I started off this course nervous about the idea of
administering an actual assessment test to a client. While I am starting to get over that nervous
feeling about administering a test, I now doubt whether I will be able to
interpret the results in the most effective way to my client.
I believe
that I am generally an extremely genuine and compassionate person. When I first thought about how one would go
about interpreting test results, I immediately assumed that it would be more of
a robotic, rehearsed, repetitive process.
I then thought to myself, how will I be able to make this seem like a
genuine interaction with my client, while also being able to interpret the
results in the most effective way? The
number one thing that I worry about with my interaction with my clients, is
trying not to sound fake. The reason why
this came up after my reading was because my interactions in the past with my
school counselors did not seem very genuine.
It just seemed like they didn’t care about getting to know you as a
person. They would just draw conclusions
and make assumptions based on some random simple thing that maybe happened to
be in a file folder. While I know that I
will strive to be a better counselor than that, I can’t help that it is always
in my bubble.
It was quite
encouraging and helpful for me to read Chapter 16 and the Tinsley and Bradley
article. First off, Chapter 16 gave me a
more of a clear idea on how to share test results with a client. While I am still not 100 percent confident in
the process, at least I was able to paint a clearer picture on how I would go
about structuring the session. Also, in
the Tinsley and Bradley (1986) article, they mention something about not
abandoning the counseling process when interpreting test results. It also stated that “clients are people, not
just a series of test scores.” To me,
with my experiences with school counselors, I was just a test score. The advice in the article about not taking a
“time-out” from the counseling process was a very important piece of feedback
for me. Not only did it re-assure what I
was already thinking, but it encouraged me to have more confidence in myself as
a counselor and to stop over thinking everything.
Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K.
(2010). Assessment procedures for
counselors and helping professionals. Upper Saddle River , New
Jersey
Tinsley, H. & Bradley, R. W. (1986). Test
interpretation. Journal of Counseling and
Development, 64, 462-466.
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