ABSTRACT
When it includes a standard test battery, family assessment involves applying to couples and families scientifically sound psychological and personality tests that have stood the test of time with practicing clinicians. Although most of these tests were originally developed to evaluate individuals, the instruments discussed in this chapter have considerable value with couples and families. This chapter will describe four well-known and highly regarded instruments for the process of couple and family evaluation. These tests are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2; the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III; the Rorschach Ink Blot Method; and the Kinetic Family Drawing Test. It will also describe a seven-step clinical protocol for effectively utilizing these instruments in the process of assessing couples and families. Finally, it provides a detailed case example that illustrates the tests and the clinical protocol. This chapter reflects the basic orientation of A.Rodney Nurse’s Family Assessment: Effective Use of Personality Tests With Couples and Families (1999).
