The Use of Psychological Testing for Treatment Planning and Outcome Assessment

Health care organizations need to provide problem-focused time-limited treatment; demonstrate the effectiveness of treatment to payers and patients; and implement quality improvement initiatives. Consequently, the appropriate use of psychological testing to rapidly identify problems, plan and monitor treatment, and document treatment effectiveness can present competent assessors with rewarding opportunities.

However, many psychologists and other professionals who routinely administer tests have actually had relatively limited training and experience in the full range of applications of testing to day-to-day clinical practice. Their formal testing courses and practicum and internship mentoring have focused primarily on the use of testing for symptom identification, personality description, and diagnostic purposes. A high proportion of experienced professionals are likely to have only limited knowledge of how to use test results for planning and monitoring interventions. Consequently, although the basic skills are there, many well-trained clinicians as well as students and trainees must develop or extend them further. This continuing need served as the impetus for both the first edition of this guide and this greatly expanded second edition, which draws on the knowledge and experience of test developers and researchers, leading clinicians, and other experts.

Separate sections:
* address general issues and recommendations concerning the use of psychological testing for screening for psychological disturbance, treatment planning, progress monitoring and outcome assessment;
* provide guidelines for the use of specific tests and scales for children and adults; and
* consider the future of psychological testing in the behavioral health care environments of today and tomorrow.

Special features of the 47-chapter second edition, more than double the size of the 23-chapter first edition, include:
* an expanded section on child/adolescent instruments;
* additional chapters covering important adult measures that have gained prominence since the publication of the first edition;
* additional chapters addressing issues of data analysis, assessment implementation, and future directions; and
* thorough updates of 21 of the 23 first edition chapters.

The Use of Psychological Testing for Treatment Planning and Outcome Assessment, Second Edition is an invaluable resource for all clinicians and for their trainees and graduate students.