I
cannot believe it is our last week already! Congratulations for making it this far, everyone!
My
brain must have been on vacation last week, because I did chapter 15 for last
week’s blog, so I’ll be doing last week’s this week. :)
I
found the chapter on Clinical Assessment pretty interesting. While I have been somewhat familiar
with basic concepts of Clinical Assessment, it was interesting to learn more
about the DSM-IV-TR and the different mental disorders. I had known little about the DSM-IV-TR,
probably because I agree with one of the criticisms of it: it emphasizes
pathological symptoms and it has “a strong medical orientation that runs
counter to the wellness philosophy that counselors espouse” (Drummond &
Jones, 2010). I have always thought
that it is a tool that labels and categorizes people, which it technically
does, but I did not realize the extent to which is considers various
circumstances surrounding a particular person’s condition. I can appreciate that. Of course, I cannot (well, will
not) read descriptions of disorders without thinking of people I know and
wondering, if they were evaluated, if they would be diagnosed with that particular
disorder. The one that stood out
the most was Social Phobia. I
thought of a student that I have who is extremely school avoidant (ex: she
missed 23 days in the third marking period alone, and is tardy for school on a
daily basis to the point that she has not been to her first period class at all
so far in the 4th marking period). She is a difficult girl to “figure out,” so to speak. It took her a good two months to become
comfortable enough to even talk to me.
She avoids many peers and teachers, especially of the male gender. We have tried so many interventions
with her, and finally got her mom on
board with having a psychiatric evaluation. When her mom took her to the facility to be evaluated, the
girl absolutely refused to even walk in, and threw a fit. If she ever finally agrees to be
evaluated (or if her mom can find a way to do it without her thinking that there
is something “wrong” with her), I wonder if she would be diagnosed with Social
Phobia. This makes me wonder: how
do you evaluate people who are totally unwilling to participate, let alone walk
through the door?
One
type of clinical assessment of which I know that school counselors are involved
is risk assessments. I feel
relatively comfortable with a lot of aspects of counseling, but this is an area
in which I am very tentative. I
have only referred maybe 2 students for risk assessments in my teaching career,
and I still get shaken up from that.
Especially with suicide rates increasing in young people, in many cases
as a result of bullying, I am sure that this is inevitable. I often wondered, too – what do you do
if an adult friend is showing signs of being suicidal? Other than letting them know how much
you care and being there for them, paired with sharing your concern with their
loved ones, I don’t know what else could be done. Once older, people often have to decide for themselves to
get professional help, unless they makes choices that force them to get help. I think my hang-up is that I cannot
fathom being that “down and out” that suicide seems to be the only way
out. I find it very heartbreaking.
Thank
you, everyone, for a great class!
Reference
Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K.
(2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and
helping
professionals. (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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