Rapid Psychological Assessment

Rapid Psychological Assessment

In today's time-pressured managed care environment, it is important for clinicians to quickly identify the nature of a patient's problem and initiate treatment. With thousands of psychological instruments available, this can often be difficult. This book offers a form of psychological assessment "triage." It eliminates the guesswork and helps psychologists quickly select, administer, and interpret psychological tests.From the PublisherIn today's time-pressured managed care environment, it is important for clinicians to quickly identify the nature of a patient's problem and initiate treatment. With thousands of psychological instruments available, this can often be difficult. This book offers a form of psychological assessment "triage." It eliminates the guesswork and helps psychologists quickly select, administer, and interpret psychological tests.From the Inside FlapMental health clinicians face growing pressure to produce reliable, accurate psychological assessments in the shortest possible time. Rapid Psychological Assessment eases that pressure with quick, concise, "assessment triage" guidelines for children, adults, and the elderly. This easily portable, user friendly reference eliminates guesswork and helps practitioners select the most appropriate tests, administer each instrument quickly and correctly, and interpret and report results accurately.The first of the book's three parts provides a thorough overview of the key areas of knowledge needed for assessment. It covers diagnosis, test selection, interviewing, and mental status exams, and reviews the most commonly used measures for adult and child assessment. Key pointers highlight important issues such as how to clarify referrals, select tests, assess for malingering, and establish rapport. This selection also summarizes and provides interpretation guidelines for the most current assessments available, including the newly released WAIS-III and WMS-III, all of the test most frequently used by practicing psychologists, and a wide range of additional specific measures. The second section organizes DSM-IV disorders by the symptoms that are considered in an assessment. Each chapter reviews practical considerations, describes primary disorders in terms of clinical presentation and test results, discusses common differential diagnoses, and provides test results consistent with each disorder. Specific treatment recommendations are offered, as well as variations for children and the elderly, where appropriate. A special section advanced cognitive assessment lays out a model for neuropsychological interpretation of test data. The book concludes with structured information on report writing and framework for converting raw test data into diagnoses and recommendations. Rapid Psychological Assessment is a valuable tool for clinicians in any environment who need dependable information and effective techniques for performing timely, accurate assessments. It is also an excellent text for students and others who need a reliable introduction to the real world of clinical psychological assessment.From the Back CoverThis concise, comprehensive, completely practical guide is especially geared to the needs of clinicians who perform assessments of children, adults, and the elderly. It provides easy access to sensible methods of selecting, administering, interpreting, and reporting psychological tests in an environment in which time is an increasingly critical element. Clinicians will find all the vital information they need in a user-friendly format that highlights the most important points. Special features of this book include:-Descriptions of primary disorders in terms of clinical presentation and test results -Evaluation of children, adults, and the elderly -"Testing Tip" boxes that highlight the most essential facts -Summaries and interpretive methods for the most recent versions of the most frequently used tests, including the new relea