Clinical Assessment

Although this week's reading of Chapter 13 doesn't directly affect us as school counselors, it is an important area to consider when using referrals and working with other professionals to help a child.  Drummond and Jones (2010) did a good job laying out the purpose of clinical assessments and different instruments that may be beneficial for a majority of individuals.  For example inventories and checklists are popular ways to quickly and efficiently check for symptoms with a client.  An inventory such as the Beck Depression Inventory can provide a quick analysis of whether or not a client may be showing signs of depression and from there you can determine the severity and move forward (Drummond and Jones, 2010).  Another inventory that seemed to be a useful assessment was the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory.  This can be used to indicate those individuals who are showing a high risk for abusing substances.  An inventory like this can be a great indicator to future behaviors and areas to focus on during a session.

Another section of this chapter that I appreciated was going into detail about the DSM-IV-TR.  In undergrad I took a course on abnormal psychology in which we learned all about the DSM and how it is used to diagnose individuals.  Being a school counselor, it will be important to understand what diagnoses mean and how to read the codes given.  Drummond and Jones (2010) did a good job reviewing how the DSM is used and what information it provides.  This will also be helpful with the news of the DSM-V-TR coming out!

The last part of the chapter that I really related to was the observation portion of assessment.  It never really occurred to me what clinicians need to do in order to gather information through observation.  As a school counselor, we are lucky to have all the resources and opportunities that we do to interact with our students and gain different perspectives of their lives.  As a clinician who is observing a client, there is little variation in gaining new information.  Interviews can be done and assessment tools can be given but they are only being observed in one place, the office.  The chapter described how important it is to note different aspects of your client when they are with you during a session.  Things such as facial expressions, eyes, body, movements and clothes can tell a lot about an individual and I think even as a school counselor these could be important areas to consider.

 Knowing the process that clinicians go through in order to diagnose and work with clients gives me a new perspective on how I need to work with my students as well.  It really is important to keep so many areas in mind and to use any and every resource and opportunity you have in order to provide the correct help and interventions for a client.  In the future, I know that I will be able to work well with different professionals in the field having a basic understanding of what they do and what they can provide for a student.  The student's best interests are at heart.

Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and

helping professionals. (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.