When talking about the work that psychotherapists do in caring for patients, it is common to refer only to training tasks in emotional management and symptom mitigation: for example, controlled exposure to the patient’s fears, self-knowledge techniques. , the practice of Mindfulness, 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, another process must exist: 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.
What does the psychological evaluation consist of?
Psychological evaluation is the initial stage of the psychotherapist’s work, in which he or she collects information about the problem facing the patient. 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 evaluating this information based on the information provided by decades of scientific research in the field of psychological and neuropsychological disorders, to obtain a perspective of what is happening based on evidence and 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:
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: We go from the general (the patient’s explanations) to the specific (clinically relevant symptoms) and, from these, to the general again (clinical categories such as anorexia, major depression, bipolar disorder…) . Now, 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 their family environment, their socioeconomic situation, etc.
Why is psychological evaluation very important?
The psychotherapy process goes far beyond conducting a first interview with the patient, making a few notes and simply beginning to apply a psychological intervention program. Before moving on to this last task, it is important that the therapist be actively involved in understanding what is the true cause of what generates discomfort in the patient, and to do so You cannot simply accept 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 problem 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 from psychopathology does not provide adequate knowledge about she. What’s more, there are not rare occasions in which the opposite happens; The same psychological alteration that the subject has developed causes his perception of it to be distorted. The most extreme case is found in those who suffer from a severe psychiatric pathology or certain neurological diseases and are unable to identify the symptoms they suffer as such, so it is the family members who insist on going to therapy; It is a phenomenon that occurs, for example, in the initial stages of dementia, schizophrenia, intense cases of bipolar disorder…
For all this, it would be irresponsible for mental health professionals to work assuming that the problem they intervene on is something as simple as what the patient complains about in the consultation and nothing more; It is necessary to carry out a psychological evaluation process to understand well what is the root of the discomfort. This will allow:
Are you interested in starting a psychological therapy process?
If you are looking for psychotherapeutic assistance services, contact me.
Am Diego Rojo, psychologist specialized in cognitive-behavioral psychology with more than a decade of experience caring for patients. I give the option to hold online sessions by video call.
