Section E Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation

Introduction

• Counselors use assessment instruments as one component of the counseling process, taking into account the client personal and cultural context. Counselors promote the well-being of individual clients or groups of clients by developing and using appropriate educational, psychological,and career assessment instruments.

E.1.a. Assessment

• The primary purpose of educational, psychological, and career assessment is to provide measurements that are valid and reliable in either comparative or absolute terms.
• These include,but are not limited to, measurements of ability, personality, interest, intelligence, achievement, and performance.
• Counselors recognize the need to interpret the statements in this section as applying to both quantitative and qualitative assessments.

E.1.b. Client Welfare

• Counselors do not misuse assessment results and interpretations, and they take reasonable steps to prevent others from misusing the information these techniques provide.
• They respect the client’s right to know the results, the interpretations made, and the bases for counselors’ conclusions and recommendations.

E.2. Competence to Use and Interpret Assessment Instruments

E.2.a. Limits of Competence

• Counselors utilize only those testing and assessment services for which they have been trained and are competent.
• Counselors using technology assisted test interpretations are trained in the construct being measured and the specific instrument being used prior to using its technology based application.
• Counselors take reasonable measures to ensure the proper use of psychological and career assessment techniques by persons under their supervision.(See A.12.)

E.2. Competence to Use and Interpret Assessment Instruments

E.2.b. Appropriate Use

• Counselors are responsible for the appropriate application, scoring, interpretation, and use of assessment instruments relevant to the needs of the client, whether they score and interpret such assessments themselves or use technology or other services.

E.2.c. Decisions Based on Results

• Counselors responsible for decisions involving individuals or policies that are based on assessment results have a thorough understanding of educational, psychological, and career measurement, including validation criteria, assessment research, and guidelines for assessment development and use.

E.3. Informed Consent in Assessment

E.3.a. Explanation to Clients

•  Prior to assessment, counselors explain the nature and purposes of assessment and the specific use of results by potential recipients. The explanation will be given in the language of the client (or other legally authorized person on behalf of the client), unless an explicit exception has been agreed upon in advance.
• Counselors consider the client’s personal or cultural context, the level of the client’s understanding of the results, and the impact of the resultson the client.

E.3.b. Recipients of Results

• Counselors consider the examinee’s welfare, explicit understandings, and prior agreements in determining who receives the assessment results. Counselors include accurate and appropriate interpretations with any release of individual or group assessment results. (See B.2.c., B.5.)

E.4. Release of Data to Qualified Professionals

• Counselors release assessment data in which the client is identified only with the consent of the client or the client’s legal representative. Such data are released only to persons recognized by counselors as qualified to interpret the data.(See B.1., B.3., B.6.b.)

E.5. Diagnosis of Mental Disorders

E.5.a. Proper Diagnosis

• Counselors take special care to provide proper diagnosis of mental disorders. Assessment techniques (including personal interview) used to determine client care (e.g., locus of treatment, type of treatment, or recommended follow-up) are carefully selected and appropriately used.

E.5.b. Cultural Sensitivity

• Counselors recognize that culture affects the manner in which clients’ problems are defined.
• Clients’ socioeconomic and cultural experiences are considered when diagnosing mental disorders.(See A.2.c.)

E.5.c. Historical and Social Prejudices in the Diagnosis of Pathology

• Counselors recognize historical and social prejudices in the misdiagnosis and pathologizing of certain individuals and groups and the role of mental health professionals in perpetuating these prejudices through diagnosis and treatment.

E.5.d. Refraining From Diagnosis

• Counselors may refrain from making and/or reporting a diagnosis if they believe it would cause harm to the client or others.

E.6.a. Appropriateness of Instruments

• Counselors carefully consider the validity, reliability, psychometric limitations, and appropriateness of instruments when selecting assessments.

E.6.b. Referral Information

• If a client is referred to a third party for assessment, the counselor provides specific referral questions and sufficient objective data about the client to ensure that appropriate assessment instruments are utilized. (See A.9.b., B.3.)

E.6.c. Culturally Diverse Populations

• Counselors are cautious when selecting assessments for culturally diverse populations to avoid the use of instruments that lack appropriate psychometric properties for the client population. (See A.2.c., E.5.b.)

E.7. Conditions of Assessment Administration (See A.12.b., A.12.d.)

E.7.a. Administration Conditions

• Counselors administer assessments under the same conditions that were established in their standardization.
• When assessments are not administered under standard conditions, as may be necessary to accommodate clients with disabilities, or when unusual behavior or irregularities occur during the administration, those conditions are noted in interpretation, and the results may be designated as invalid or of questionable validity.

E.7.b. Technological Administration

• Counselors ensure that administration programs function properly and provide clients with accurate results when technological or other electronic methods are used for assessment administration.

E.7.c. Unsupervised Assessments

• Unless the assessment instrument is designed, intended, and validated for self-administration and/or scoring, counselors do not permit inadequately supervised use.

E.7.d. Disclosure of Favorable Conditions

• Prior to administration of assessments, conditions that produce most favorable assessment results are made known to the examinee.

E.8. Multicultural Issues/Diversity in Assessment

• Counselors use with caution assessment techniques that were normed on populations other than that of the client. Counselors recognize the effects of age, color, culture, disability, ethnic group, gender, race, language preference, religion, spirituality, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status on test administration and interpretation, and place test results in proper perspective with other relevant factors.

E.9. Scoring and Interpretation of Assessments

E.9.a. Reporting

• In reporting assessment results, counselors indicate reservations that exist regarding validity or reliability due to circumstances of the assessment or the inappropriateness of the norms for the person tested.

E.9.b. Research Instruments

• Counselors exercise caution when interpreting the results of research instruments not having sufficient technical data to support respondent results. The specific purposes for the use of such instruments are stated explicitly to the examinee.

E.9. Scoring and Interpretation of Assessments

E.9.c. Assessment Services

• Counselors who provide assessment scoring and interpretation services to support the assessment process confirm the validity of such interpretations.
• They accurately describe the purpose, norms, validity, reliability, and applications of the procedures and any special qualifications applicable to their use.
• The public offering of an automated test interpretations service is considered a professional-to-professional consultation.
• The formal responsibility of the consultant is to the consultee, but the ultimate and overriding responsibility is to the client. (See D.2.)

• Counselors maintain the integrity and security of tests and other assessment techniques consistent with legal and contractual obligations.
• Counselors do not appropriate, reproduce, or modify published assessments or parts thereof without acknowledgment and permission from the publisher.

E.11. Obsolete Assessments and Outdated Results

• Counselors do not use data or results from assessments that are obsolete or outdated for the current purpose.
• Counselors make every effort to prevent the misuse of obsolete measures and assessment data by others.

• Counselors use established scientific procedures, relevant standards, and current professional knowledge for assessment design in the development, publication, and utilization of educational and psychological assessment techniques.

E.13. Forensic Evaluation: Evaluation for Legal Proceedings

E.13.a. Primary Obligations

• When providing forensic evaluations, the primary obligation of counselors is to produce objective findings that can be substantiated based on information and techniques appropriate to the evaluation, which may include examination of the individual and/or review of records.
• Counselors are entitled to form professional opinions based on their professional knowledge and expertise that can be supported by the data gathered in evaluations.

• Counselors will define the limits of their reports or testimony, especially when an examination of the individual has not been conducted.

E.13. Forensic Evaluation: Evaluation for Legal Proceedings

E.13.b. Consent for Evaluation

• Individuals being evaluated are informed in writing that the relationship is for the purposes of an evaluation and is not counseling in nature, and entities or individuals who will receive the evaluation report are identified.
• Written consent to be evaluated is obtained from those being evaluated unless a court orders evaluations to be conducted without the written consent of individuals being evaluated.
• When children or vulnerable adults are being evaluated, informed written consent is obtained from a parent or guardian.

E.13. Forensic Evaluation: Evaluation for Legal Proceedings

E.13.c. Client Evaluation Prohibited

• Counselors do not evaluate individuals for forensic purposes they currently counsel or individuals they  have counseled in the past. Counselors do not accept as counseling clients individuals they are evaluating or individuals they have evaluated in the past for forensic purposes.

E.13.d. Avoid Potentially Harmful Relationships

• Counselors who provide forensic evaluations avoid potentially harmful professional or personal relationships with family members, romantic partners, and close friends of individuals
• they are evaluating or have evaluated in the past.