Psychotherapy assessment: Theory and practice

SUMMARY

The history and developments in psychotherapy assessment are reviewed. Suggestions for an extended assessment of several sessions derived from the clinical experience of a District Psychotherapy service are put forward with clinical illustrations. The advantages in terms of flexibility, and the ability to embrace the range of factors involved as well as the influence this has in generating a sense of containment in the patients, are discussed. The implications of this approach on technique, and its differentiation from ongoing psychotherapy, are highlighted. It is suggested that assessment should be seen as an entity in its own right, with its own clinical technique.