The importance of the Psychological Evaluation

When talking about the work that psychotherapists do in patient care, it is common to refer only to management training tasks. emotional and symptom mitigation: for example, controlled exposure to the patient's fears, self-awareness techniques, Mindfulness practice, etc.

It is true that this is the core of the work of the psychologist specialized in psychotherapy; however, it is no less true that before this process can take place, there must be another: that of psychological evaluation.

In this article we will see why this initial stage of the psychological evaluation is key to the point that mental health care depends on it, and why it should not be underestimated.

• Related article: "What to expect and what not to expect from psychological therapy"

What is the psychological evaluation?

The psychological evaluation is the initial stage of the psychotherapist's work, in which he collects information about the problem that the patient is facing. In it, the behavior and mental processes of the person who needs professional help are analyzed, also taking into account their context. The objective is

have as accurate an understanding as possible of what is happening to you, assessing that information from the information provided by decades of scientific research in the field of psychological and neuropsychological disorders, to get to have a perspective of what happens based on the evidence and on the clinical categories established by the scientific community in manuals such as the DSM-5.

Some of the most important ways to collect information are:

• The clinical interview with the patient
• The application of psychometric test
• interviews with relatives
• The recording of psychophysiological variables
• direct observation of behavior

Thus, the psychological evaluation is composed of a phase of data collection, analysis of the information obtained, and creation of working hypotheses through a synthesis process. That is: It goes from the general (the patient's explanations) to the specific (clinically relevant symptoms) and, from these, usually again (clinical categories such as anorexia, major depression, disorder bipolar…). However, not everything is reduced to reaching the conclusion that the patient suffers from a certain psychopathology; It is also necessary to take into account nuances of the subject's personality, characteristics of his family environment, his socioeconomic situation, etc.

• You may be interested in: "Can the psychologist tell others what you explain?"

Why is psychological evaluation very important?

The psychotherapy process goes far beyond conducting a first interview with the patient, making a few notes and starting to apply a psychological intervention program without further ado. Before moving on to this last task, it is important that the therapist become actively involved in understanding what is the true cause of what is generating discomfort in the patient, and to do so cannot be limited to simply accepting the explanation (more or less memorized) that the person has given during the first session.

In fact, many patients come to psychotherapy convinced that they know exactly what the problem is that they are suffering from and that they understand all its implications and effects on their lives, but the reality is that the simple fact of suffering a psychopathology does not provide adequate knowledge about it. What's more, the occasions in which the opposite happens are not rare; The same psychological alteration that the subject has developed makes his perception of it distorted. The most extreme case is found in those who suffer from a severe psychiatric pathology or certain neurological diseases and they are unable to identify the symptoms they suffer as such, so it is the relatives who insist on going to therapy; It is a phenomenon that occurs, for example, in the initial stages of the dementia, in the schizophrenia, intense cases of bipolar disorder…

For all these reasons, it would be irresponsible for mental health professionals to work assuming that the problem on which they intervene is something as simple as what the patient complains about in the consultation and nothing further; It is necessary to carry out a psychological evaluation process to understand well what is the root of the discomfort. This will allow:

• Offer a totally personalized intervention, without applying "magic recipes"
• Rule out psychopathologies similar to the one presented by the patient
• Inform the patient of the prognosis of the disorder he is suffering from, preparing him to face future symptoms (if more will develop)
• Create hypotheses that can be confirmed or falsified by reality, to correct the treatment on the fly
• Explain to family members how they can help.
• Have the help of other professionals (if necessary) using exact and well-defined concepts to avoid misunderstandings.

Are you interested in starting a process of psychological therapy?

If you are looking for psychotherapeutic assistance services, contact me.

Am diego red, psychologist specializing in cognitive-behavioral psychology with more than a decade of experience in patient care. I give the option of holding online sessions by video call.