FAMILY ASSESSMENT
Assessment is as essential to family therapy as it is to individual therapy. Although families often present with one person identified as the “problem,” the assessment process will help you better understand family roles and determine whether the identified problem client is in fact the root of the family’s issues.
To prepare:
- Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide on family assessment. Be sure to review the resource on psychotherapy genograms.
- Download the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Note Template and review the requirements of the documentation. There is also an exemplar provided with detailed guidance and examples.
- View the Mother and Daughter: A Cultural Tale video in the Learning Resources and consider how you might assess the family in the case study.
Document the following for the family in the video, using the Comprehensive Evaluation Note Template:
- Chief complaint
- History of present illness
- Past psychiatric history
- Substance use history
- Family psychiatric/substance use history
- Psychosocial history/Developmental history
- Medical history
- Review of systems (ROS)
- Physical assessment (if applicable)
- Mental status exam
- Differential diagnosis—Include a minimum of three differential diagnoses and include how you derived each diagnosis in accordance with DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria
- Case formulation and treatment plan
- Include a psychotherapy genogram for the family
Note: For any item you are unable to address from the video, explain how you would gather this information and why it is important for diagnosis and treatment planning.
Required Reading
- American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disordersLinks to an external site. (5th ed., text rev.). https://go.openathens.net/redirector/waldenu.edu?url=https://dsm.psychiatryonline.org/doi/book/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
Gehart, D. R. (2024). Mastering competencies in family therapy: A practical approach to theories and clinical case documentation (4th ed.) Cengage Learning.
Chapter 7, “Structural Family Therapy”
Chapter 9, “Intergenerational and Psychoanalytic Family Therapies” pp. 338—352
Chapter 13, “Case Conceptualization”
Chapter 14, “Clinical Assessment”
Chapter 15, “Treatment Planning”
Chapter 16, “Evaluating Progress in Therapy”
Chapter 17, “Document It: Progress Notes”
- Therapist Aid. (2012–2020). Genograms for psychotherapy.Links to an external site. https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-guide/genograms
Therapist Aid LLC. (© 2012-2020). Genograms for psychotherapy. https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-guide/genograms
Document: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Note TemplateDownload Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Note Template
Document: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Note ExemplarDownload Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Note Exemplar
Optional Resource
- Kaplin, D. (2021, Nov. 5). Family systems therapyLinks to an external site. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVPENypTc4k
Required Media
- Gehart, D. R. (2013, August 29). Progress noteLinks to an external site. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEB1vBObUqc
- Masterswork Productions. (2003). Mother and daughter: A cultural taleLinks to an external site. [Video/DVD]. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/waldenu.edu?url=https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/mother-and-daughter-a-cultural-tale
- Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2013). Counseling and psychotherapy theories in context and practiceLinks to an external site. [Video]. https://waldenu.kanopy.com/video/counseling-and-psychotherapy-theories-contex
- Family Systems Therapy (starts at 4 hours)
