Re: Assessment inventories
RASKINJ@HARPO.TNSTATE.EDU
Wed, 20 Sep 1995 13:55:05 -0600 (CST)
Regarding Bronwyn's concerns about assessment damaging the relationship
between client and counselor: I couldn't agree more. It seems to me that
doing an assessment implies that the counselor, not the client, is the
expert on the client's experiences and the meanings of those experiences.
When a counselor interprets a Rorschach or MMPI, for example, he or she
is making evaluations about what the assessment results "mean" about the
client. This seems to set up the counselor as "Oz." That is, the counselor
is the expert. How can this not impact the relationship between client
and counselor? In my experience during internship, clients were often
much more comfortable with me as an expert at interpersonal communication.
That is, I could talk openly with the client about subjects others did
not talk to the client about. In so doing, the client became better able
to recognize and evaluate his or her own system of construing. This is
quite different than me, as counselor, defining whether the client's way
of construing is "healthy" or "pathological." Perhaps if therapists
acknowledged that they do not have a lock on what "truly is" adjustment
then clients would not have such a fear of us. From my constructivist
perspective, we need to help clients examine current constructions,
experiment with alternatives, and ultimately choose which constructions
they feel work best for them. The controversial question I would pose
is "Do we need to do assessments with clients at all?" If we do want
to emphasize the importance of the therapeutic relationship, then won't
we learn all we could learn from an assessment simply by talking to the
client?
JON
JONATHAN RASKIN
DEPT. OF PSYCHOLOGY
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
3500 JOHN A. MERRITT BLVD.
NASHVILLE, TN 37209-1561
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