Psychological Assessment Tools For Mental Health
Mental health professionals use a variety of instruments to assess
mental health and wellbeing. Common purposes for psychological testing include:
screening for the presence or absence of common mental health conditions;
making a formal diagnosis of a mental health condition; assessment of changes
in symptom severity; and monitoring client outcomes across the course of
therapy.
Screening: Brief
psychological measures can be used to ‘screen’ individuals for a range of
mental health conditions. Screening measures are often questionnaires completed
by clients. Screening tends are quick to administer but results are only
indicative: if a positive result is found on a screening test then the
screening test can be followed up by a more definitive test.
Diagnosis: Psychological
assessment measures can support a qualified clinician in making a formal
diagnosis of a mental health problem. Mental health assessment with the purpose
of supporting a diagnosis can include the use of semi-structured diagnostic
interviews and validated questionnaires. Items in self-report measures used for
diagnosis often bear a close correspondence to criteria specified in the
diagnostic manuals (ICD and DSM).
Symptom & outcome monitoring:
One strand of evidence-based practice requires that therapists use outcome
measures to monitor progress and guide the course of therapy. Psychologists,
CBT therapists, and other mental health professionals often ask their clients
to complete self-report measures regularly to assess changes in symptom
severity.