and ability tests include the Wechsler
intelligence scale for children (WISC-III) and the Stanford-
Binet intelligence scales .
 Personality tests
• Personality tests and inventories evaluate the
thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and behavioral
traits that comprise personality. The results of
these tests can help determine a child's
personality strengths and weaknesses, and may
identify certain disturbances in personality, or
psychopathology. Tests such as the Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory for
Adolescents (MMPI-A) and the Millon Pre-
Adolescent Clinical Inventory III (M-PACI), are
used to screen children for specific
psychopathologies or emotional problems.
• Another type of personality test is the projective
personality assessment .
• A projective test asks a child to interpret some ambiguous
stimuli, such as a series of inkblots. The child's responses
provide insight into his or her thought processes and
personality traits.

• For example, the Holtzman Ink blot Test (HIT) uses a series of
inkblots that the test subject is asked to identify. Another
projective assessment, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT),
asks the child to tell a story about a series of pictures. Some
consider projective tests to be less reliable than objective
personality tests. If the examiner is not well-trained in
psychometric evaluation, subjective interpretations may affect
the evaluation of these tests.
 Neuropsychological tests
• Children and adolescents who have experienced a
traumatic brain injury, brain damage, or other organic
neurological problems, are administered
neuropsychological tests to assess their level of
functioning and identify areas of mental impairment.

• Neuropsychological tests may also be used to evaluate

the progress of a patient who has undergone
treatment or rehabilitation for a neurological injury or
illness. In addition, certain neuropsychological
measures may be used to screen children for
developmental delays and/or learning disabilities.
 Precautions
• Psychological testing requires a clinically trained
examiner.

• All psychological tests should be administered,

scored, and interpreted by a trained professional,
preferably a psychologist or psychiatrist with
expertise in the appropriate area.

• Psychological tests are only one element of a

psychological assessment.
• They should never be used as the sole basis for a diagnosis. A
detailed clinical and personal history of the child and a
review of psychological, medical, educational, or other
relevant records are required to lay the groundwork for
interpreting the results of any psychological measurement.

• Cultural and language differences among children may affect

test performance and may result in inaccurate test results.

• The test administrator should be informed before

psychological testing begins if the test taker is not fluent in
English and/or belongs to a minority culture. In addition, the
child's level of motivation may also affect test results.
 Preparation
• Prior to the administration of any psychological
test, the administrator should provide the child
and the child's parent with information on the
nature of the test and its intended use, complete
standardized instructions for taking the test
(including any time limits and penalties for
incorrect responses), and information on the
confidentiality of the results. After these
disclosures are made, informed consent should
be obtained from the child (as appropriate) and
the child's parent before testing begins.
 Normal results
• All psychological and neuropsychological
assessments should be administered, scored, and
interpreted by a trained professional. When
interpreting test results, the test administrator
will review with parents what the test evaluates,
its precision in evaluation, any margins of error
involved in scoring, and what the individual
scores mean in the context of overall test norms
and the specific background of the individual
child.
 Risks
• There are no significant risks involved in
psychological testing.
 Parental concerns

• Test anxiety can have an impact on a child's

performance, so parents should not place
undue emphasis on the importance of any
psychological testing. They should speak with
their child before any scheduled tests and
reassure them that their best effort is all that
is required. Parents can also ensure that their
children are well-rested on the testing day and
have a nutritious meal beforehand.
 Purpose
• Psychological tests are used to assess a variety of
mental abilities and attributes, including
achievement and ability, personality, and
neurological functioning.

• For children, academic achievement, ability,

and intelligence tests may be used as tools in school
placement, in determining the presence of a
learning disability or a developmental delay , in
identifying giftedness, or in tracking intellectual
development.
• Intelligence testing may also be used with teens
and young adults to determine vocational ability
(e.g., in career counseling).

• Personality tests are administered for a wide

variety of reasons, from diagnosing
psychopathology (e.g., personality disorder,
depressive disorder) to screening job candidates.

• They may be used in an educational setting to

determine personality strengths and weaknesses.