Introduction
Different fields of study require having specific measurements and tools to work with data or people in that field. Psychology, like other fields, also has tools that help specialists identify behavioral patterns and characteristics of the people being assessed. Some of the most common psychological assessment tools are tests and interviews. However, choosing psychology as my current career path, case histories have been picked as the assessment tool. Further, this post will discuss how case histories are applied in actual psychological practice.
Case histories or studies have more practical value in psychology than other tools. Case history data includes all the information in written, imagery, or other forms relevant to the assessed person (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2022). The data for case history can be gathered anywhere, including social media, family images, interviews, and questionnaires (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2022). This enables the specialist gathering the data to have a bigger picture of the assessee and thus employ the most effective methods in therapy or other help. Therefore, case histories can be considered one of the most effective psychological tools.
Discussion
The case history tool is a critical assessment tool in identifying neuropsychological disorders and thus can be practiced in real life. The reason is that this tool “often provides information about neuropsychological functioning before the occurrence of a trauma or other event that results in a deficit” (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2022). For example, if a person needs an assessment for bipolar disorder, it will be hard to identify the illness from the individual’s story. Such severe cognitive dysfunction requires a specialist to investigate the person’s history to understand when and how the disorder occurred. For instance, some celebrities like Kanye West’s bipolar disorder were partially diagnosed using his Twitter account, representing the case history tool’s usage. The same methodology can be applied to other individuals in diagnosing neuropsychological disorders.
Christianity has long been an essential tool for people to recreate themselves and recover from trauma. As the world evolves and science develops further, psychology has become a significant field exploring the human mind. In the past few years, psychologists gained more authority, and people started undergoing therapy which they use as a new tool for recovery. Since Christianity and psychology are directed toward helping others, they have a conceptual similarity. However, many people argue about their interchangeability or simultaneous use of them. Christians can use psychological assessment as a Biblically supported practice because psychology does not cancel Christian concepts but supports them.
Psychological assessment tools create an individual’s psychological portrait and define points with which a person needs help. The course textbook defines psychological assessment as “gathering and integration of psychology-related data to make a psychological evaluation that is accomplished through the use of tools such as tests, interviews, case studies, behavioral observation, and specially designed apparatuses and measurement procedures” (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2022). Psychological assessment enables specialists in the field to diagnose if the individual needs help and later effectively provide it considering the evaluation’s findings. Psychological assessment often requires the assessor to abstain from any moral judgments, which is why the primary purpose of the specialist would be to help.
Conclusion
Serving the people is also the main principle of Christianity, which enables professionals of that religion to use psychological assessment as Biblically-supported practice. Moreover, it states in the Bible that “the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:17). This means that Bible supports having psychological assessment tools as equipment for work, and thus they can be utilized by Christian professionals.
Reference
Cohen, R. J., & Swerdlik, M. E. (2022). Psychological testing and assessment: An introduction to tests and measurement. McGraw-Hill.