Psychologists routinely provide feedback to parents (and sometimes children) after conducting psychological assessments of children. The authors review the literature on sharing feedback from child assessments. They then present a rationale, grounded in the theory and principles of collaborative assessment, for why it is useful to discuss assessment results with parents and children. Citing available research evidence, they propose a conceptual framework for understanding the potential therapeutic impact of feedback. Next, they present detailed guidelines-illustrated with case examples from a research project and an independent assessment practice-for how to prepare for and give oral and written feedback to parents and children. The authors encourage assessment professionals to consider the insights and techniques derived from collaborative assessment when providing feedback.

We present a case study of a child's psychological assessment using the methods of Therapeutic Assessment (TA). The case illustrates how TA can help assessors understand the process and structure of a family by highlighting how maladaptive family processes and interactions impact a child's development. It also illustrates how TA with a child can serve as a family intervention. In this case, it became apparent that the child's social difficulties were significant, not minor as initially reported by the parents, and were rooted in an insecure attachment, underlying depression, an idiosyncratic view of the world, and longing for attention, all of which were hidden or expressed in grandiose, expansive, and off-putting behaviors. In addition, the familial hierarchy was inverted; the parents felt ineffective and the child felt too powerful, leading to enhanced anxiety for the child. Intervention throughout, punctuated by the family session and feedback sessions, allowed the parents to develop a new "story" about their child and for the child to experience a new sense of safety. Following the TA, the parents and child indicated high satisfaction, enhanced family functioning, and decreased child symptomatology. Subsequent family therapy sessions allowed the family to further implement the interventions introduced in the TA.

No abstract