2024 Expert Insights on Personality Assessment: Enhancing Skills Based on Recent Developments

Presenter

The field of personality science is increasingly moving toward the dimensional assessment of personality and psychopathology, in lieu of the traditional categorical approaches outlined in various editions of the DSM. The Alternative DSM-5 Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) is one of these approaches that is gaining traction in clinical settings. Fortunately, guidance is emerging regarding how to use these dimensional approaches in clinical practice, but difficulties in implementation (e.g., systematic boundaries) remain. This presentation will first outline dimensional approaches to personality and psychopathology from a theoretical perspective, including a discussion of up-to-date research regarding their validity and reliability, empirical superiority to traditional categorical approaches, and clinical utility. Presenters will then utilize case examples to 1. highlight how these approaches, such as the AMPD, contribute to clinical assessment, 2. ease communication of assessment results to stakeholders and patients, and 3. aid in more nuanced treatment planning. The presentation will conclude with real-world concerns regarding how to use the AMPD in healthcare settings, as well as paths forward for future research. 

Presenters:

Abby Mulay | Medical University of South Carolina

Sharon Nelson | Penn State University

Learning Objectives: 

• Define dimensional models of personality and psychopathology, to include the AMPD
• Identify strengths in utilizing the AMPD in real-world, clinical settings
• Learn ways to integrate the AMPD into clinical assessments

This presentation will cover theory and practice supporting the use of HiTOP in clinical psychological assessment. The presentation will introduce evidence for the reliability, validity, and utility of HiTOP in assessment. Finally, practical considerations such as clinician training, test administration, scoring and interpretation, and billing will be discussed.  

Presenter:

Katherine Jones | Stony Brook Medicine 

Learning objectives: 

• Participants will gain an understanding of the theory behind the HiTOP approach to psychological assessment.
• Participants will also be informed of existing literature supporting such an approach, as well as gaps in the literature that remain to be studied.
• Finally, participants will develop a basic understanding of how a clinic might adopt HiTOP assessment strategies.

Assessment is a cornerstone of psychological practice and is touted by public figures as a major contribution of our profession given its impact on educational placement, employment decisions, child-custody, medical procedures, forensics, eligibility to own lethal weapons, identification of neuropsychological strengths and limitations, and treatment planning for mental health concerns. Ethical standards and nearly all clinical practice guidelines include attention to psychological assessment practices. Standards include attention to the uses, procedures, informed consent, release of data, test construction, test security, interpretation and explanation of test results, use of scoring and interpretive services, etc. While these topical areas may seem straightforward, controversies often arise. Current literature highlights the impact of: telepsychology competence in the usage of interpretive programs and artificial intelligence; online (remote) assessments; legal implications in the access and release of clinical data; and interdisciplinary collaborations in the assessment process.  In addition, the availability of novel assessment procedures (e.g., technologically assisted methods – data collected via smartphones, virtual reality) create new sources of viable assessment data for the clinician and researcher. 

The purpose of this workshop is to identify contemporary challenges impacting psychological assessment and assist professionals in making ethical decisions throughout the assessment process. Clinical vignettes and exercises will be used throughout to illustrate and highlight aspects of ethically competent practices. 

Presenter

Lisa Suzuki | New York University

Learning Objectives:

After participating in this session, attendees should be able to: 

• Identify the ethical standards and guidelines that impact current psychological assessment practices
• Summarize complexities and ethical challenges facing our assessment work to date
• Evaluate ethical considerations in clinical vignettes 
• Strategize around ethical decision-making as it relates to evolving assessment practices

Madeline G is a fascinating woman who has been the subject of two important books: Paradigms of Personality Assessment (Wiggins, 2003) and Paradigms of Personality Assessment and Methods: A Collaborative Reassessment of Madeline G (Hopwood & Waugh, 2020). This workshop will give attendees the opportunity to work with the test protocols collected by the presenters during the recent Therapeutic Assessment of Madeline G. A major focus will be on integrating multimethod test data as empathy magnifiers to develop a coherent and useful case conceptualization that illuminates Madeline’s “dilemma of change” at the time of the assessment. The presenters will then show videotapes of the Extended Inquiries, Assessment Intervention Session, and Summary/Discussion Sessions they had with Madeline. It will be helpful if participants have prior experience with the Rorschach (R-PAS), the NEO-PI-R, and the MMPI-2-RF. 

Presenters:

Stephen E. Finn | Center for Therapeutic Assessment

Greg Meyer | University of Toledo 

Learning objectives:

As part of the workshop, participants will: 

• Participants will practice two methods for delivering clinical feedback in an ethical and impactful manner.