ABSTRACT
This chapter will identify key elements of the assessment process. It will emphasize how creating a space for assessment, however brief, assists the worker to be proactive, rather than reactive, in responding to the request of the client or the demands of the particular situation. Through giving time and value to the assessment process, we avoid reducing the assessment process to that of a waiting room for a ready-made assembly line diagnosis. Attending to the assessment process goes beyond offering a strategy or glib response, and leads us to the creation of a formulation about what is observed and understood and how this can lead incrementally to further decision making.
