Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Personality and ...

chapter 5 Planning the Evaluation and Rapport Building93Box 5.5 (Continued)a major issue for adolescents. In testing, adolescentsmay be asked many personal questions.They must be warned of these questionsand informed as to how the information fromthe testing will be conveyed to other people.This is very threatening to most adolescents,and the explanation should be sensitive tothis issue. Fourth, a majority of adolescentsreferred for testing do not see the need forsuch testing and don ’ t want to be there. Amajor flaw we often see in presenting testingto adolescents is that the assessor tries to cajolethe adolescent into being happy to be thereand into appreciating the potential benefits oftesting. Clearly, the potential benefits of testingshould be discussed with the adolescent inan attempt to enhance motivation. However,this often has a minimal effect on motivation,and often one must simply acknowledge tothe adolescent that you understand that he orshe is not happy about being there but, if youwork together, you will get through it quicklyand relatively painlessly. The following is asample explanation of psychological testingprovided to a 16-year-old male.“Jeff, I want to explain what we will bedoing today and, please, feel free to ask meany questions about what I say. You probablyknow that your parents are concerned aboutyour behavior. They have seen some changesin you recently and they want to know if theycan do something more to help you. I understandthat you are not wild about being here,but if we work together, maybe we can see ifthere is anything that I can recommend tohelp you or at least put your parents’ mindsat ease. But if we’re going to get anything outof this we have to work together. I work witha lot of people of your age who don’t want tobe here at first, but end up getting a lot outof the experience. I will start by just askingyou about some of the things that have beengoing on with you lately to get your view onthings. I have already talked to your parentsabout their views of what’s going on. I alsohave some questionnaires for you to completeabout your feelings, your behaviors,and your attitudes. Some of these questionsare pretty personal, but they are importantfor me to get a better understanding of you.After the testing, I will summarize the resultsin a report and go over it with you and yourparents. At that time we can discuss anythingthat I think may help you.”Building Rapport with the ChildAs mentioned previously, the child is oftennot the one seeking an evaluation but isusually referred by some significant adultwho feels that the child or adolescent needsthe testing. Therefore, the motivation ofthe child for the evaluation is often low.Another reason for low motivation is thatthe child often realizes, or has been explicitlytold, that the evaluation is promptedby problems either at home or school. Asa result, the child is legitimately concernedabout the outcome of the evaluation (i.e.,getting into more trouble). In addition, thetesting situation is often unique in mostchildren’s experiences. Children have had afew similar experiences, and therefore theyoften have little idea of what to expect in thetesting situation. Finally, the many developmentalstages that characterize childhoodand adolescence imply that assessorsmust be familiar with development to beable to tailor their rapport-building strategiesto the unique needs of children at variousstages.We have already mentioned that rapportbuilding is a process that evolvesthroughout testing. It starts at the veryfirst contact between the assessor and the