Class notes

Assessment and Coaching Skills Exam preparation

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Course
Assessment and coaching skill (P_BASCSK)

Institution
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)

These are answers to the self-study questions of each week. Answers are based on the assigned literature and can be very useful for exam preparation. There are also sample questions from the mock 2023 exam with answers. If it was helpful, please leave good review :)

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Uploaded on October 13, 2024
File latest updated on October 18, 2024
Number of pages 38
Written in 2024/2025
Type Class notes
Professor(s) Brooke slawinski
Contains All classes

pbascsk
minor psychopathology health and prevention
assessment and coaching skills
assessment and coaching skills notes
assessment and coaching skills summary

Institution
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)
Education
Psychologie
Course
Assessment and coaching skill (P_BASCSK)

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WEEK 1

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the place and role of first screening and diagnostics within a health care
system, explain the different steps of the diagnostic cycle, and identify these steps in
a case study.

2. Explain what a client-centered interview is, what domains should be addressed in
such an interview, how a working alliance can be built between client and therapist,
and how the alliance can be used for further screening.

3. Formulate assessment hypotheses and identify which assessment tools should be
used before and during treatment in children, adolescents, and adults.

4. Evaluate the psychometric qualities of screening instruments, select and use
appropriate screening instruments, and report your findings.

5. Describe how screening results can be integrated into a diagnostic and
practical/treatment-focused conclusion using the biopsychosocial model and how
these results should be reported and communicated to the client

Learning Goals

1. You can describe the place and role of screening and assessment within a
healthcare system.

Screening

● Purpose: Screening aims to identify individuals who are at risk of or already have a
disease or condition but may not yet show symptoms. It is a proactive process used
to detect health issues early, which can prevent disease progression and promote
early intervention.
● Process: Screening typically involves administering tests or questionnaires to a large
population to find individuals with specific risk factors.
● Role: It reduces the burden of diseases on the healthcare system by preventing more
severe health issues through early detection.

Assessment is necessary for treatment, regardless of diagnosis. Although diagnosis will
certainly influence treatment decisions, an assessor needs to consider assessment data
beyond any diagnosis to make effective treatment decisions.

From Slides

Good assessment:

1. Deepens the therapeutic relationship

2. Creates a shared understanding of problems (and processes maintaining them)

,3. Informs the treatment plan

4. Provides a baseline of client functioning

5. Gives the client hope

2. You can identify and explain the different steps of the diagnostic cycle.
3. You understand the biopsychosocial model and its role in assessment.
4. You can write a behavioral observation report

Self-study questions:

1. Explain the difference between testing and assessment:

Testing refers to the use of specific tools or instruments to measure a person's ability,
behavior, or traits

Assessment is a broader process that includes gathering and integrating information from
multiple sources (interviews, observations, tests) to understand an individual’s psychological
profile. It looks at the whole person in a context that includes their history, behavior,
thoughts, and emotions.

The aim is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the individual’s psychological state,
identify problems, and create a personalized treatment plan.

2. Explain why assessment should be conducted prior to treatment

is crucial to ensure a clear understanding of the problem, as it allows the practitioner to
develop hypotheses and an informed treatment plan based on an individual’s unique
biopsychosocial factors

● Helps identify the underlying (root) cause of a client’s psychological difficulties.
Without a thorough understanding of what the client is experiencing, a therapist might
miss important contributing factors, such as trauma, medical conditions, or substance
use, which could require specialized interventions. For instance, a client presenting
with anxiety might actually be dealing with undiagnosed depression, which mimics
anxiety symptoms.
● Individualized Treatment Plan. This ensures that therapy addresses the client’s
specific needs and challenges, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach. For
example, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) might be highly effective for one client,
while another might benefit more from mindfulness-based techniques.
● Tracking Progress. An initial assessment serves as a baseline for measuring
progress over time.
● Identifying Co-occurring Conditions
● Clarifying Goals. Collaboratively set realistic and specific treatment goals.

3. Explain what it means for an assessment to be problem-focused instead of
diagnosis-focused.

A problem-focused assessment aims to understand the individual's current difficulties and
how they impact their life. It seeks to explore the client’s current difficulties in a practical,

,detailed way, often focusing on how these problems impact their day-to-day functioning,
relationships, or work.

Diagnosis-focused assessments focus on categorizing the symptoms into a specific
diagnosis. Determining whether the client meets the criteria for a particular mental health
disorder as outlined in diagnostic manuals like the DSM-5 or ICD-10. This approach
prioritizes labeling the client's symptoms within a diagnostic framework to guide treatment
according to that diagnosis.

4. Describe the major components (i.e., lenses) of the biopsychosocial model. Include
several examples in these descriptions.

The biopsychosocial model is a comprehensive approach to understand and treat health and
behavior. Each lens focuses on different aspects of a person's life and experiences, allowing
a holistic view of their well-being.

● Biological: Examines genetic, neurobiological, or medical factors contributing to the
condition (e.g., family history of mental illness, medications, imbalance in
neurotransmitters)
● Psychological: Involves the person's thoughts, emotional state, coping skills, and
cognitive processes (e.g., history of depression, personality traits optimism protective
factor vs pessimism risk factor, cognition such as negative thinking).
● Social: Explores environmental, cultural, and familial influences on the individual's
behavior (e.g., relationship issues, work stress, cultural background can influence
their beliefs about mental health and financial stressors)

5. Describe the various biases that can affect the assessment process.
Interviewer bias, where personal expectations can distort the assessment

Confirmation bias - where only data that supports pre-existing beliefs is acknowledged.

The client’s own biases can also play a role, as they may misreport or skew their responses
based on their perceptions or beliefs

6. Describe how using the biopsychosocial model can help reduce these biases.

Using this model encourages the examiner to view the client from multiple angles (biological,
psychological, and social) and challenges any single-lens explanations, reducing the risk of
jumping to conclusions based on incomplete data

7. Why is assessment described as a dynamic process? What are the implications of
this for the practice of assessment?

Assessment is not static, it evolves with new data gathered over time, As new insights are
gained, hypoth. are tested and refined, making it an ongoing flexible process that adapts to
the client's needs.

8. What does it mean for an assessment to be evidence-based?

when it relies on empirically supported methods and tools

, 9. From memory, draw Wright's (2010) hypothesis testing model for interpreting
assessment data. In your own words, describe each of the phases in the model

Phase 1: The clinician gathers data about the client, starting with a referral question,
reviewing the client's history, and conducting an interview. Observations of the client's
behavior and the content shared during the interview help the clinician form initial
hypotheses.

Phase 2: The clinician develops inferences from the gathered data, which serve as
summaries and explanations for the client's condition. For instance, a clinician might infer
depression based on the client's behavior and symptoms.

Phase 3: This phase involves accepting or rejecting the inferences developed in Phase 2.
The clinician continually evaluates the validity of these inferences, possibly altering or
creating new ones as necessary. Inferences are rarely fully proven but progressively
strengthened by assessing consistency and the strength of supporting data.

Phase 4: In this phase, the clinician moves from specific inferences to broader
generalizations about the client. Inferences from earlier phases are elaborated to describe
patterns or trends in the client's behavior. For example, if a client is inferred to be depressed,
the clinician may identify recurring self-critical thoughts that contribute to this state. The
focus here is on developing detailed statements about the client's overall condition.

Phase 5: This phase involves a more detailed exploration of the client's personality traits.
The clinician integrates and correlates characteristics like cognitive functioning, mood, and
interpersonal skills.

Phase 6: In this phase, the clinician places the client's comprehensive description into a
situational context. This helps in understanding how the client’s characteristics influence
behavior in specific situations.

Phase 7: the clinician makes specific predictions about the client's behavior. It involves
decision-making based on the interaction between personal and situational factors.

Suhr (2015) emphasizes that assessment is a decision-making process. In your own
words, explain how and why assessment is inherently a decision-making task. (mock
exam 2023/24)

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