Therapeutic Assessment with couples

Therapeutic Assessment can be helpful to many types of couples, including (1) those who are considering marriage and wish to know each other more deeply, (2) long-term couples who are in distress and considering separating, and (3) couples who have decided to separate but wish to better understand why they were unable to stay together. This article comprises the first complete case study of Therapeutic Assessment (TA) with couples. I describe how those steps common to all forms of TA (initial sessions, extended inquiries, assessment intervention sessions, and summary/discussion sessions) differ when applied to couples. I also discuss the use of the Consensus Rorschach as an assessment intervention with long-term distressed couples engaged in problematic projective identification. The case example involves a young heterosexual couple married for 12 years who were at an impasse in couples therapy. The assessment helped the partners explore mutual conflicts around the expression of anger and dependency needs, and to resolve a power imbalance within the couple. Long-term follow-up showed that the Therapeutic Assessment helped the couple have more compassion for each other and move beyond the destructive role-lock they had fallen into. Also, the referring therapist reported that the TA helped resolve the impasse in the couples’ therapy.     

Mesure du bien-être psychologique dans un contexte de réadaptation fonctionnelle

The purpose of this study is to develop a valid, sensitive and reliable tool to measure psychological well-being in rehabilitation context. Psychologists working in different European countries, set out ideas on the basis of their experience and collected data from the people involved; then the researchers in social psychology analysed this data and guided the practitioners approach by developing a tool based on scientific indicators. Factor analyses allowed to reorganize the initial questionnaire and to define 4 factors important to appreciate psychological well-being in this context: cognitive and social abilities, communication skills about their own difficulties, knowledge of their health, and emotional coping. The final tool appears to be sensitive to evolution during the rehabilitation process on two factors: communication skills and emotional coping.     

L’indépendance émotionnelle à la mère et au père en lien avec la détresse psychologique chez les jeunes femmes

Women aged from 18 to 25 years old are a group particularly at risk to experience elevated psychological distress. However, only a few studies have documented developmental factors associated with this variable for this population, especially in regard to emotional independence to mother's and father's individuation. The aim of the study is to explore the association between emotional independence to each parent, referring to the underlying emotional aspect related to the distance toward each parent, and psychological distress. The sample includes 1716 French-Canadian college women aged from 18 to 25 who completed an online survey. Results confirm the high prevalence of psychological distress among this population. Emotional independence to mothers and fathers are found to be moderately correlated. However, the mean emotional independence to mothers is significantly lower than the emotional independence to fathers. The results also suggest that low emotional independence, even to only one of parents is associated with higher levels of distress among young women. In contrast, levels of middle and high emotional independence from both parents are associated with lower levels of distress. The findings support the association between emotional independence to each parent and psychological distress. Empirically, further studies should distinguish between mother's and father's emotional independence. Clinically, these results emphasize the need to works patient's emotional independence to both parents.     

Le bien-être psychologique au travail des professionnels du médical et du paramédical : rôles des échanges leader-membres,du soutien organisationnel perçu,du sentiment d’efficacité et médiations par la satisfaction des besoins psychologiques

This research aims to study the relationships between the perceived organizational support, the leader-member exchange (LMX), and the feeling of general self-efficacy with the psychological well being at work (PWBW) in the medical and para-medical environment. We also tested the indirect effects of satisfaction psychological of autonomy, competence and affiliation in the relationship between these predictors and PWBW. A total of 175 participants from the medical and para-medical sectors completed a questionnaire. The results showed that all predictors positively correlated with PWBW. Mediation analyzes showed that need satisfaction had a mediating effect on the relationships between inductors and PWBW. Finally, leader-member exchanges (LMX) and general self-efficacy promoted PWBW, and the satisfaction of the three psychological need systematically played a mediating role.     

Le jugement clinique en contexte d’évaluation du potentiel et des compétences au travail : Quelle est sa valeur prédictive et peut-il être formalisé ?

This study intends (1) to investigate the predictive validity of clinical (integrative) judgement based on personality data collected in psychological assessment and (2) to verify the capacity of assessors to formalize their judgment in a standardised algorithm. Three psychologists had the task to predict results of 78 managers on multisource assessment measuring two performance criteria (results orientation and relationship building). Results show that the psychologists’ integrative judgement predicts one of performance criteria up to .39. However, it appears that the standardisation of their judgment in mechanic decision rules was less predictive of performance criteria than their global clinical judgement. Overall, this research suggests there is still much to understand in the interpretative process.     

Rorschach et Psychiatrie : à la découverte du malade derrière la maladie

The Rorschach Comprehensive System is a very powerful tool for understanding the dynamics of psychopathological conditions and describing personality. Recent literature indicates a promising new area of research, that of evaluating psychotherapy processes and outcome. Clinical psychologists can therefore bring a unique and complementary perspective to the traditional psychiatric field by introducing it to proper psychological diagnosis as opposed to psychiatric diagnosis. The validity and reliability of the method having today been well established in the USA, it is incumbent on French researchers and clinicians to verify them locally and eventually make the necessary adaptations.     

L’examen psychologique dans le handicap visuel : intérêts et limites méthodologiques

The psychological assessment of visually impaired people (blind or partially sighted) confronts the psychologist with methodological constraints regarding the choice of assessment tools. Both critical judgement and an extensive psychometric knowledge are necessary. The objective of this article is to present the results of a study in which the existing tools in this field are identified. The results of this study bring to light the shortage of tools and methods of investigation specifically designed to assess the different psychological facets (affective, cognitive or conative) of visual impairment. We will then examine the methodological and psychometric issues specifically related to assessment in the field of visual impairment. Although some tools have psychometric qualities for the assessment of blind and visually impaired people (Miller & Skillman, 2003; Reid, 1997), we note that the limits of some tests are often overlooked or ignored (Reid, 1997; Tobin, 1994; Tobin & Hill, 2011). Questions relating to the use, adaptation and translation of foreign language tools are examined. In order to illustrate these points, we present some practices used by psychologists which highlight the limits of currently existing tools for the assessment of the psychological, in particular, the cognitive facet, and in addition provide some recommendations for assessment.     

Representations of guidance counselors,psychologists, and psychoeducators regarding psychological assessment

IntroductionSocial representations related to collaborative/therapeutic and information-gathering assessment could explain some psychological assessment practices. However, no other study has attempted to examine the actual place of these models in psychological assessment practices.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to examine the social representations of different groups of professionals with regard to their preferred approach to psychological assessment.MethodA latent profile analysis was conducted on a sample of licensed Canadian guidance counselors (n = 382), psychologists (n = 235), and psychoeducators (n = 97).ResultsResults revealed three psychological assessment profiles, which significantly differ in terms of a few social factors. Results also showed that some psychological assessment practices differ across profiles.ConclusionThis study provides a better understanding of psychometric instruments users’ approaches to assessment and the influence of social factors.     

L’expertise psychologique, élément de preuve du jugement judiciaire ?

With the psychological report, the French justice system seeks, not to reach a verdict, but to assess the defendant's penal responsibility (liability) and to adapt the sanction accordingly. The aim of this article is to examine, as part of the French penal procedure, the effect of an expert's psychological report, revealing material and moral elements relevant to the case that are incriminating the defendant or not, on objective, subjective, and general responsibility attribution. The results of an experimental study carried out among students, in ecological conditions, show that the psychological report is taken more as evidence about the case then as subjective information about the defendant. These results are discussed in light of recent judicial events.