SCHOOL: HUMANITIES AND SOIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT: PSYCHOLOGY
UNIT NAME: ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
UNIT CODE: APS 304
LECTURER: ESTER MUTHOGA
TASK: Imagine you are a psychologist and a client has come to you for
help with a psychological problem. Discuss the assessment procedures
you would use to find out his/her problem and the therapeutic treatments
you would apply.
INTRODUCTION
Clinical Assessment is the psychological process of collecting information and drawing
conclusions through the use of observation, psychological tests, neurological tests and interviews
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to determine the person’s problem and presenting symptoms. (Washington State University,
2020).it generally entails getting to know about the client’s abilities, skills, personality
characteristics, cognitive and emotional functioning in relation to their sociocultural
environment.
Reasons for a clinical Assessment
I would explain to my client that these are the reasons for carrying out an assessment on them;
To determine if a treatment plan is needed and to what extent an individual is in need of it.
To determine which treatment approach will work best for the patient since there is no specific
blanket therapy that can work for everyone (assuming a treatment plan is needed).
To determine if the specific treatment plan is working through comparisons of the initial baseline
before treatment and post treatment.
ASSESMENT PROCESS
OBSERVATION
I would observe my patient in two ways; Naturalistic and Laboratory. The former means
observing one in their natural environment like at home while the latter means observing one in a
lab with sophisticated scientific tools like video records which can be viewed later on. I would
observe my client at in our office space and note of any physical symptoms such as blushing,
hoarseness, tremor, and perspiration which as common symptoms for people with Social Anxiety
Disorder (my assumed disorder) according to DSM 5 2014.
CLINICAL INTERVIEWS
Here I will do a face to face question and answer series in order to gather information about my
patient in regards to their behavior, attitudes, current situation, personality and life history. To
avoid shutting down my client and encourage then to talk I would carry out a semi structured
interview (consisting of both prepared question and also leaving room for further questioning)
rather than a structured interview (consisting of rigid prepared questions).
I would collect additional information from family and inquire if there was a history of any
mental illness in the family.
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I would collect all this information in an intake form where I will store all of my client’s
information.
OBSERVATION
I would conduct a mental status examination of the client and consider the patient’s general
appearance (are they well-groomed and clean? Are they tidy or untidy?), behavior (Are they
calm or anxious), level of consciousness (are they aware of what day today is?) Do they know
where they are?) And attentiveness (do they maintain eye contact?), motor (is there any abrupt
movements and unexplained misplaced gestures?) and speech activity, mood and affect (Are
their emotions and moods within check?), thought and perception (is it rational or irrational),
attitude and insight and higher cognitive abilities.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
Depending on the clients symptoms I would use different tests such as Beck’s Inventory Tools
which is used to measure depression.
On a general level one can also use the DSM 5 module to diagnose a condition. For example it
states the before one can be termed as suffering from Antisocial personality disorder they must
first have been diagnosed with conduct disorder before the age of 15 years.
It is important to also rule out any medical underlined causes of a psychological disorder such as
being diagnosed with a terminal illness which can be the reason why one is sick.
THERAPEUTIC TREATMENT
Assuming that I have diagnosed by client with Depression, I would use Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy because it is most appropriate in this case. It focuses on the negative maladaptive
thoughts that one has and also the behavior that one exhibits in relation to them.
I would encourage my client to use cognitive restructuring techniques to combat negative
thoughts such as I am a failure, there is nothing I can do right. And instead:
Change their language, I would encourage them to avoid words like NEVER, MUST, SHOULD,
CANNOT AND WON’T.
Practice neuro-linguistic conditioning and speak positive reviews about oneself in areas that they
tend to feel insecure about.
Use of logic. Instead of wasting time here labeling myself as a failure why don’t I just get up and
try to accomplish something I know that I am good at?
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Avoid unrealistic demands and just stick to what you now you can easily accomplish.
Use of interpersonal therapy
It focuses on improving one social relationship with others through improving communication
skills. This is because during the initial stages of depression one is usually alone and isolated and
shuns from communication with loved ones. Through role play sessions with a therapist a client
can know how to express themselves better with others. And this bring on support ftom their
friends.
REFERENCES
Ellis (1977) pp. 259
Morrison (2014) pp. 541
Cornes & Frank (1994) pp9-10
Sederer (2013)
Markowitz & Weissman (2004) pp136-139