No abstract

No abstract

Psychological assessment has the potential to impact positively both those individuals being assessed and the systems in which they are embedded (e.g., families and schools). Therapeutic Assessment (TA) is a relatively new paradigm that uses collaborative psychological assessment to address consumers' questions of interest and promote positive change. TA with children aims to impact the parents, the child, and their relationship and to date has been used primarily in clinics and independent practices, with some auxiliary involvement of schools. This article draws from the first research project investigating the efficacy of TA with children and families. Clients were referred from the waiting list of a community mental health center, and TA was provided in a university clinic setting. First, excerpts from a TA "report" with a child are presented. Next, the theoretical underpinnings and research on TA are discussed, as well as the protocol for using TA with children and families. Finally, a detailed clinical case study is presented, with outcome measures indicating high acceptability and satisfaction, decreased child symptomatology, improved hope and self-esteem, and enhanced parental efficacy. Yet to be explored is the effectiveness of comprehensive TA in the schools, where the target of intervention could also include teachers, organizational aspects of schools, and parent-school collaboration. Until that time, suggestions are provided for implementing techniques of TA-as currently conceptualizedwithin schools. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.In this article, we introduce a clinical method, Therapeutic Assessment (TA), which explicitly uses psychological assessment with a child as the cornerstone of a family intervention. We start by sharing the end point of TA with one family through excerpts from a letter written to Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez at the end of our assessment of their 11-year-old granddaughter, an assessment in which they were actively engaged. As will be discussed fully in a later section, a goal of TA is to promote new understanding and empathy in parents about their child that allows them to take steps toward systemic and individual change. Another goal is to provide the child with an assessment experience that directly impacts her in positive ways and enhances her capacity to be responsive to the new parental change. At this point, we encourage you to set aside your experience with formal psychological reports and to read the following excerpts as if you were parents of a child who had problems. How does it affect you? What would you experience receiving this letter? Letter to Maria and Edward SanchezDear Maria and Edward, We're writing this letter to give you a written copy of the results from our psychological assessment of your daughter, Christina. This letter summarizes the answers for the questions you posed for the assessment and provides more details about how you can relate to Christina. Before addressing your questions in writing, we want to say again how much we appreciated working with your ...

This study compared 2 methods of scoring the Draw-A-Person (DAP) and the Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD): A quantitative scoring method based on traditional individual indicators was contrasted with a qualitative scoring method based on an integrative approach designed to assess overall psychological functioning. The participants were 52 children with a mean age of 1 V/* years. Using DSM-III-R, they were assigned to the following groups: mood disorder (n = 12), anxiety disorder (n = 11), mood/anxiety (« = 16), control (n = 13). Unlike scores from the quantitative approach, scores obtained from the qualitative approach on the DAP differentiated children with mood disorders and mood/anxiety disorders, but not children with only anxiety disorders, from control children. Similarly, and again unlike scores from the quantitative approach, scores from the qualitative approach on the KFD differentiated children with mood disorders (but not mood/anxiety disorders) from control children. In addition, scores from the qualitative DAP and KFD scoring methods were significantly correlated with self-reported self-concept and aspects of family functioning. It appears that an integrated, holistic approach to scoring projective drawings, reflective of overall psychological functioning of the individual and of the family, can be a useful adjunct in assessing children with internalizing disorders.The assessment of internalizing disorders in children (i.e., depression and anxiety) presents problems that are not apparent for disorders with more obvious overt behavioral characteristics. The emotional discomfort and subjective feelings of distress that are central aspects of internalizing disorders are more difficult for parents, teachers, and often psychologists to identify accurately and reliably. Even when interviewed, children may experience considerable difficulty in naming, describing, or verbally communicating their emotional discomfort and subjective state. However, systematic input from children themselves is critical in the assessment of internalizing disorders (Cytryn & McKnew, 1980). This input must be obtained in a manner that minimizes demands for verbal expression and is sensitive to the child's level of development (Quay & La Greca, 1986).In the past decade, diagnostic interviews, self-rating scales of depression and anxiety, and parent and teacher checklists have appeared that have facilitated the assessment of internalizing disorders in children. In addition, it has been common clinical practice to supplement such measures with projective techniques and thus gain a broader understanding of the youngster's self-perceptions and way of perceiving his or her world. However, although there exists a burgeoning body of research We thank the many students who assisted in the collection of this data. Special thanks go to Judith Watkins and Gayle Vincent for their assistance with conceptual formulation and data management.

Therapeutic Assessment (TA) with children is a hybrid of psychological assessment and short-term intervention. It uses the ongoing process and results of psychological assessment to enhance parents' understanding of their child and to facilitate change. Clinical reports and single case studies suggest that TA with children is an acceptable and effective brief intervention. However, no aggregate data have been published to support this claim. This pilot study investigated the acceptability and preoutcome-postoutcome of TA with 14 clinically referred children with emotional and behavior problems and their parents. Results indicated high treatment acceptability as well as significantly decreased child symptomatology and enhanced family functioning as reported by children and mothers. In addition, mothers demonstrated a significant increase in positive emotion and a significant decrease in negative emotion pertaining to their children's challenges and future. The findings, although limited due to the design and small sample size, support assertions from published single case studies that TA is possibly an efficacious child and family intervention for children with emotional and behavioral problems and should be studied in a larger, comparison design.