ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the importance of assessment in promoting good mental health care. It identifies the different phases of the assessment process within the context of developing a therapeutic relationship. The chapter demonstrates the acquisition of knowledge and skills that would facilitate an accurate collaborative assessment. The accuracy of the assessment will act as a blueprint for the planning and delivery of care. To achieve the latter, the mental health nurse has to engage in various phases and roles, but most importantly he/she has to recognize ‘self’ as the main assessment tool. Mental health nurses are in a privileged position as it is they who often get to carry out the assessment. It is in this early engagement process – the person looking for someone to hold their distress, the nurse showing their receptiveness to provide this service – that a platform for care can be established.
