ABSTRACT
Over recent decades, a number of converging trends have led to the ascendancy of pharmacologic and cognitive-behavioral treatments and the corresponding marginalization of psychodynamic approaches in medical practice settings. Recent overviews of psychological assessment in medical settings indicate that historically hospital-based psychological assessments have focused largely on symptoms, taxonomic diagnosis, or specific variables believed relevant for a particular patient population. The clinical role of the Behavioral Health Consultants is consistent with the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model, the purpose of which is to support Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH); that is, the active, complementary collaboration between behavioral health and primary care providers within the same setting. There are many challenges for the assessment psychologist in IBH, including the rapid pacing of primary care life, which resists the standard depth and breadth of the assessment process, the focus on overt symptomatology, the high value placed on expeditious screening, and the limited opportunities for feedback.
