Interaction of Therapeutic Process and Alliance During Psychological Assessment

Abstract

Utilizing a collaborative therapeutic assessment (TA) model proposed by Finn and Tonsager (1997), we examined the interaction between therapeutic alliance and in-session process during the assessment phase of treatment. This study compares the utility of the TA model (n = 38) versus a traditional information gathering model (n = 90) of assessment. The results of this study indicate that the use of a TA model may decrease the number of patients who terminate treatment against medical advice. The Session Evaluation Questionnaire (Stiles & Snow, 1984), Combined Alliance Short Form (Hatcher & Barends, 1996), and Penn Helping Alliance Questionnaire-Revised (Barber & Crits-Christoph, 1996) can reliably measure the patient's experience of the assessment. The psychological assessment process may impact the patient's experience of assessment feedback and aid in the development of a therapeutic alliance. The therapeutic alliance developed during the assessment was found to be related to alliance early in psychotherapy. We discuss the theoretical, clinical, and research implications of these findings.

Predictors of Patient Satisfaction with the Feedback After a Neuropsychological Assessment

“…The study compared the utility of the TA model versus a traditional information gathering model of assessment. The results indicated that the use of a TA model may decrease the number of patients who terminate treatment against medical advice, and that the psychological assessment process may impact the patient's experience of assessment feedback and aid in the development of a therapeutic alliance [40].…”

Conceptualizing Culturally Infused Engagement and Its Measurement for Ethnic Minority and Immigrant Children and Families

“…Similarly, Allen et al (1996) found that clients found their therapeutic relationship to be more collaborative when the therapist engaged in clarification or interpretation. In a study by Ackerman et al (2000), clients reported the assessment experience more positively when therapists interacted collaboratively with them to develop treatment goals and engaged in exploring assessment results.…”

Therapeutic Assessment with couples

“…Ackerman, Hilsenroth, Baity, and Blagys (2000) found that when clients at a community clinic took part in a collaborative assessment prior to beginning formal psychotherapy, they were much less likely to ultimately terminate therapy against medical advice than clients who participated in a more traditional, information gathering model of assessment. In addition, the results presented in Ackerman et al's (2000) article, as well as later results from the same study (Hilsenroth, Peters, & Ackerman, 2004), indicated collaborative assessment may be associated with higher levels of client-therapist alliance during subsequent psychotherapy when compared with alliance levels reported by clients who received traditional assessment. Similarly, Hanson, Claiborn, and Kerr (1997) found that college students participating in a brief "interactive" (collaborative) assessment were more likely to rate their sessions "deep" and their counselors as expert, trustworthy, and attractive, than students participating in an assessment that involved unilateral feedback from the assessor.…”

“…To date, all of the empirical research on collaborative and Therapeutic Assessment has focused on individual (Ackerman et al, 2000;Finn & Tonsager, 1992;Hilsenroth et al, 2004;Newman & Greenway, 1997) and family clients (Smith et al, 2009;Tharinger et al, 2009;Tharinger, Finn, Wilkinson, & Schaber, 2007). However, an accumulating body of case material suggests collaborative and Therapeutic Assessment techniques may also be useful for psychologists working with couples, either as a precursor or supplement to traditional couples therapy (Butcher, 1990;Dorr, 1981;Finn, 2007;Richman & Davidoff, 1971).…”

“…In studies of college students seeking services at counseling centers, TA has been associated with decreased psychological symptomatology, increased self-esteem, and an increased sense of hopefulness (Finn & Tonsager, 1992;Newman & Greenway, 1997). Other researchers have found that clients who participate in TA before beginning a course of psychotherapy are likely to be more committed to therapy and experience a stronger alliance to the therapist than clients who participate in more traditional assessments (Ackerman, Hilsenroth, Baity, & Blagys, 2000;Hilsenroth, Peters, & Ackerman, 2004). In addition, preliminary studies of TA as a therapeutic intervention for children and families have found TA to be associated with decreased psychological symptomatology in children and improved family functioning (Smith, Wolf, Handler, and Nash, 2009;Tharinger, Finn, Gentry, Fowler, et al, 2009).…”