In a modest body of research, personality functioning assessed via performance-based instruments has been found to validly predict treatment outcome and, to some extent, differential response to treatment. However, state-of-the-science longitudinal and mixture modeling techniques, which are common in many areas of clinical psychology, have rarely been used. In this article, we compare multilevel growth curve modeling (MLM) and latent class growth modeling (LCGM) approaches with the same data set to illustrate the different research questions that can be addressed by each method. Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores collected at 6 points during the course of a long-term multimodal inpatient treatment of 58 severely and persistently mentally ill adults were used to model the trajectory of treatment outcome. Pretreatment Rorschach-based markers of personality functioning and other markers of psychiatric severity were examined as covariates in each modeling approach. The results of both modeling approaches generally indicated that more psychologically impaired clients responded less favorably to treatment. The LCGM approach revealed 2 unique trajectories of improvement (a persistently low group and a higher starting, improving group). Personality functioning and baseline psychiatric variables significantly predicted group membership and the rate of change within the groups. A side-by-side examination of these 2 methods was found to be useful in predicting differential treatment response with personality functioning variables.

The fi rst task in assessment is to establish rapport between you and the client/ patient; it is diffi cult to obtain meaningful data unless rapport is established fi rst. Fischer (Fischer, 1985/1994) defi nes rapport this way: “I propose that rapport be regarded as a relationship in which client and assessor have found that they share certain understandings that serve as common ground for joint, give-and-take, exploration of the client’s situations and opinion ” (p. 300).

The Clinical Case Applications section (CCA) has been a popular component of the Journal of Personality Assessment (JPA) throughout the past decade. We have seen an increasing number of high-quality submissions, and the articles published in the section have been followed with interest by the readership. When the CCA was launched, a case study section aimed at practicing psychologists was unique among scientific journals with high methodological standards. More recently, however, other prominent scientific psychology journals have added sections devoted to case study methodology: Psychotherapy, the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and the Journal of Pediatric Psychology are a few examples. Clearly, well-conceptualized and well-written case studies continue to hold a place in contemporary psychology, despite some continuing controversy about their utility and standing in psychological science (Borckardt et al., 2008; Dattilio, Edwards, & Fishman, 2010). The CCA as presently constituted is particularly well suited to the journal published by the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA), whose members include a substantial number of practicing clinicians and applied assessment psychologists, as well as researchers. Thus, the scope of the section remains largely unchanged from previous statements and calls for submissions (Meyer, Nichols, & Handler, 2005; Nichols & Handler, 2003). However, we offer in this statement some potential topics and areas of personality assessment that are underrepresented or have yet to appear in the section that we think might be of interest to the readership of JPA and to the personality assessment community at large. We also encourage authors to submit more “hybrid” articles that combine case studies with scientific research methods to inform the everyday activities of assessment practitioners. To that end, we also describe an array of single-case experimental and quasi-experimental research designs and methodologies to strengthen the conclusions drawn from case studies and case series. Finally, we discuss the editorial and review process of the CCA, which differs somewhat from traditional journal review procedures. We hope this updated statement provides prospective authors with guidance in preparing and submitting clinical case study manuscripts to the CCA, with or without formal research components.

About midway into this chapter the reader will meet Maria, who lived in a shelter and was destitute because she couldn't hold a job. She had a ferocious temper and often would explode into violent rages, endangering herself and others. Through the use of personality assessment data, the therapist learned how the patient would treat him in the therapy sessions and what he had to do in the sessions to facilitate her treatment. As the reader will see, what the therapist learned through the assessment process was instrumental in guiding him to a successful outcome with the patient.

Preface vii About the Contributors xix 1 Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment: Basic Concepts, History, and Research 1 Stephen E. Finn, Constance T. Fischer, and Leonard Handler PART I: Assessments of Individual Adults 2 Therapeutic Assessment of a Dissociating Client: Learning Internal Navigation 27 Judith Armstrong 3 Therapeutic Assessment of Depression: Love s Labors Lost? 47 Marc J. Diener, Mark J. Hilsenroth, Thomas D. Cromer, Frank P. Pesale, and Jenelle Slavin-Mulford 4 Collaboration in Neuropsychological Assessment: Metaphor as Intervention With a Suicidal Adult 69 Diane H. Engelman and J. B. Allyn 5 Collaboration Throughout the Assessment: A Young Man in Transition 93 Constance T. Fischer 6 Therapeutic Assessment for a Treatment in Crisis Following Multiple Suicide Attempts 113 J. Christopher Fowler 7 Using Therapeutic Assessment to Explore Emotional Constriction: A Creative Professional in Crisis 133 Jan H. Kamphuis and Hilde de Saeger 8 Therapeutic Assessment Involving Multiple Life Issues: Coming to Terms With Problems of Health, Culture, and Learning 157 Hale Martin and Erin Jacklin 9 Collaborative Assessment for Psychotherapy: Witnessing A Woman s Reawakening 179 Patrick J. McElfresh 10 Therapeutic Assessment of Severe Abuse: A Woman Living With Her Past 199 Carol Groves Overton PART II: Assessments of Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults 11 Therapeutic Assessment of an Adolescent: An Adopted Teenager Comes to Feel Understood 225 Marita Frackowiak 12 Collaborative Storytelling With Children: An Unruly Six- Year- Old Boy 243 Leonard Handler 13 Rorschach- Based Psychotherapy: Collaboration With a Suicidal Young Woman 269 Noriko Nakamura 14 Collaborative Assessment of a Child in Foster Care: New Understanding of Bad Behavior 291 Caroline Purves 15 Therapeutic Assessment With a 10- Year- Old Boy and His Parents: The Pain Under the Disrespect 311 Deborah J. Tharinger, Melissa E. Fisher, and Bradley Gerber 16 Collaborative Assessment on an Adolescent Psychiatric Ward: A Psychotic Teenage Girl 335 Heikki Toivakka PART III: Special Applications 17 Therapeutic Assessment Alternative to Custody Evaluation: An Adolescent Whose Parents Could Not Stop Fighting 357 F. Barton Evans 18 Therapeutic Assessment With a Couple in Crisis: Undoing Problematic Projective Identification via the Consensus Rorschach 379 Stephen E. Finn 19 Case Studies in Collaborative Neuropsychology: A Man With Brain Injury and a Child With Learning Problems 401 Tad T. Gorske and Steven R. Smith Afterword: Forward! 421 Constance T. Fischer, Leonard Handler, and Stephen E. Finn Author Index 427 Subject Index 430

AbstractThis chapter concerns key issues in teaching and learning personality assessment, including a discussion of: (1) the difference between “testing” and “assessment”, (2) reasons for teaching and learning assessment, (3) methods of helping students to develop critical thinking skills in the interpretation and integration of data, (4) material on teaching students how to select appropriate assessment batteries, and (5) methods to help students overcome their natural resistance to the application of their assessment knowledge, lest they make errors and injure the patient/client. The chapter focuses on the experience of the student as he or she learns the material and on methods to make assessment more meaningful to the student and the patient/client. It also deals with ethical and political issues in teaching assessment, the influence of cultural diversity on assessment data, and assessment on internship. Several controversies are discussed, such as the preference for self‐report measures or projective measures and whether the academic programs or internship faculty should be primarily responsible for teaching assessment. The chapter concludes with a discussion of new and innovative issues in teaching personality assessment, use of computers and the Internet, therapeutic assessment, assessment of healthy aspects of personality, development of focused personality measures, and an expanded concept of intelligence to include personality variables.

Role induction (RI) has been shown to decrease premature termination and to enhance the therapeutic alliance and symptom relief. We examine the effects of a video-tape RI on premature termination rates, outcome, and the process variable of therapeutic alliance. Sixty-eight clients and their therapists (N = 26) participated in the study. Each client completed baseline measures of symptom status before beginning the therapy. Clients were then randomly assigned to either a video-tape RI condition or a no videotape treatment-as-usual condition. After the first session of therapy, clients and therapists separately completed outcome and alliance measures. Providing a video-tape RI to clients as they entered therapy did not lead to better results in attendance, outcome, or process variables. Considering possibilities that lie beyond the design of this study, so as to understand these results, is encouraged in an effort to advance the field's thinking about RI and how it can best be harnessed for continued positive effects moving forward.

Most clinicians concede the benefits of conceptualizing children in systemic terms. Yet, many child assessments involve parents only on a limited basis. The Therapeutic Assessment model for children and families (TA-C) emphasizes parental involvement and family-driven collaboration throughout the intervention. Child TA has shown promise as an effective brief intervention (e.g., Smith, Handler, Nash, 2010; Tharinger et al., 2009). Family intervention sessions (Finn, 2007; Tharinger, Finn, Austin, et al., 2008) are an integral component of the child TA model in facilitating familial changes. However, TA-C research has yet to empirically examine the potential impact of a family session on treatment trajectory. This case study includes an extended presentation of the development and execution of a family session. The authors use a daily measures time-series experiment to empirically examine the clinical effectiveness of the TA-C and the hypothesis that the family session was a tipping point in the trajectory of improvement.

In this article, we present a case study of a Therapeutic Assessment (TA) with an 11-year-old boy who had two unexplained behavioral episodes suggesting neurological impairment, which led to two emergency department visits at a children's hospital. TA is a semistructured approach that blends the extensive conceptualizing benefits of psychological assessment with the principles and techniques of evidence-based child and family interventions. We use this case to illustrate how TA is an adaptive and flexible approach to child-centered family assessment that can meet the goals of psychologists working in pediatric and general medical hospitals, primary care clinics, family medicine practices, and other health care settings. With the current case, the clinician was able to use the procedures of TA to clarify for the family their son's unexplained behaviors, while also providing them with a therapeutic experience. In addition to addressing the family's concerns, the clinician also addressed a number of specific questions provided by the referring neurologist that informed ongoing care of the child. This case illustrates the potential utility and effectiveness of the TA model with children and families referred to a typical psychology service in a health care setting. This case is one of the first applications of the TA model with this population and its success suggests further research in this area is warranted.

This article is a review of the research on the Kinetic Family Drawing Technique (KFD; Burns & Kaufman, 1970) in the areas of reliability, normative findings, cultural influences, and validity. The review is critical of studies that emphasize single KFD signs and the use of a single interpretation for each of a series of signs. Instead, the authors emphasize the need for more sophisticated studies that utilize a holistic, integrative approach to interpretation. The article also discusses the existence of significant age, race, and culturally related differences in KFD performance and stresses the need for more detailed normative data in these areas. In addition, the authors stress the importance of research that focuses on the interpretive approach of the clinician using the KFD technique, rather than on the KFD, per se.

The Therapeutic Assessment (TA) model is a relatively new treatment approach that fuses assessment and psychotherapy. The study examines the efficacy of this model with preadolescent boys with oppositional defiant disorder and their families. A replicated single-case time-series design with daily measures is used to assess the effects of TA and to track the process of change as it unfolds. All 3 families benefitted from participation in TA across multiple domains of functioning, but the way in which change unfolded was unique for each family. These findings are substantiated by the Behavior Assessment System for Children (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004). The TA model is shown to be an effective treatment for preadolescent boys with oppositional defiant disorder and their families. Further, the time-series design of this study illustrated how this empirically grounded case-based methodology reveals when and how change unfolds during treatment in a way that is usually not possible with other research designs.

We describe a family Therapeutic Assessment (TA) case study employing 2 assessors, 2 assessment rooms, and a video link. In the study, we employed a daily measures time-series design with a pretreatment baseline and follow-up period to examine the family TA treatment model. In addition to being an illustrative addition to a number of clinical reports suggesting the efficacy of family TA, this study is the first to apply a case-based time-series design to test whether family TA leads to clinical improvement and also illustrates when that improvement occurs. Results support the trajectory of change proposed by Finn (2007), the TA model's creator, who posits that benefits continue beyond the formal treatment itself.

Recent case studies have demonstrated the potential benefits of Finn's Therapeutic Assessment (TA) model with families (e.g., Handler, 2007; Tharinger, Finn, Wilkinson, & Schaber, 2007). This case study of a 6-year-old girl and her family follows the Therapeutic Assessment (TA) model, focusing on the specified goals of each session and how those goals were accomplished. In this article, we illustrate the flexibility afforded by the TA model to tailor an appropriate intervention for a specific family and also show that extensive experience with the TA model is not necessary for this approach to yield clinically significant results.

In this article, I review the contributions of Paul Lerner concerning his "humanistic-clinical attitude" in using the Rorschach (Exner, 2003) with patients. To illustrate Paul's empathic attitude, I present a case in which the patient's percepts reflected his relationship problems and his experience of me and others as a threat to his emotional integrity. Asking the patient to give voice to his Rorschach percepts, thereby amplifying his experience of me and his world, helped me become empathically tuned to him, as described by Paul in his writings and in his approach to patients.

There is little consensus concerning assessment methods in child custody evaluations, and a lack of a theoretically-informed empirical framework to guide the custody evaluation process. Recently, attachment theory has been proposed as a possible unifying framework for assessing the parent-child relationship as part of custody determinations, due to the theory's rich empirical support. But while the child's attachment to his-her caretaker has begun to be incorporated into custody evaluations, the question of the parents' adult attachment status has so far been neglected as a potentially relevant area for gathering information regarding parenting. This review of the literature discusses the potential utility of assessing adult attachment as part of custody evaluations, and focuses on three measures as relevant sources of information: the Adult Attachment Interview, Adult Attachment Projective, and Attachment Scripts. A call is made for forensic science to incorporate adult attachment research and literature into custody evaluations, and suggestions are made for future research.