Michelle Ilyayev 2/04/2014

Assessment and counseling EDU-6262

Each of the sanctioning bodies for Clinical Mental Health Counseling professionals clearly espouse their own guidelines, procedures, and professional standards. These ethical codes clearly delineate the standards by which Clinical Mental Health professionals must administer assessment tasks and tools. Mental Health Counselors must utilize the most appropriate assessment test and measures available. Statistical validity, reliability, and generalizability must be ensured when ever possible. Assessment tests are performed from strength based perspective that incorporates all of each client’s unique personal attributes and characteristics. We must conduct thorough interviews before deciding which test we administer. Counselors have the ultimate responsibility in choosing which assessment test they are using and why. Professional protocol is be adhered to the highest extent possible at all times. When writing reports and sharing them with clients and interdisciplinary colleagues, professional jargon should be kept at a minimum. The written documentation pertaining to the assessment process must be understandable to all, especially the client. Evidence Based Practice must be supported by written explanation as to why one test was used over another. Counselors have a professional and ethical responsibility to be trained on the measures they are administering, as well as the most contemporary practices. Consent and agreement must be obtained unless the client is court mandated. Explanation for the test and informed consent must be obtained before it’s administered. This includes instructions, protocol, time frame, number of questions, the significance of the score, who the score will be shared with, and the reason for the test. Professional competence must be demonstrated at all times on behalf of the clinician towards the client. The codes of ethics establish the scope of practice for what mental health counselors can Asses. We must never perform an assessment outside our professional expertise; if we do we can lose our jobs. We are especially prohibited from entering into dual relationships of any kind with clients. We must always take a stance that eliminates examples of prejudice, cultural bias, and demonstrates the effective application of cultural competence. If we encounter bias or experience transference we must seek supervision.
When clinical assessment and testing is performed counselors must do everything in their power to ensure a physical environment conducive to success. We must eliminate external barriers to the best of our ability. Certain statistical measures and tasks may be considered as being culturally biased. We must be aware of that factor and control for its influence. We must always remember that each assessment is unique to each client’s personal skills, attributes, and ability. Statistical measures and evidence-based practices must only be used in the pursuit of successful outcomes.
We must be continuously aware of the power and impact that the assessment process has on our clients. Labels must not be utilized in a detrimental way towards our client. In conclusion we must always remember to Asses our clients from a position of strength and remain aware that assessments are not an exact science. We need to control for external factors at all times.