2nd Edition
Family Assessment Contemporary and Cutting-Edge Strategies
In an era that demands ever-increasing levels of accountability and documentation, Family Assessment is a vital tool for clinicians. It covers more than one hundred assessment methods – both the most widely used strategies as well as those that are more specialized and issue-specific. Techniques and instruments for assessments are summarized concisely in tables and discussed in depth in the chapters, often by the experts who developed the approaches they describe. Each chapter is also supplemented by recommended strategies for utilizing the assessment tools, as well as by case studies and observational method matrices. Readers will find that the second edition of Family Assessment provides the same comprehensive evaluation and thorough analysis as the first edition but with a fully updated focus that will invigorate the work of researchers, educators, and clinicians.
Foreword by Jay Lebow, Ph.D.
Preface
Part I: ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS AND MODELS
1. Assessment of Couples and Families: An Introduction and Overview
Len Sperry
Describes recent changes in clinical practice. Chief among these in the increasing necessity for therapists to become proficient in both individual and family assessment in addressing common diagnostic and treatment considerations such as: suitability for marriage, marital separation and divorce, co-occurring conditions in children and adolescents, family violence, and child custody. Overview of chapters. An appendix briefly reviews psychometrics including reliability and validity.
2. Models and Strategies in Couple and Family Assessment
Len Sperry
Describes the stages of couple and family functioning. Discusses and compares the four main assessment strategies with couples and families: standardized, qualitative, observational, and self-report inventories. Indicates the value of ongoing assessment.
Part II: GENERAL ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
3. Standardized Assessment
A. Rodney Nurse and Len Sperry
Overviews and critically reviews standardized instruments such as the MMPI-2, MCMI-III, Rorschach, and the Kinetic Family Drawing test with couples and families. Strategies for utilizing these assessment tools. Case material. Instrument matrix
4. Qualitative Assessment
Maureen Duffy and Ronald J. Chenail
Overviews and critically reviews various qualitative assessment methods and instruments for family assessment. These include the diagnostic interview, interventive interviewing, the genogram, and adult attachment assessment. The genogram is emphasized. Strategies for utilizing these assessment tools. Case material. Instrument matrix.
5. Observational Assessment
Robert B. Hampson and W. Robert Beavers
Overviews and critically reviews various formal observational methods in use today. These include the McMasters, Circumplex, and GARF. Emphasizes the Beavers Observational System the most clinically useful method of family assessment and the SFI, Strategies for utilizing these assessment tools, Case material. Observational method matrix
6. Ongoing Assessment
Len Sperry
Overviews and critically reviews efforts to assessment clinical outcomes in working with couples. Emphasizes the use of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised and the Session Rating Scale, and the Outcomes Rating Scale as ongoing measures of change in the context of couples therapy. Strategies for utilizing outcomes assessment tools. Case material. Inventory matrix
Part III: SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
7. Couples Assessment Strategies and Inventories
Dennis A. Bagarozzi and Len Sperry
Overviews and critically reviews the various self-report instruments for determining marital suitability, marital conflict, and marital satisfaction, such as PREPARE, ENRICH, Dyadic Adjustment Inventory, Martial Satisfaction Inventory–Revised, and CTS2. Strategies for utilizing these assessment tools. Case material. Inventory matrix
8. Child and Adolescent Assessment Strategies and Inventories
Jack Scott and Alexandra Cunningham
There are several conditions in children and adolescents that negative impact family functioning and were not addressed in the first edition. These include depression, bipolar disorder, Asperger's, Autism, OCD, and learning disorders. Instruments include CY-BOCS, CES-D, ATEC, M-CHAT, C-NLD, and YMRS. Strategies for utilizing these assessment tools. Case material. Inventory matrix
9. Parent-Child and Family Assessment Strategies and Inventories
Lynelle C. Yingling
Overviews and critically reviews various self-report inventories and observational methods for assessing parent-child and family issues and functioning. GARF is emphasized. Also included are standardized story and SAFE cartoons for assessing family functioning in very young children. Strategies for utilizing these assessment tools. Case material. Inventory matrix
10. Child Custody and Divorce Assessment Strategies and Inventories
M. Sylvia Fernandez and Sloane F. Veshinski
Overviews and critically reviews various standardized instruments, self-report inventories and observational methods and collateral information regarding child custody issues. These include the CBCL, Parent-Child Relationship Inventory, Parent Stress Index, and Children Rearing Practices Report. Strategies for utilizing these assessment tools. Case material. Inventory matrix
11. Family Violence Assessment Strategies and Inventories
Erna Olafson, and Lisa Connelly
Overviews and critically reviews various self-report inventories, observational methods and collateral information regarding issues of family or domestic violence– physical, verbal, sexual and emotional–in family contexts. These include the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children, Child Dissociative Checklist, and the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory. Strategies for utilizing these assessment tools. Case material. Inventory matrix
Part IV: POSTSCRIPT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
12. Couples and Family Assessment: Current and Future Prospects
Luciano L'Abate
Reviews and summarizes the various assessment strategies. Suggests future trends in assessment and clinical practice.
Biography
Len Sperry, MD, PhD, is a professor of mental health counseling at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, and clinical professor of psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He has some 600 publications, including 62 professional books. He is lead author of Couples Therapy, and is on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Family Therapy, The Family Journal, and the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.
"Family Assessment: Contemporary and Cutting-Edge Strategies should be on the desk of every clinician and researcher engaged in the psychological and behavioral assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, families, and couples. In the age of evidence-based practice it is critical that state-of-the-art assessment tools are used, and Dr. Sperry and his colleagues offer a readable, practical, researched-based and fully updated guide that will sure to keep mental-health professionals on the cutting-edge of professional assessment. This book will make their job easier for sure."
—Thomas G. Plante, PhD, professor of psychology at Santa Clara University and adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine
"Encyclopedic in scope, systematically organized, and reader friendly. This volume will definitely be the go-to text for students, practitioners, and researchers seeking assessment measures and a myriad strategies for evaluating children, couples, and families."
—Gerald R. Weeks, PhD, professor of marriage and family therapy, University of Nevada-Las Vegas and coeditor of Couples in Treatment: Techniques and Approaches for Effective Practice, 3rd Ed
"This important book will surely become, like the first edition, a core resource for students, practicing clinicians, and family researchers."
—From the foreword by Jay Lebow, PhD, Family Institute at Northwestern University
