Everyone,

I wonder if clinical interviews are better predictors of success among mental health
professionals than standardized measures of personality.  I know that those measures
aren't validated with respect to counselor success, but I also worry about the
accuracy of clinical (vs. actuarial) prediction.

For that matter, I also wonder about the evidence behind the claim that counselors
need to have "worked through their own issues" before they can be helpful to
others.  I, too, have repeated this claim in my classes.  However, in doing a
PsycInfo search, I found no studies relating counselor mental health to outcomes in
clients.  Is there such a literature out there?

Steve

Bob Hill wrote:

> Screening candidates for pathology before admitting them into a graduate program
> for mental health professionals appears a responsible admissions criteria. We
> use personal interviews with 3 different clinical faculty for our short list
> applicants and look for interpersonal skills, maturity and a lack of personality
> disorder pathology among other things.
>
> Using a clinical measure may be problematic for screening applicants due to the
> lack of validity data supporting the use of such measures for the purpose of
> predicting success among mental health professionals. That said, if I were to
> use a measure I would probably use the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) or
> perhaps the CPI,  and watch for any prominent elevations on clinical scales. The
> PAI scales are more interpretable than the MMPI. Such elevations might lead to
> further assessment  during interview rather than exclusion based solely on test
> scores.
>
> Bob Hill
> Psychology
> Appalachian State Un.
>
> Rick Froman wrote:
>
> > Our graduate school is looking for an appropriate personality test to give
> > to students in the counseling program to identify personality
> > characteristics relevant to counseling. They are attempting to screen for
> > people who may have a difficult time in a counseling placement. Do any of
> > you use personality tests for a similar purpose in your graduate programs or
> > know of a test that might be useful for this purpose. They had been using
> > the MMPI but it wasn't working for them. Thanks for your help.
> >
> > Rick
> >
> > Dr. Richard L. Froman
> > Psychology Department
> > John Brown University
> > Siloam Springs, AR 72761
> > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > http://www.jbu.edu/sbs/psych/froman.htm

--
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* Steven M. Davis, Ph.D.                                         *
* Assistant Professor of Psychology                              *
* North Central College                                          *
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* Naperville, IL 60566-7063                                      *
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