Top Ten Reasons to Take Assessments
Here are my top ten potential benefits of taking assessment and using the results properly...
Get a more descriptive picture of your current strengths. People come into my office thinking so much about their life failures that they don't even realize how many strengths they have and they miss the opportunity to use their current strengths as a resource to make the change they want.
Put a name on the problem that has been bothering you. In my first few years of practice I was amazed at how much relief people got just by having a name for their problems!
Get to the root of the problem. Many clients just know they have a problem or maybe they even have figured out a name for that problem, but they definitely don’t know the roots of that problem. Getting to the roots is going to be very helpful in creating change that lasts.
Focus your time in therapy and coaching sessions. Hey, therapy and coaching sessions cost money so you want to make the best use of each minute of those sessions!
Figure out why you are here in the first place. A lot of clients know they need to talk about something but they aren’t sure exactly what they need to talk about. You can just start talking about whatever comes to mind first or you can get to why you are really here.
Create specific and measurable goals. Specific and measurable goals are the best way to know if therapy or coaching is working for you, when you and your therapist/coach needs to make changes to your plan, and when you have accomplished what you came here to accomplish.
Choose exercises that will be most beneficial to the progress you want to make. Lots of exercises and skill building are great but you want to work on the ones that are most specific to the issues you want to solve.
Get a big relief. Most people let out a big sigh of relief when they see the results of the assessments. Maybe things aren't as bad as they thought they were. Maybe there are some answers to why certain patterns have been repeated in their lives. Whatever the case, this new found self-awareness usually causes my clients to breathe a little easier.
Have someone understand you and listen to you in a non-judgmental setting. Especially when you are dealing with feelings of hurt, disappointment, anger, and pain, it can be really hard to figure out how to talk about it and not feel judged. Many times going over assessments gave my client the ability to talk about something he or she has not been able to talk about with anyone else.
Have some tangible results you can refer to over and over again for years to come. Printed or saved results from an assessment can be something you continue to refer to when you feel yourself getting into trouble again and you want some guidance for relief and recovery.
Does an assessment give a diagnosis?
Absolutely not. Many people think a psychological assessment is like a simple thermometer reading or a strep test. If only it were that easy! While some of our therapists may use the results of assessments to aid in formulating your diagnosis, this is just one of several factors that go into that decision process.
Who should take an assessment?
Almost all of our clients at Hope House take assessments at various points of the counseling and education process. So many clients take assessments because almost anybody can benefit from seeing the data and using that data to pinpoint where we will focus our treatment efforts.
Besides all of that, most of my clients say that they had fun taking the assessment and it gave them lots to think about as they were answering the specific questions. You have come this far in your quest for knowledge and self-understanding. Why not go further with an assessment?
OK! So what assessments are there anyway?
There is such a wide array of assessments that do so many different things and have varying levels of skill and training required to administer them and have varying levels of popularity in our wider culture. Here are a few of the ones our counselors and coaches use. Click on the link to find out more about how we use that particular assessment:
Sexual Dependency Inventory
Sexual Digital Media Inventory
Post Traumatic Stress Inventory
Inventory for Partner Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - Step 2
Gottman Relationship Checkup
16 Personalities
How We Love Quiz
Five Love Languages Quiz
