EDCP 615 Counseling Appraisal

Scott E. Borrelli, EdD, ABPP
University of Maryland – Counseling and Personnel Services

Email: sborrell@faculty.ed.umuc.edu

Tel/Fax: [44] (0) 20 8696 7661 (London, UK)

Post: PSC 41, Box 2128

APO AE 09464

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the skills of basic interviewing techniques related to counseling assessment and to both
quantitative and qualitative methods of assessment. Students will be exposed to the collection and interpretation of appraisal data and the synthesis of data through case study procedures. Evaluation strategies related to diverse client populations will also be emphasized. Students will review, critique, and administer to clients various appraisal instruments and models. Students will also interview a counseling professional who uses appraisal methods, and complete a self-administered test battery and report. The course will be completed online using the university’s course delivery system, WebTycho.

Course Introduction

Assessment has always played a significant role in the fields of counseling and psychotherapy. Especially today, when the problems of living seem to be even more complex, counselors must be well-informed about the basic characteristics of psychological evaluation procedures, primarily to forge relevant, appropriate, and efficient intervention plans. Professional assessment competencies include the ability to compare and evaluate different assessment procedures, including: standardized tests, rating scales, behavioral observations, biographical measures, objective and projective techniques, physiological and biographical measures.

Course activities are designed to provide prospective counselors with the theoretical foundation for understanding, evaluating, and selecting appropriate standardized and informal instruments for measuring a variety of behavioral factors. Assessment areas include intelligence, development, aptitude, interests, achievement, career, personality, affect, psychopathology and mental health.

Non-standardized assessment techniques will include the intake and counseling interview, history taking, and observational strategies for arriving at accurate diagnosis and intervention.

The course will also provide an introduction to statistical concepts as applied to the professional counselor's evaluation and selection of appraisal methods, and the interpretation of assessment and test data.

Ethical, legal, and social-cultural issues and the ever-changing responsibilities of the professional counselor in the managed health care
milieu will be examined closely, especially as they pertain to diversity and culture-fair assessment practice. Students will develop a deeper appreciation for the benefits and limitations of qualitative and quantitative appraisal procedures.

Methods for integrating assessment into the entire counseling process, from intake to treatment closure, will highlight both the practical and the dynamic nature of psychological and educational assessment.

Opportunities will be constructed to learn about proper assessment and for development of practical assessment skills. Practice intake evaluations, research, review and critique of individual appraisal instruments will be pursued, allowing opportunities for applying psychological principles. Students will study guidelines for integrating appraisal data into a comprehensive and practical written report. Through self- and peer-assessment, students will gain greater understanding of the self and of interpersonal counseling style.

Additional Areas of Study Include:
* Informal and Formal Appraisal Instruments
* Assessment Data Analysis and Collection
* Ethical and legal implications of counseling appraisal
* Development of intervention strategies from assessment information
* Appraisal interviews as diagnostic tools
* Administration, scoring, and interpretation of appraisal instruments
* Mental status examination

Course Goals/Objectives

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

1. Apply basic interviewing and communications skills for use in information gathering.

2. Design a counseling plan based on information gathered through assessment and observation.

3. Describe and understand informal and formal evaluation instruments, procedures of assessment, including environmental assessment, interpretation of evaluation data, issues of reliability and validity with assessment approaches.

4. Apply ethical and legal implications involved in appraisal.

5. Understand different issues related to the assessment of clients with a disability or representing varied, ethnic groups.

6. Complete effective interpretation of test results.

7. Administer Mental Status Interview, and the MultiModal model.

8.  Broaden self- awareness through self-administered objective appraisals, toward the development of a more integrated professional identity.

Course Materials

Required:

Walsh, W. Bruce & Betz, N. E. (2001). Tests and assessment. (4th edition) Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall

Zimmerman, Mark. (1994), Interview guide for evaluating DSM-IV psychiatric
disorders and the mental status exam. Rhode Island: Psych Products Press.

Assessment Packet, provided by UM-CAPS ($30.00), includes the following
assessments:

Beck Anxiety Inventory
Beck Depression Inventory
Beck Hopelessness Scale
Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT)
Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (MSI-R)
Measure of Psychosocial Development (MPD)
Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III (MCMI-III)
NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI)
Revised Behavior Problem Checklist (RBPC)
Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank
Self-Directed Search (Internet version)
Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL 90-R)
Wide Range Achievement Test

WWW Resources:
The American Psychological Association: Tests and Assessment
(http://www.apa.org/science/testing.html)

The American Psychological Association: Code of Fair Testing Practices in
Education (http://www.apa.org/science/fairtestcode.html)

The American Psychological Association. Division 5: Evaluation, Measurement and
Statistics. (http://www.apa.org/divisions/div5/)

Recommended Resources:

AEAA, APA, NCME. Standards for educational and psychological testing.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Buros, C. Mental measurements yearbook (see WWW).

The DSM-IV-TR, The American Psychiatric Association.

Hood, A.B., Johnson, R.W. (1997). Assessment in counseling: A guide to the use
of psychological assessment procedures. VA: American Counseling Association.

Kroeger, O. & Thueson, J.M.(1988). Type Talk: The sixteen personality traits
that determine how we live, love, and work. NY: Delta.

Lazarus. A. A. (1997). Brief but comprehensive psychotherapy : the multimodal
way. New York : Springer Pub. Co. WM 420.5 .P5 L431B 1997
 

Project Descriptions and Course Grade Percentages

The following course assignments will be elaborated upon early in the course.
The instructor reserves the right to modify these assignments during the firs few weeks of the course depending on students interests and in order to improve the course.

1. Course Participation and Readings (25% of course grade):
Students will be expected to complete weekly readings and discussion questions keyed to these readings. Each student must post a Main response to the Reading/Discussion questions and enter into discussion with other student's based on their MAIN responses and additional comments. Students must complete weekly readings and discussions during the appropriate week, as stated in the syllabus. Late assignments will not be accepted.

2. Professional Counselor Interview, Assessments Critique, and Presentation (25%):
Students will be expected to interview a counseling professional about their views on and uses of assessment and testing. You will also select a small group of assessments, and review them for the class. More details will follow.

3. Assessment Practice: Students will be expected to complete an extensive initial interview with another person utilizing Laxarus' model. The purpose of this assignment is to gain insight into the counselor's role in appraisal and integrating various sources of information into a coherent interview report. The purpose in NOT to provide direct counseling assessment services to the individual. Details to follow. (25%):

Students will be expected to complete an extensive initial interview with a client, utilizing Lazarus' model. Details to follow.

See the following web site for an introduction to Lazarus’ model:
 http://www.btinternet.com/~centreforstressmanagement/webpage3.htm
 
4. Self-Administration of Test Battery and Report (25%):
Each student will be purchasing a collection of tests and assessments. A selection of these will be self-administered, scored, interpreted and summarized in a professional test report. Details to follow.

 Confidentiality Issues

Students must understand, be sensitive to and carefully protect the right to privacy. All personal and client data should be carefully guarded. Client’s identities should be protected, and client data only discussed within the course.

 

Quality of Work and Grading Information

 

The final course grade will be based on all course requirements and further evidence of having achieved basic knowledge and practice competencies for responsible, sensitive, and ethical client assessment.   The grade will also reflect each student’s success in integrating appraisal skills into a professional counselor identity. All course work should reflect graduate level standards and APA writing style guidelines.

 

Instructor Biography

Dr. Scott E. Borrelli is a licensed psychologist and National Certified Counselor and School Counselor. He is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, and holds Diplomate, Board Certification in both Clinical Psychology and Counseling Psychology. Dr. Borrelli has been Assistant Professor with Boston University, and has been on the faculty of the University of Maryland in Europe since 1993. Dr. Borrelli has taught and practiced psychology, counseling, and psychotherapy for over twenty years, in a variety of settings and with a wide range of populations. Settings include mental health centers, university counseling centers, community mental health clinics, industry and business, hospitals, elementary and secondary schools. He has special interests in health and wellness psychology, testing and assessments, psychopharmacology, clinical hypnotherapy, issues of multiculturalism and diversity, and trauma/EMDR. He holds an integrative/eclectic professional orientation, rooted in the belief in each individual’s innate ability to problem-solve, cope creatively, and live well. Originally from Boston, he now lives in London.