ABSTRACT
Finn and Tonsager (1997) refer to traditional psychological assessment as the “information-gathering model,” typically used to facilitate communication among professionals, to help make decisions about a patient (e.g., medication decisions, treatment decisions) or diagnostic decisions. In sharp contrast to the information-gathering approach, TA and ta models are designed to provide the client/patient1 with a view of himself or herself that becomes truly transformative, leading to an awareness of personal problems or issues and, eventually, to their resolution. A more detailed discussion of the differences between TA (ta) and collabo53
rative assessment, on the one hand, and the traditional assessment approach appears in Finn and Tonsager (1997), Fischer (1985/1994), and Handler (in preparation).I became disenchanted with the traditional model rather quickly in graduate school when I realized that the assessments I labored over had little impact on patients’ lives. Typically, they were used only to diagnose the patient. When I gave feedback to patients I recognized how little they took away from my efforts to explain their problems. I became aware that patients were having a variety of experiences during the “data collection” phase of the assessment that were vitally important in understanding them, and so I began to collaborate with them during the assessment process. We discussed important thoughts and feelings that were stimulated by the various tests I administered, and I found that this approach resulted in a dramatic change in what the patient took away from the assessment process. Many clients also developed an understanding of themselves that sharply illuminated their life issues, thereby giving them important self-knowledge. I compared this collaborative approach with the traditional (information-gathering) approach and realized that the latter approach offered little benefit to the patient/client, whereas the former approach seemed to motivate patients/ clients to deal with their identified life issues.Connie Fischer (1985/1994) developed a collaborative approach to therapeutic assessment, based on human science psychology and grounded in the European existential-phenomenological philosophy of science. She responds to the client with interventions, either during the assessment process itself or shortly thereafter. These interventions are constructive, illuminating for the client some important aspect of his or her functioning. Furthermore, these interventions provide for the client an awareness of areas of possible growth and development. Fischer states, “These interventions into the client’s ways of moving through situations are intended both to evaluate the client’s current possibilities and to try out different ones. Psychologists too often have acted as though individualized understanding and intervention should be reserved totally for a separate enterprise, that of therapy” (p. 47).The following example is from Fischer’s book, Individualizing Psychological Assessment (1985/1994); it illustrates how she actually collaborates with clients in the assessment process, relating performance (behavior) on psychological tests with the patient’s important life issues and possibilities.The client is a 6-year-old girl, referred for “gifted student” evaluation: Assessor: I’m going to tell you two things you said, and you tell me what’s different about them: (1) “I don’t know. There’s some. Is it five pennies?” and “It’s when there’s snow. It’s a season.” What’s different about you in those two answers?Client: I was smart about winter.Assessor: And what about the number of pennies in a nickel?Client: I was ignorant about pennies.Assessor: Ignorant? Who says “ignorant”?Client (giggling): Eddie, he’s my brother. He’s in fifth grade.Assessor: But you knew the right answer; five is correct. What’s ignorantabout that?Client: I didn’t know if I was sure. I didn’t know ahead of time if it was right.Assessor: If I hadn’t kept at you, do you think you would have guessed byyourself?Client: Nope, I mighta made a mistake.
