Psychological testing is a written or verbal test that is conducted to understand an individual’s behavioral patterns. The tests help individuals to understand their dynamics as people by enabling them to understand their areas of weaknesses. The main goal of psychological assessments is to establish prescriptive protocols or psychiatric conditions that help people identify their weaknesses and strengths (Cohen et al., 2018). In essence, the assessments act as road maps towards the treatment and recovery journey. Effective psychological assessments involve the use of pre-planned interviews for the identification of psychiatric conditions in clients. These tests include personality tests, emotional intelligence, neuropsychological, observational, aptitude, and achievement tests.
Clinical and counseling assessment is an examination method in which people’s mental conditions can be determined through both clinical measures and counseling techniques. In this method, administrators focus on understanding their patients’ medical history, laboratory results, and physical attributes. Therefore, clinical tests are conducted to ascertain the main contributions to an individuals’ strained mental condition. After establishing the substance-related conditions, individuals are then helped by applying the right corrective techniques (Cohen et al., 2018). The method also involves counseling assessment whereby administrators use a set of questions to understand their patients’ ability to coordinate thought. In the end, the counseling assessment and the clinical assessment results are used in identifying the presence of a drug-related disorder. For instance, counseling results give a broader understanding of the key substances that could play in a client’s condition. In this case, behavioral patterns are used to predict the possible drugs affecting an individual. Consequently, the patterns are used to predict the right clinical tests to be conducted for diagnostic purposes.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Most clinical and counseling administrators use tests to understand their clients. The tests enable them to sample behaviors and correlate them with the results, thus leading to better decision-making. The made decisions mainly focus on explaining the best diagnosis for the clients and the best treatment options resulting in emotional and behavioral changes (Seitz et al., 2019). The results in this form of assessment can also show the degree of harm that clients bring to other individuals if their conditions are not handled properly.
Counseling assessment plays a pivotal role in building the basis for good interventions in solving a client’s mental condition. During the counseling session, counselors gather key data by asking relevant questions and observing behavioral patterns in response to specific statements. In this case, they can identify key stressors for individuals, thus paving the way for the right clinical tests to be conducted for accurate assessments to be completed (Seitz et al., 2019). In essence, the combination of the two methods results in high accuracy, as assessments help counselors find possible substances affecting their clients. Consequently, they can propose their suspected substances for clinical screening, thus resulting in high accuracy and increased chances of positive outcomes.
The assessment process involves a multi-step process in which administrators can collect relevant data about their patients’ conditions. In the first step, counselors have to engage their clients by creating a holistic and trusting relationship. In the second step, they collect further information from close friends or family members, helping them establish better relationships with their patients (Cohen et al., 2018). Here, they can identify issues like the history of substance disorders or any undisclosed substance use from the clients. Finally, the clinical assessment method is administered based on the results obtained from the counseling assessment process.
Substance abuse disorders have existed for a long time, whereby individuals with such conditions suffered severe endings due to the lack of good diagnostic and treatment criteria. However, the situation worsened in the 1960s, when more American youths started indulging in alcohol and substance abuse due to their increased availability in the US (The National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 2021). Consequently, various assessment criteria for this condition were developed, with the Situational Competency Test being developed in the 1970s. In this test, disorders were identified by examining how individuals responded to different situations or conditions (Seitz et al., 2019). The Alcohol Specific Role Play Test and the Cocaine Risk Response Test, were also developed in the subsequent years to help assess and treat substance abuse disorders.
Substance abuse disorder is also a highly prevalent mental condition due to the increased number of Americans indulging in drugs and alcoholism. According to the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 1 in every 12 adults in the US experiences substance abuse disorders at least once in their lifetime. In 2017, the US had 18.7 million adults with substance abuse disorders, thus showing the severity of the condition in the US population (The National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 2021). Out of the total population of individuals with the disorder, 8.5 million individuals were also found to have other mental illnesses. In terms of assessment and treatment, only 13.0% of the total individuals with the condition sought assistance, thus increasing concerns over the growing problem. The 2017 statistics also indicated that the most common drugs responsible for the growing number of individuals with this condition are pain relievers, illicit drugs, marijuana, opioid misuse, and cigarettes. Pregnant women were also susceptible to substance abuse disorders, with more than 7% reporting the condition in 2017 alone (The National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 2021). The statistics also indicated that young adults, especially between 18 and 25 years, were also susceptible to substance-related disorders resulting from alcohol initiation, heroin, cocaine, and cigarette use.
Clinical and counseling assessment for substance-related disorders works through a well-established criterion, the DSM V, that distinguishes substance disorders from other forms. In this case, counselors must first identify if a client is suffering substance dependence, or substance-induced disorders, which depict similar symptoms (Seitz et al., 2019). Practicing clinicians must first identify the type of disorder by using their counseling criteria. Here, they ask their clients about background information like past experiences and drugs that they have used in the past. The criteria also involve understanding the abuse patterns, thus helping them establish an accurate diagnosis and accurate treatment for their clients.
Effective clinical and counseling interviews involve asking questions on psychiatric, legal, social, and medical-related issues. Clinicians must emphasize high-risk clients, who may fail to reveal crucial information necessary for the assessment. For instance, healthcare providers, adolescents, pregnant women, and indigenous people could be less willing to provide their personal information, thus making it difficult for the assessment process to be conducted successfully (Atzendorf et al., 2019). With close attention to such groups, it is easier for the counselors to ask the right questions, thus leading to good clinical outcomes and treatment.
For the clinical aspect of the assessment, counselors examine various physical attributes and symptoms. Clinical tests could indicate enlarged liver, alcoholic breath, skin abscesses, abnormal gait, and slurred speech. With such symptoms, they can identify alcohol-related disorders, thus leading to accurate diagnosis about the results obtained through the counseling session (Seitz et al., 2019). Other physical symptoms that could be used for accuracy in clinical and counseling processes are injuries, withdrawal symptoms, blackouts, tremors, obesity, premature labor, liver problems, or accidental overdoses.
Social problems are also key diagnostic criteria for substance abuse disorders according to the clinical and counseling assessments. In this case, counselors test if their clients show any evidence of withdrawal, friendships, interest loss, marital problems, and poor social relationships. Moreover, psychiatric symptoms could also be crucial in this method, as they help counselors connect both the clinical results and counseling results. In this case, counselors examine if their clients show signs of anxiety, insomnia, depression, hallucinations, irritability, or vagueness. Other psychiatric symptoms include vagueness, concentration issues, paranoia, and flashbacks. Employment and education history could also be key criteria for successful assessments in this case (Atzendorf et al., 2019). For instance, instances of job loss or school failure could signify the presence of substance-related disorders. As mental disorders in the family lineage, family history could also present an opportunity for individuals to indulge in substance abuse. Finally, legal challenges like prostitution, violent behaviors, and stealing could also signify the desire to indulge in drugs.
Various individuals are qualified to interpret and administer results obtained through the clinical counseling assessment method. Licensed mental health counselors are legally able to perform the duties, as they have good education and experience background, crucial in making effective decisions about this assessment (Atzendorf et al., 2019). Counselors must, however, abide by the code of Fair Testing Practices Education and Code of Ethics for their credibility to be retained. In this case, they must inform their clients of the purpose of their tests and avoid any unethical conduct that could derail the assessment’s credibility.
Under the clinical and counseling assessment, substance abuse disorder is only valid if various features are evident in clients. First, uncontrollable urges to indulge in addictive substances indicate that one can use this method as their assessment criterion. Excessive use of drugs for long times also identifies the need to apply this method in solving the abuse disorder (Atzendorf et al., 2019). Continued abuse of a drug that continues to cause more problems at individual or social levels is also a qualification that one is experiencing substance-related disorders. This disorder is also characterized by indulging in activities that one would never do when under normal circumstances. Failure in attempts to stop or reduce drug uptake is also an indication of substance abuse disorder.
References
Atzendorf, J. et al. (2019). The Use of Alcohol, Tobacco, Illegal Drugs and Medicines: An Estimate of Consumption and Substance-Related Disorders in Germany. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International , 116 (35-36), 577. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc6804269/
Cohen, R. J. et al. (2018). Psychological testing and assessment: Introduction to tests and measurement. McGraw Hill.
Seitz, N. N. et al. (2019). Trends in substance use and related disorders: Analysis of the epidemiological survey of substance abuse 1995 to 2018. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International , 116 (35-36), 585. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6804271/
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing (2021). SAMHSA releases national survey on drug use and health. https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/capitol-connector/2018/09/samhsa-releases-national-survey-on-drug-use-and-health/
