Clinical Assessment

ASSESSMENT OF CLIENTS FOR COUNSELING

What is Assessment?

Assessment involves the gathering of relevant data or information about the client and their environments, their problems, and what they hope to accomplish through therapeutic intervention. The information gained through assessment answers some of the more basic questions such as:

o For what problems is the patient seeking help?

o How have those problems affected the patient’s life?

o What is maintaining these problems?

o What does the patient hope to gain from treatment?

Goals of Assessment

Assessment should enable the client and the counselor answer the following questions:

a. Is treatment of any kind required?

b. If treatment is indicated, what are the relative merits (advantages) of medical, psychological and social interventions?

c. If psychological intervention is indicated:

i. Which types of approach might be appropriate?

ii. What depth (number of sessions) of therapy is needed?

iii. Who should therapy involve?

It is only through having this type of information that the clinician is able to arrive at a formulation of the patient and the patient’s problems, which in turn will enable the development of an appropriate treatment plan.

Factors that determine effective Assessment

a) The counselor’s professional training e.g. psychiatrists are more likely to be medically oriented in their approach to assessment, focusing on a more thorough medical history and being more interested in the results of medical tests (e.g. lab results, etc), Social workers are more likely to assess patients from a perspective of the patient’s relationship to others and their surroundings, they will place emphasis on information obtained from collaterals e.g (family members, school officials etc).

b) The counselor’s theoretical orientation e.g. behaviorists will be interested in the antecedents and reinforcements of the problematic behavior whereas a cognitive therapist...