Assignment 8- Psychological Report

Assignment 8
   
Begin Psychological Assessment Report

Due Week 7

Your report should be 10-12 pages in length.

You will continue the report that you started in Activity 5.  Incorporate any feedback
that you received from other course assignments.  In addition to the tests you have
already interpreted (WAIS-IV, WRAT4, and MMPI-2) you will also add your
interpretation of the PAI and the WHODAS.  As before, your report will include a
reason for referral (may be fictitious), discussion of the test results from the WAIS IV,
WRAT 4, MMPI-2, and PAI, a brief discussion of the WHODAS 2.0,
diagnostic impressions, summary and recommendations,  based on findings that
refer to the referral question(s).
A description of the content for each of the main sections of your report follows:

Identification and Referral
        Clients name, age, marital status, ethnicity, gender.
        Describe the setting, including where the testing took place, how the client
travelled there (or if you went to the clients home).
        Reason for testing at this time, including the referral source (can be a self-referral
or a fictitious referrer) and the information sought by the referrer.
        Presenting problems and symptoms.
There should be one or more referral questions to be answered by your assessment. 
These questions will be answered in your Recommendations section and the answers
should flow logically from your findings.  Some common referral questions for
psychological testing include:
        Mental health diagnosis and treatment or management recommendations.
        Disability determination whether the client is able to work and limitations.
        Vocational/educational assessment what kind of work would be a good fit for the
clients abilities.
        Learning disability assessment is a learning disability present and what sort of
limitations and accommodations are appropriate.

History
Preface your history by indicating the source (such as clients report or family report).

Family History.  Include information about current family, current living situation and family
of origin.

Educational and Vocational History.  Level of education completed, high school and college
grades, any history of special education, expulsions and suspensions, occupation and jobs
held, last worked, reason for any dismissals, longest time at the same job, vocational
aspirations if relevant.

Medical and Mental Health History.  The non-psychiatric section should include reports of
medical diagnoses and symptoms, current medications, surgeries and overnight
hospitalizations, and any head injuries.  The mental health section should include psychiatric hospitalizations,
outpatient mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, history of psychotropic medication prescriptions,
and suicide
attempts.  When applicable, indicate that there was no reported history of to show
that you inquired about the areas above.

Antisocial Behavior/Substance Abuse.  Age, charge, and outcome of any arrests or other
legal problems.  Current and past use of alcohol and other recreational drugs, 12-step group attendance.

Daily Functioning
Clients mode of travel (car, bus, family rides) and ability (short trips by car, uses the bus
but needs help to get to a new location, etc.).  Clients daily living skills, including ability to
groom, bathe, dress, do household chores, and manage money.  Include a general
description of the clients daily activities including job, recreational, and social activities.

Mental Status and Behavioral Observations
Use the Mental Status Exam form as a guide for your interview.  This section can be written
or dictated directly from this form.

General appearance: Particularly note unusual characteristics that may provide diagnostic
information neglected hygiene, unusual dress or tattoos, or physical characteristics that
may affect the persons social interactions and abilities. Indicate if the client appeared
her/his stated age or younger or older than her/his stated age.

Attitude & general behavior: Describe the persons interaction with you and attitude toward
being tested and interviewed.

Mood and affect: Obtain a quote from the client regarding recent mood.  Ask about any
history of depression and anxiety.  Note the range of the clients affect.  Ask about sleep
and appetite, and inquire further about depressive or anxious symptoms if a particular
disorder is suspected.  See the symptom guide at the bottom of the MSE form.  For instance, if PTSD were suspected,
you would inquire about symptoms, such as nightmares, flashbacks, and startle response.

Stream of mental activity: Most clients will be described as responding in a coherent and
relevant fashion and speaking at a normal pace with 100% intelligibility.  Note any
deviations from this, including psychotic symptoms, slower or faster than normal speech,
and problems with speech intelligibility.  Note unusual speech content and inquire into
delusional thinking (paranoid, reference, control, grandiosity) if psychosis is suspected.

Sensorium and orientation: You will describe most clients as alert and aware of their
surroundings; note any deviations from this.  Orientation includes awareness of elements
such as person, place, time and situation.  Do not say the client was oriented times three
as the meaning of this is not always consistent and clear.  Do report the questions you asked and the clients responses.  For instance, The client reported
the current day of the week as Saturday rather than Monday.

Memory.  Use simple tests to assess the clients long- and short-term memory and report the results of those tests.  A useful test of short-term memory is
to list three objects, have the client repeat them back, and then ask the client to recall them after five minutes have passed.

Fund of information.  Two or three questions will give a rough index of the clients general knowledge.  Easy (intellectual disability suspected): How many
legs on a dog? or Where is your nose?, Average: How many days in a year?, Above average: What is the boiling temperature of water?

Concentration and attention: Rate the clients ability to attend to instructions and task persistence.  Simple concentration tasks are counting backwards from
20 or, for higher functioning clients, counting backwards from 100 by 7.  Note the time required and number of errors.  If ADHD is suspected, use the
symptom guide at the bottom of the MSE form to inquire further about symptoms.

Perceptual distortions: Ask about any history of auditory or visual hallucinations and determine if they were associated with drug use or mood
(mania or depression).  If there were hallucinations, note their frequency, when they last occurred, and their content.  Note if the client appears to be
responding to hallucinations during the assessment.

Judgment & insight.  Use a simple, standard question to test judgment, such as What would you do if your neighbors house were on fire?  Also, note any
history that would indicate impaired judgment, such as arrests or job dismissals.  Insight is whether the client has an accurate understanding of his or her
mental health status.  If there are mental health problems, a client with good insight attributes symptoms to these problems, and is aware of the need for
treatment.  For instance, a man diagnosed as schizophrenic would demonstrate good insight if he understands that his auditory hallucinations are caused by
his illness and that psychiatric medication would help.  An alcoholic demonstrates good insight if she admits her illness and recognizes the need to attend AA
or other treatment.

Test Results
When discussing the WAIS-IV results, be sure to include a discussion of the Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ), Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI),
Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working Memory Index (WMI), and Processing
Speed Index. You will need to discuss the client’s strengths and weaknesses with regard to subtest variability, if applicable.
Refer to the WAIS-IV PowerPoint, Psych Report Writing, and the Sample Report as a guide.  Start with the FSIQ, indicate
its percentile rank and classification (Low Average, Superior, etc.).  If a change in functioning is suspected due to head
injury or other problem, compare the FSIQ to estimated pre-morbid functioning.
Compare the VCI to the PRI, and indicate if they are significantly different.  Briefly interpret this comparison.  If they are
not significantly different, you can say, The VCI and PRI were not significantly different from each other, reflecting about
equal facility with tasks requiring words as with tasks requiring non-verbal reasoning and performance.  If they are
significantly different, indicate why you think this is.  Is it consistent with a suspected diagnosis?  Does it reflect cultural
differences or a physical impairment?
When discussing the WRAT4 results, be sure to include a discussion of the WRAT4 scores.  Present the Standard Scores,
Percentile ranks, and Classifications for each subtest of the WRAT4 (Word Reading, Spelling, Sentence Comprehension,
Math Computation).
You also want to talk about scores that are out of the normal range and what that might suggest.  It is helpful to give
examples of the clients abilities, particularly on Math Computation (i.e., able to perform arithmetic operations with whole
numbers, but unable to work with decimals or fractions).  If a WRAT4 subtest differs significantly from IQ (at least 20
points lower), a diagnosis of learning disorder is likely, unless you feel that the difference is better explained by other
factors.
When discussing the MMPI-2 results, be sure to include a discussion of the validity scales (you can refer to your text for
further guidance). Then interpret/discuss the clinical scales that are clinically significant, which are a T-score of 65 or
greater. Your text and the powerpoint of the MMPI-2 (found under the additional resources tab) list interpretive paragraphs
of such scores.
When discussing the PAI results, be sure to include a discussion of the validity scales (you can refer to the PAI powerpoint
for further guidance). Then, report significant clinical elevations, that is, scales that are clinically significant in the profile
summary (rather than all of the scales of the PAI). Similarly, report results from clinically significant elevations in subscales. When reporting results, it is important to clinically analyze these with the clients history, rather than simply reporting numbers.
It is best to provide a narrative of the elevations and possible symptoms and patterns.

Diagnostic Impressions
Provide a complete DSM-5 diagnosis to include the WHODAS 2.0 (p. 747 on the DSM-5).  Your diagnoses should be
clearly supported by the material you have presented to this point.  Your assessment is very likely the most thorough
psychodiagnostic procedure the client will ever undergo, so it is important that you come to a decision and not expect
that another clinician will be better able to do this.

Summary
        This section should not introduce any new information. It needs to integrate and present an overall picture of the
client, in regard to the referral question.
        Provide a summary of Franks psychosocial history and MSE.
        Provide a summary of the test results from the WAIS, WRAT, MMPI, PAI, and WHODAS.

Recommendations
        The most significant and pressing problem should be listed first and should be in the context of the referral question.
        Do not make recommendations about issues that are outside the purview of your training and competency. 
For instance, you would not recommend an imaging study or a specific medication.  You might recommend referral to a
neurologist or psychiatrist for evaluation and possible treatment.
        Make recommendations that take practical and financial limitations into account.  It may be tempting to recommend
further testing because you feel unsure of your recommendations.  But keep in mind that testing can be expensive and
time consuming.  Additional testing should only be recommended if it is for a specific purpose and is necessary for
important decision-making.
        As much as possible, your recommendations should take your test findings into account and should answer questions that could not have been answered before the assessment was done.  You do not need to suggest that the client see a physician because she
reported occasional headaches.

       
Assignment Outcomes
Interpret findings to make appropriate clinical recommendations
Construct a complete psychological assessment report

       
   

 

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