This course was interesting to me. Although, I am familiar with some of the testing measures we discussed and practiced such as the Beck Inventory II (BDI-II) and the Alcohol Use Inventory (AUI). I’ve seen and used these assessments throughout my career in substance abuse and mental health treatment at various levels of care. Despite my awareness of these formats, I was able to obtain a better grasp of the history and purpose for these particular tests and many additional concepts I’ve never had exposure to. Prior to this course, I had no prior experience with the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) or the Trauma Symptom Inventory II (TSI-II). Both of these testing options were intimidating to me. The State Trait Inventory was more complex than the other. Both were thorough and seem to have the ability to paint a broad picture of a client’s struggles with anxiety and or trauma related symptoms and behaviors. I had minor difficulties working my way with these two testing procedures but overall, they were relatively easy to comprehend and perform. I had very little prior knowledge of the Family Environment Scale (FES), College Adjustment Scale (CAS) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI-4). In general, I was taken back by the lack of cultural considerations, most if not all of these testing measures allowed for. And, they also appear to be grossly bias to binary sex and gender roles.
As a child, I suffered with behavioral and emotional troubles. At the same time, I was viewed as possessing well above average intelligence. I saw many psychologists, psychiatrist and therapist during my adolescent years. The psychologists in particular, usually in a school setting recommended and performed various tests and assessments on me. I recall participating in the Rorschach test, on more than one occasion and the Intelligence Quotient Test (IQ-test) at least once. I took part in a battery of other testing modules throughout my childhood as well. I can’t recall many of the names. Many of them involved pictures, shapes, memory, repeating items, telling stories, giving explanations and so on. I also took part in projecting measures and drawings similar, if not identical versions we covered in class. In most scenarios, I enjoyed spending time with these clinicians while they administers these tests. At the time, many of them seemed fun and easy to engage in. Not to mention, testing meant removal from class for long periods of time. This made many days go by quicker as the monotony of daily school rituals was broken up quite regularly.
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During the course, I was able to learn about preparing a psychological assessment report. I learned essential aspects of psychological assessment report I was not aware of before undertaking the course. I was able to understand what the assessment is all about as well as the type of information that should be included . This area of study helped me in applying practically data collection techniques that I had learned in previous courses by collecting patient information through conducting interviews. Furthermore, I gained a deep understanding of mental status examination. After studying the psychological assessment report, I was able to prepare a well-organized mental status report. I understood the mental status report components such as appearance, affect, gender, ethnicity, posture, affect, speech, mood, congruence, hallucinations, level of intelligence, suicidal ideation, memory, disability, and homicidal ideation. I was also able to arrange the components in a preferred order. I could also prepare the diagnostic impression according to the results of the mental status examination. The course also helped me understand the importance of V codes and Z codes in any psychological assessment report. Previously before this course, my perception was that writing a psychological assessment was so complex. After learning and completing course assignments, I discovered that with available patient information, writing a psychological assessment report about the patient is so simple.
Moreover, I understood tests such as Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI-R). I learnt about tests under MSI-R such as inconsistency scale, conventionalization scale, global distress scale, affective communication scale, problem solving communication scale, aggression scale, time together scale, disagreement about finances scale, sexual satisfaction scale, role-oriented scale, family history of distress scale, dissatisfaction with children scale, and conflict over child rearing scale. I learned how to interpret the results under each item. As compared to other topics such as some of the psychological tests I had gone through when I was a child, this topic was so new to me. I had no idea of marital satisfaction inventory before. My parents’ relationship status was always private, and since I am not yet married, marital status inventory topic was so new to me. I learned a lot of new things on this topic. Before undertaking the course, t-scores were very strange to me; I could not understand what they meant in marital satisfaction inventory. However, after successfully completing the course, I understood what the t-scores represented and I was able to comprehensively understand what every score meant. The whole MSI-R became so familiar to me such that I can now comfortably conduct the MSI-R test and accurately interpret the results.
Generally, I grasped a lot of new concepts in this course. It provided me with comprehensive knowledge about methods of psychological assessment, a broad range of psychological tests, their strengths and weaknesses, making effective referrals for psychological evaluations , evaluating assessment reports critically, and working with clients using test findings. I am delighted that after this course, I have the expertise to conduct frequently used psychological tests, interpret results from the conducted test, and effectively write a relevant clinical report. This course also helped me understand some general psychological disorders and their symptoms. After undertaking this course, I am able to identify some obvious symptoms of psychological disorders that might require further medical attention . I have known the importance of referring patients for psychological tests thus I have reasons to refer a friend, neighbor, or relative for psychological testing. When equipped with testing materials, I am able to successfully conduct psychological tests at home and interpret the results as wells as preparing diagnostic impression.
