Description
This volume is unique in its dual focus on the role of psychological assessment in clarifying diagnostic issues and the contribution of assessment to treatment planning. It provides numerous case examples of commonly encountered diagnostic questions drawn from a broad range of psychiatric patients.
The opening section covers the history and nature of psychological testing and psychiatric diagnosis, including the major psychological tests, the stages of development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals, and how these are combined for assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning. The remainder of the volume demonstrates the interplay between the DSM-III-R [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition, Revised] diagnosis and psychodiagnostic testing.
In an exceptionally practical approach, the volume presents for each case the DSM-III-R diagnosis, psychological assessment, treatment planning, and outcome and then provides a summary of conclusions from the clinical and psychological examinations, including such instruments as the WAIS [Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale], the MMPI [Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory], the Rorschach, the Thematic Apperception Test, the Bender Gestalt, and human figure drawings.
The actual test material provides an illuminating picture of the clinical and psychological information, showing how the diagnostic decision is reached as well as clarifying the psychodynamic issues, personality functioning, cognitive abilities, and social and environmental pressures in each case.
The special value of this volume lies in the light it sheds on the relationship between the psychological assessments commonly carried out by clinical psychologists and the treatment planning situation faced by the provider of clinical services. As such, it will be useful not only to clinical psychologists, but also to the many health professionals—psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, counselors, or case managers—who are involved with each patient.