The Child Clinician's Report-Writing Handbook / Edition 1

by Ellen Braaten PhD

Overview

This immensely practical book provides child clinicians with essential information and guidance for conducting evaluations and writing virtually any kind of clinical report. An accessible one-stop reference, it helps the reader collect pertinent information from children, parents, and teachers; organize evaluation results into a high-quality report; choose just the right wording, terms, and phrases to express findings and describe tests used; and develop appropriate treatment plans. Special features include interview questions, developmental milestones, sample reports and report formats, treatment planning tips for particular disorders, and lists of commonly used medications and abbreviations. The book also contains reproducible consent forms, questionnaires, and other ready-to-use tools, all in a convenient large-size format.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593853952
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	02/08/2007
Series:	The Clinician's Toolbox
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	380
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 - 18 Years

About the Author

Ellen Braaten, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She is also a child psychologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where she coordinates the Child Psychology Internship Program. Dr. Braaten is the coauthor of Straight Talk about Psychological Testing for Kids and has authored numerous scientific papers and chapters on child assessment, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and learning disabilities.

Table of Contents

I. Questions for Conducting a Psychological Evaluation of a Child or Adolescent
1. Beginning the Interview
2. Questions for Parents on Signs, Symptoms, and Behavior Patterns
3. Observation Procedures and Questions for Children and Adolescents
4. Questions for Teachers or Other Professionals
5. The Formal Mental Status Exam with Children and Adolescents
6. Ending the Interview
 II. Standard Terms and Statements for Wording Psychological Reports
A. Introducing the Report
7. Beginning the Report
8. Reasons for Referral
B. Background and History
9. History of Current and Past Symptoms
10. Medical and Psychiatric Background Information
11. Developmental and Family History
12. Academic and School History
C. The Child or Adolescent in the Evaluation
13. Behavioral Observations
14. Attitude toward Testing
15. Affective Symptoms and Mood/Anxiety Disorders
16. Childhood Behavioral and Cognitive Disorders
D. The Child or Adolescent in the Environment
17. Home and Family
18. School
19. Social and Work Relationships, Recreational Activities
E. Test Results
20. General Guidelines for Presenting Test Results in a Report
21. Tests of Intellectual Functioning
22. Achievement Measures
23. Tests of Language Functioning
24. Memory Tests
25. Tests of Visual-Spatial and Motor Skills
26. Measures of Executive and Neuropsychological Functioning
27. Measures of Emotional and Personality Functioning
28. Behavior Rating Scales and Tests of Adaptive Functioning
F. Ending the Report
29. Diagnostic Statements/Impressions
30. Summary of Findings and Conclusions
31. Recommendations
32. Closing Statements
III. Special Circumstances and Useful Resources
33. Writing for the Schools
34. Treatment Planning
35. Report Formats and Sample Reports
36. Resources for Professionals
37. Resources for Parents
38. Medications
39. Abbreviations in Common Use
40. Useful Forms

Interviews

Child clinicians from a range of disciplines, including clinical psychology, psychiatry, school psychology, and social work. Serves as a supplemental text in graduate-level child assessment courses.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Gary B Kaniuk, PsyD (Cermak Health Services)
Description: This book provides resources for the clinician who writes reports on the psychological assessment of children. It is a thesaurus of wording, terms, and phrases so that the writer does not feel compelled to use the same terminology with every child.
Purpose: According to the author in the introduction, the book "provides terms, phrasings, concepts, report formats, and other practical information that clinicians working with children and adolescents use in their daily work."
Audience: The author suggests that the book will help beginning clinicians collect pertinent information from the young client and parents/guardians, teachers, and other professionals; and seasoned clinicians can use it to refresh skills, get ideas about other tests or assessment instruments, improve reports, and develop diagnostic hypotheses about complicated cases. I would add that graduate students in clinical and counseling psychology programs would also benefit, especially those involved in diagnostic externships. Dr. Braaten is assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and a child psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the internship director of the child psychology program. She has published many papers and book chapters on child assessment.
Features: The book is organized in the same sequence clinicians follow to conduct an evaluation and write a report. Chapter 40 contains forms to use in clinical practice such as those for release of information, developmental histories, behavior management plans, and psychotherapy progress notes, and a limited photocopy license to allow clinicians to reproduce them for use with their clients. This book is full of information, guiding readers through the testing and report-writing process from beginning to end. A clinician will never again be stymied, looking for just the right word. The sample reports are invaluable, especially for graduate students or novice clinicians.
Assessment: This book is a tremendous resource for anyone involved in the assessment of children and adolescents. It truly is one of those reference books that every clinician working with children should have. Dr. Braaten has created a gem, following in the Zuckerman tradition of report-writing handbooks.

Doody's Review Service

"For those in training to do psychological evaluations and write professional reports, this book is an invaluable tool....This book provides terms, phrases, concepts, report formats, as well as much practical information to help organize reports and communications for other professionals. It provides structured interviews, taking the reader from first patient meeting to final report and recommendations....A reference, resource, thesaurus, dictionary, template, and guideline to be used in all aspects of clinical communication. It is clear that a great many hours went into compiling the data included in this test....A great value. It could serve as a companion text in any graduate psychology training course on assessment in both psychological and educational domains."

Child and Family Behavior Therapy

"What an incredible resource! Braaten has written what is clearly the most comprehensive child assessment handbook available. This indispensable book carefully walks the clinician through the entire assessment process and covers all conceivable areas of inquiry. This is an essential guide for the beginning practitioner and one that is sure to become a mainstay on every child clinician’s bookshelf."--Lee A. Rosén, PhD, Colorado State University
 

"Braaten has crafted a much-needed clinical and educational resource. This book is packed with information on child psychopathology, psychometrics, and treatment that is essential to understanding and presenting evaluation results. In addition to its clinical utility, the book provides invaluable tools for beginning and advanced graduate students in cognitive, personality, and neuropsychological assessment courses and clinical practica. Given the particular challenges of teaching report writing, this guide will be extremely useful in helping students interpret test data and generate reports that are integrated, well written, and helpful to clients and their families."--Steven R. Smith, PhD, Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
 

"This book will be of considerable value for graduate students, interns, and residents who are learning to diagnose and make recommendations for children referred for mental health or developmental evaluation. Braaten demystifies the process by making the underlying techniques crystal clear, and by offering guidance for collecting and organizing needed clinical data. This is the most clearly written and concise resource of its kind that I have seen."--Dennis K. Norman, EdD, Department of Psychology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Gary B Kaniuk, Psy.D. (Cermak Health Services)
Description: This book provides resources for the clinician who writes reports on the psychological assessment of children. It is a thesaurus of wording, terms, and phrases so that the writer does not feel compelled to use the same terminology with every child.
Purpose: According to the author in the introduction, the book "provides terms, phrasings, concepts, report formats, and other practical information that clinicians working with children and adolescents use in their daily work."
Audience: The author suggests that the book will help beginning clinicians collect pertinent information from the young client and parents/guardians, teachers, and other professionals; and seasoned clinicians can use it to refresh skills, get ideas about other tests or assessment instruments, improve reports, and develop diagnostic hypotheses about complicated cases. I would add that graduate students in clinical and counseling psychology programs would also benefit, especially those involved in diagnostic externships. Dr. Braaten is assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and a child psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the internship director of the child psychology program. She has published many papers and book chapters on child assessment.
Features: The book is organized in the same sequence clinicians follow to conduct an evaluation and write a report. Chapter 40 contains forms to use in clinical practice such as those for release of information, developmental histories, behavior management plans, and psychotherapy progress notes, and a limited photocopy license to allow clinicians to reproduce them for use with their clients. This book is full of information, guiding readers through the testing and report-writing process from beginning to end. A clinician will never again be stymied, looking for just the right word. The sample reports are invaluable, especially for graduate students or novice clinicians.
Assessment: This book is a tremendous resource for anyone involved in the assessment of children and adolescents. It truly is one of those reference books that every clinician working with children should have. Dr. Braaten has created a gem, following in the Zuckerman tradition of report-writing handbooks.