Essentials of Psychological Tele-Assessment E-Book

A. Jordan Wright

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Essentials of Psychological Assessment
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 463

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Discover a comprehensive and practical guide to the use of tele-assessments in psychological testing from two leading voices in psychology. Essentials of Psychological Tele-Assessment delivers a primer on the current state of professional knowledge related to psychological tele-assessment, ranging from the ethical and empirical considerations to the practical applications of tele-assessment procedures. The overarching framework encourages the balancing of the limitations of the current state of the research literature with the very real needs for assessment services to continue, even when in-person procedures are not feasible. This book includes discussion on a broad range of tests and measures, with information related to both the state of the empirical support for tele-tests and measures, with information related to both the state of the empirical support for tele-assessment utilizing them and the practical 'how-to' for administering, scoring and interpreting data that emerge from them. Additionally, frameworks for integrating the data that emerge from tele-assessment procedures are discussed. The book is applicable to those transitioning to tele-assessment practice and those training in a wide variety of training programs. Readers will also benefit from the inclusion of: * Practical checklists and information about specific tests must be adapted to the realities of the tele-health environment. * Information about how the results of tests should be interpreted differently to account for the tele-health environment. * Case examples and studies to illustrate many of the challenges of working in tele-assessment * Guidance on how to balance the limitations of the state of the empirical literature on the validity of tele-assessment with the real-world needs of clients. Perfect for psychologists and trainees in a variety of health services, including clinical, counseling, school and forensic psychology, Essentials of Psychological Tele-Assessment will also earn a place in the libraries of anyone utilizing or training in cognitive, developmental, neuropsychological, psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, and interpersonal models of psychological assessment.

Leseprobe

Essentials of Psychological Assessment Series

Series Editors, Alan S. Kaufman and Nadeen L. Kaufman

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Essentials of Autism Spectrum Disorders Evaluation and Assessment by Celine A. Saulnier and Pamela E. Ventola

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Essentials of Behavioral Assessment by Michael C. Ramsay, Cecil R. Reynolds, and R. W. Kamphaus

Essentials of Career Interest Assessment by Jeffrey P. Prince and Lisa J. Heiser

Essentials of CAS2 Assessment by Jack A. Naglieri and Tulio M. Otero

Essentials of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, Second Edition by Linda Wilmshurst

Essentials of Cognitive Assessment with KAIT and Other Kaufman Measures by Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger, Debra Y. Broadbooks, and Alan S. Kaufman

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Essentials of DAS-II® Assessment by Ron Dumont, John O. Willis, and Colin D. Elliott

Essentials of Dyslexia Assessment and Intervention by Nancy Mather and Barbara J. Wendling

Essentials of Evidence-Based Academic Interventions by Barbara J. Wendling and Nancy Mather

Essentials of Executive Functions Assessment by George McCloskey and Lisa A. Perkins

Essentials of Forensic Psychological Assessment, Second Edition by Marc J. Ackerman

Essentials of Gifted Assessment by Steven I. Pfeiffer

Essentials of IDEA for Assessment Professionals by Guy McBride, Ron Dumont, and John O. Willis

Essentials of Individual Achievement Assessment by Douglas K. Smith

Essentials of Intellectual Disability Assessment and Identification by Alan W. Brue and Linda Wilmshurst

Essentials of KABC-II Assessment by Alan S. Kaufman, Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger,

Elaine Fletcher-Janzen, and Nadeen L. Kaufman Essentials of KTEA™- 3 and WIAT® -III Assessment by Kristina C. Breaux and Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger

Essentials of MCMI®- IV Assessment by Seth D. Grossman and Blaise Amendolace

Essentials of Millon™ Inventories Assessment, Third Edition by Stephen Strack

Essentials of MMPI-A™ Assessment by Robert P. Archer and Radhika Krishnamurthy

Essentials of MMPI-2® Assessment, Second Edition by David S. Nichols

Essentials of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Assessment, Second Edition by Naomi L. Quenk

Essentials of NEPSY®- II Assessment by Sally L. Kemp and Marit Korkman

Essentials of Neuropsychological Assessment, Second Edition by Nancy Hebben and William Milberg

Essentials of Nonverbal Assessment by Steve McCallum, Bruce Bracken, and John Wasserman

Essentials of PAI® Assessment by Leslie C. Morey

Essentials of Planning, Selecting, and Tailoring Interventions for Unique Learners by Jennifer T. Mascolo, Vincent C. Alfonso, and Dawn P. Flanagan

Essentials of Processing Assessment, Second Edition by Milton J. Dehn

Essentials of Psychological Assessment Supervision by A. Jordan Wright

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Essentials of Response to Intervention by Amanda M. VanDerHeyden and Matthew K. Burns

Essentials of Rorschach® Assessment by Tara Rose, Michael P. Maloney, and Nancy Kaser-Boyd

Essentials of Rorschach Assessment: Comprehensive System and R-PAS by Jessica R. Gurley

Essentials of School Neuropsychological Assessment, Third Edition by Daniel C. Miller and Denise E. Maricle

Essentials of Specific Learning Disability Identification, Second Edition by Vincent C. Alfonso and Dawn P. Flanagan

Essentials of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB5) Assessment by Gale H. Roid and R. Andrew Barram

Essentials of TAT and Other Storytelling Assessments, Second Edition by Hedwig Teglasi

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Essentials of Trauma-Informed Assessment and Interventions in School and Community Settings by Kirby L. Wycoff and Bettina Franzese

Essentials of WAIS®- IV Assessment, Second Edition by Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger and Alan S. Kaufman

Essentials of WISC®- IV Assessment, Second Edition by Dawn P. Flanagan and Alan S. Kaufman

Essentials of WISC-V® Assessment by Dawn P. Flanagan and Vincent C. Alfonso

Essentials of WISC-V Integrated Assessment by Susan Engi Raiford

Essentials of WJIV® Cognitive Abilities Assessment by Fredrick A. Schrank, Scott L. Decker, and John M. Garruto

Essentials of WJIV® Tests of Achievement by Nancy Mather and Barbara J. Wendling

Essentials of WMS®- IV Assessment by Lisa Whipple Drozdick, James A. Holdnack, and Robin C. Hilsabeck

Essentials of WNV™ Assessment by Kimberly A. Brunnert, Jack A. Naglieri, and Steven T. Hardy-Braz

Essentials of Working Memory Assessment and Intervention by Milton J. Dehn

Essentials of WPPSI™- IV Assessment by Susan Engi Raiford and Diane L. Coalson

Essentials of WRAML2 and TOMAL-2 Assessment by Wayne Adams and Cecil R. Reynolds

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Essentials of Psychological Tele-Assessment

A. Jordan Wright

Susan Engi Raiford

This edition first published 2021

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wright, A. Jordan, author. | Raiford, Susan Engi, author.

Title: Essentials of psychological tele-assessment / A. Jordan Wright, Susan Engi Raiford.

Description: Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020037412 (print) | LCCN 2020037413 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119771883 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119771906 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119771890 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Psychological tests. | Telecommunication in medicine.

Classification: LCC BF176 .W73 2021 (print) | LCC BF176 (ebook) | DDC 150.28/7—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037412

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037413

Cover image: © Greg Kuchik/Getty Images

Cover design by Wiley

Set in 10.5/13pt Adobe Garamond Pro by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd, Pondicherry, India

Contents

Cover

Series page

Title page

Copyright

Series Preface

Chapter One: The Landscape of Psychological Tele-Assessment

Chapter Two: Ethical Considerations In Psychological Tele-Assessment

Chapter Three: Practical Considerations in Psychological Tele-Assessment

Chapter Four: Norms, Equivalence, and Equating

Chapter Five: Principles for Psychological Tele-Assessment Interpretation of Data

Chapter Six: Cognitive and Neuropsychological Tele-Assessment?

Chapter Seven: Academic Achievement Tele-Assessment

Chapter Eight: Personality, Emotional, and Behavioral Tele-Assessment

Chapter Nine: Case Studies in Psychological Tele-Assessment

References

Case Study Contributors

Index

WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

Guide

Cover

Series Page

Title page

Copyright

Table of Contents

SERIES PREFACE

Begin Reading

References

Case Study Contributors

Index

End User License Agreement

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SERIES PREFACE

In the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, we have attempted to provide the reader with books that will deliver key practical information in the most efficient and accessible style. The series features instruments in a variety of domains, such as cognition, personality, education, and neuropsychology. For the experienced clinician, books in the series offer a concise yet thorough way to master use of the continuously evolving supply of new and revised instruments as well as a convenient method for keeping up-to-date on the tried-and-true measures. The novice will find here a prioritized assembly of all the information and techniques that must be at one’s fingertips to begin the complicated process of individual psychological diagnosis.

Whenever feasible, visual shortcuts to highlight key points are used alongside systematic, step-by-step guidelines. Chapters are focused and succinct. Topics are targeted for an easy understanding of the essentials of administration, scoring, interpretation, and clinical application. Theory and research are continually woven into the fabric of each book, always to enhance clinical inference, never to sidetrack or overwhelm. We have long been advocates of “intelligent” testing—the notion that a profile of test scores is meaningless unless it is brought to life by the clinical observations and astute detective work of knowledgeable examiners. Test profiles must be used to make a difference in the child’s or adult’s life, or why bother to test? We want this series to help our readers become the best intelligent testers they can be.

In Essentials of Psychological Tele-Assessment, a timely and invaluable book meant to provide concrete answers to abstract dilemmas posed by the pandemic, A. Jordan Wright and Susie Engi Raiford—both international experts in educational and psychological assessment—balance the very real-world need of clients with the limitations of the current state of the science. Between exhaustive reviews of the current literature and extremely practical tips for doing the actual work of tele-assessment, they have grounded their guidance in an ethical framework to ensure the valid and useful assessment of individuals in this mode that is new to most of the profession. They bring experience in research and development, but perhaps more importantly grounded in the real-world practice of conducting assessments in a tele-assessment context.

The book covers the different layers necessary for conducting tele-assessment, from high-level research on equivalence, to concrete strategies for adapting interpretation of data that emerge from tele-assessment measures, to extremely specific information on how to administer, adapt, and interpret scores from some of the most widely used performance-based cognitive and academic achievement tests. Psychologists new to tele-assessment will want to familiarize themselves with the ethical, practical, and interpretation concerns presented throughout the book. Psychologists who are actively engaging in psychological tele-assessment will find the practical and test-specific information useful as reminders. Psychological assessment already requires a great deal of juggling (both cognitive and often hands-on, when tests come with many physical components). Tele-assessment adds a few more balls in the air to the already complex procedures, and Wright and Raiford have provided in this book several extra pairs of hands to keep all the balls in the air.

Alan S. Kaufman, PhD, and Nadeen L. Kaufman, EdD, Series Editors

Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine

CURRENT PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE

As of the writing of this book, only a handful of professional organizations have provided specific guidance documents related to conducting psychological assessment in a telehealth modality. The guidance offered by these professional organizations forms the basis of the recommendations used throughout this book. However, much of it is vague and aspirational. Presently, several organizations have emerged with specific guidance related to the practice of tele-assessment (Table 1.3). The American Psychological Association (APA)—in addition to their general guidelines for the practice of telepsychology (Joint Task Force for the Development of Telepsychology Guidelines for Psychologists, 2013)—has published guidance for tele-assessment in general (Wright, Mihura, Pade, & McCord, 2020), as well as specific guidance for tele-assessment with children (Banks & Butcher, 2020), pain evaluations (Brown & Bruns, 2020), and presurgical evaluations (Block, Bradford, Butt, & Marek, 2020). The Inter Organizational Practice Committee (IOPC, 2020a, 2020b) has produced two separate documents related to the practice of neuropsychological tele-assessment. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) developed and published a general guidance document in 2017 and offered a specific update related to the COVID-19 crisis (NASP, 2020). The Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) published guidance on tele-assessment of personality and psychopathology (COVID-19 Task Force to Support Personality Assessment, 2020). Although there have been no professional guidance documents related to forensic work, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (2020) disseminated guidance on pre-employment tele-assessment for police officers (see Rapid Reference 1.3).

Rapid Reference 1.3

Professional Guidance and Recommendation Documents for Psychological Tele-Assessment

APA General Guidance on Tele‐Assessment:https://www.apaservices.org/practice/reimbursement/health-codes/testing/tele-assessment-covid-19

IOPC Guidance for Teleneuropsychology:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/50a3e393e4b07025e1a4f0d0/t/5ed7d6c58ec40f3dce143b40/1591203525610/IOPC+Models+of+Care+During+COVID-19+Pandemic.pdf

NASP Guidance for Delivery of School Psychological Telehealth Services:http://www.nasponline.org/assets/documents/Guidance_Telehealth_Virtual_Service_%20Delivery_Final%20(2).pdf

NASP Guidance on Virtual Service Delivery:https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-climate-safety-and-crisis/health-crisis-resources/virtual-service-delivery-in-response-to-covid-19-disruptions

SPA Guidance on Tele‐Assessment of Personality and Psychopathology:https://resources.personality.org/www.personality.org/General/pdf/SPA_Personality_Tele-Assessment-Guidance_6.10.20.pdf

APA Guidance on Tele‐Assessment of Children:https://www.apaservices.org/practice/legal/technology/telehealth-testing-children-covid-1erican

APA Guidance on Tele‐Assessment for Presurgical Evaluations:https://www.apaservices.org/practice/news/presurgical-psychological-evaluations-covid-19?_ga=2.116775942.169813268.1591026574-1626901323.1573678255

APA Guidance on Tele‐Assessment for Chronic Pain Evaluations:https://www.apaservices.org/practice/news/chronic-pain-covid-19

California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training Guidance on Tele‐Assessment with POST Selection Standards:https://post.ca.gov/Portals/0/post_docs/bulletin/2020-18.pdf

Most of these professional guidance documents offer overlapping advice, though some are much more specific than others. Generally, they acknowledge the limitations of the current literature and evidence base for tele-assessment mode equivalence with traditional in-person administration. They also tend to acknowledge that psychologists have many resources available to them to conduct assessments, including multiple methods, early support for administration mode equivalence, and the ability to adjust interpretations appropriately, utilizing clinical and professional judgment, training, and experience.

While they do not outright say this, by acknowledging that tele-assessment can be a viable procedure for collecting psychological data, they imply that imperfect data can still be good, useful data. While bad data is worse than no data at all, data collected through tele-assessment procedures can be imperfect but good, usable data.

DON’T FORGET

Imperfect data can still be good, useful data. Data collected through tele-assessment procedures can be imperfect but good, usable data.

MEASURES WITH LONGSTANDING TELE-ASSESSMENT ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES

Many psychological assessment measures have a significant history of tele-assessment administration. The most obvious of these are collateral report questionnaires and surveys. While many of these began as physical, pencil-and-paper questionnaires often sent home with clients to give to knowledgeable others to fill out, more recently, most of these have adapted to a remote, online administration procedure. Surveys for parents and teachers, for example, to fill out are widely administered in this fashion. A link is sent out to the respondent, who fills out the survey online wherever they are and whenever they want, and the report is generated for the clinician. There are even some self-report inventories that have been developed and utilized in this way, without very much concern for test security or integrity. It is important to note that these measures constitute a part of an assessment that carries with it absolutely no change at all in the “new” landscape of tele-assessment. The conversation about psychological tele-assessment should always acknowledge that at least some of the “traditional” work we have been doing has included methodologies that can be accomplished entirely unaltered.

MEASURES DEVELOPED FOR ONLINE ADMINISTRATION

While much of the focus in psychological tele-assessment is on how to adapt traditionally developed in-person measures to an online, virtual procedure, there have been some (and will likely continue to be more) measures that were specifically developed, standardized, and normed for online use. Aside from questionnaires and surveys, several cognitive and neuropsychological measures have been developed for online use and may prove useful, though each has some significant drawbacks, mostly in terms of the state of the supportive empirical evidence. However, each of these represents some promising moves in the field that are likely to improve our tools in the future.

One promising general measure of cognitive ability for ages 6 through adult is the Mezure instrument (mezureschools.com). Built around measures of crystallized (Gc) and fluid (Gf) intelligence, it includes online tasks for these constructs as well as processing speed, memory with distractions, social perception, and (for adults) stress tolerance. The development of the test is impressive, as are the data security features and graphical and auditory stimuli, and many of the tasks do seem to tap what they are intended to measure. The clinical manual (Mezure, n.d.) provides solid test development information, including reliability and some validity information, such as an exploratory factor analysis. The standardization sample is adequately large at 4184 individuals, though they break down the numbers by age band for children, but not adults (and it is unclear if or how they standardized for older adults). The biggest weakness for the Mezure as it currently stands is in its presentation of validity information. The criterion-related validity (only concurrent) is limited to a correlation between the overall score of the Mezure (based on the seven core subtests) and the WISC-III (Wechsler, 1991) Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, and Performance IQ. The three major flaws with this are that: 1) the WISC-III is obviously quite outdated (and there is no indication of when this study was performed); 2) this study only addresses validity for children aged 6 to 16, with no evidence of validity for use with adults, which the Mezure claims to work for as well; and 3) the relationships between subtests of the Mezure and similar constructs on other tests are not reported, even though presumably the data exist from the WISC-III study. Similarly, the supplemental subtests (processing speed, social perception, distractibility) lack reported validity evidence. Further, internal validity is only asserted through the use of subtest correlations, rather than a confirmatory factor analysis. Until these data are provided, it is recommended that the Mezure be used with extreme caution.

Another measure entirely developed and standardized online to evaluate general cognitive ability for individuals age 7 through adult is the Cognifit measure (cognifit.com). This measure reportedly evaluates individuals on focus, distractibility, processing speed, spatial perception, inhibition, and a host of other cognitive abilities, all organized into perception, coordination, attention, memory, and reasoning. Most of the subtests are generally quite technologically elegant and seem to measure what they purport to measure. There are two significant drawbacks to this program, though. First, the report generated is extremely difficult for psychologists who understand psychometrics to interpret. Specifically, the program has developed an odd scoring system (it is unclear if this is even a standard score) with a maximum of 800, making it extremely difficult to interpret. Additionally, the algorithms used to derive scores on indices are somewhat obtuse and not well explained in any materials (individual subtests contribute partially to multiple different index scores). The second and more troubling problem with the measure is its description of psychometrics (CogniFit, 2020). The only psychometric information provided in the clinical manual is measures of reliability (which it calls validity), both internal consistency and test-retest. While the reliability findings are adequate, they are reported for the tasks (not the derived index scores at all), and no validity information has been provided. There is no information on the internal structure of the test itself, nor is there evidence of concurrent or predictive criterion-related validity. As such, this measure is not yet ready to be used by professionals (and indeed seems to be marketed more to lay people and medical professionals).

Finally, the CNS Vital Signs measure (cnsvs.com) offers another online-developed and standardized instrument of cognitive functioning for individuals aged 7 to 90. The measure reportedly evaluates memory, fine motor functioning, attention and concentration, processing speed, and mental flexibility. The measure does not purport to evaluate general cognitive functioning or intelligence, but rather employs some commonly used neuropsychological techniques to evaluate discrete neuropsychological and cognitive abilities. While research (summarized in Gualtieri & Johnson, 2006) has established adequate reliability, the normative sample is quite small (25 children under 10 years old) and not very racially or ethnically diverse. The validity data are generally adequate but based again on quite small sample sizes, especially related to discrimination ability with certain neurocognitive disorders (e.g., 52 participants in a dementia discrimination study). In all, there are fewer concerns with a measure like the CNS Vital Signs than the other measures, as it does not purport to measure broader general cognitive abilities, but rather discrete skills that are reasonably well established in neuropsychological and tele-neuropsychological assessment, though caution should be taken especially with children.

CONCLUSION

The current landscape of psychological tele-assessment is either promising but young at the moment or young but promising at the moment, depending on perspective. While imperfect, in general the professional organizations that organize health service psychologists (school, clinical, counseling, and related fields) have encouraged careful and considered practice when engaging in tele-assessment. And the research seems to support this—some tests have direct evidence supporting their equivalence and thus use for tele-assessment, and many more can use indirect evidence from the necessary inputs (stimuli) and outputs (client responses) that have been evaluated to support their use as well. Further, while currently none of the measures is ideal for use yet, several cognitive measures have been developed and standardized entirely online, and this sets the stage for an exciting future of psychological tele-assessment and further development of fully online measures.

Two ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TELE-ASSESSMENT

Certainly, the most crucial consideration (and criticism) when conducting psychological tele-assessment is whether or not it is ethical to do so. The ethics surrounding tele-assessment are complex and nuanced, and there are a number of factors at play. Perhaps the most obvious is that psychologists conducting psychological tele-assessment must maintain all the ethical and legal integrity that they would in their in-person services (IOPC, 2020b; NASP, 2020b; Wright, Mihura, Pade, & McCord, 2020). This guidance is obvious, though vague. Balancing the best interest of clients with humility about the limitations of our techniques requires deliberate consideration. The information in this chapter raises some, though likely not all, of the ethical challenges to engaging in tele-assessment practice.

More concrete are issues around legal, jurisdictional, and licensing concerns. For example, at the time of the writing of this book, the permanent licensing laws dictate that psychologists need to be licensed in the state where the client is physically located (these laws were temporarily relaxed in some states due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the needs that arose because of it, but this was just temporary). Additionally, there is currently an extremely popular petition calling for national, inter-state reciprocity in tele-practice, such that tele-health providers could freely practice across state lines. (This is a complicated issue, and one that would be difficult for state licensing boards to enact, however.) You must always confirm the most current laws for what is legally permissible in practice. You should also confirm with your liability insurance what is covered. Some (again, at the writing of this book) explicitly will not cover claims related to tele-assessment services; others have stated that they will.

Related to legal issues is whether or not psychological tele-assessment results will be “admissible” to whatever organization needs the data. For example, some school districts have been using and accepting tele-assessment data for years, whereas others have stated outright that they will not accept evaluations conducted through tele-assessment procedures (see the section later in this chapter on social justice for a discussion on this topic). Similarly, if you are doing testing for accommodation on specific tests (like the SAT or ACT), you need to confirm with those respective organizations that they will accept data collected through tele-assessment procedures. It would certainly not be beneficial (and may be specifically harmful) to a client to have them undergo an entire assessment that will ultimately not be accepted by the decision-making body (this is different than a client being turned down for accommodations because they do not meet criteria—we can of course never guarantee that they will meet criteria and receive accommodations, but we can ensure that our methods will be accepted).

As of the time of writing this book, while there have been individual opinions in the literature and widely online, no professional organization dedicated to forensic psychology has made a clear statement or provided guidance on the use of psychological tele-assessment for forensic work. While professional organization guidance would be both welcomed and extremely helpful, forensic psychologists should certainly be conservative in the use of tele-assessment services, especially if their work is likely to be cross-examined. While the use of tele-assessment is certainly defensible, the empirical evidence is extremely young (and mostly not yet replicated). As is discussed in Chapter 5, psychologists do not use individual test scores as if they are perfect; data are contextualized and integrated with a great many other pieces of information before making conclusions. However, in legal matters, the precision and validity of even small pieces of data within a larger picture can be scrutinized and used to “poke holes” in psychologists’ conclusions. Thus, forensic psychologists should take caution with tele-assessment work. However, a great deal of the work of forensic psychologists does not utilize cognitive and other performance-based measures; much of forensic work is based on interviews, records reviews, and collecting collateral information/data. This work can absolutely be accomplished—in a highly defensible way—through tele-assessment procedures.

DON’T FORGET

Some immediate, concrete issues that inform the decision to engage (or not) in tele-assessment:

Legal issuesLicensing and jurisdiction issuesPolicies and acceptance of tele-assessment of the body receiving the reportForensic nature of the evaluation

While legal, licensing, and other such issues can provide easy guidance on whether or not to engage in psychological tele-assessment, once those more concrete issues are reconciled, psychologists need to engage in critical thinking around the other myriad ethical issues inherent in doing this type of work, at this point in history, with all its current (especially empirical) limitations. This includes really understanding the limits of your own competency (and how to mitigate those limits), understanding which clients may and may not be appropriate for these kinds of services, and truly trying to balance clients’ needs with the limitations of our current evidence base.

YOUR OWN COMPETENCY