Assessment and Intervention Planning
Assessment questions test whether you can gather, organize, and interpret information before acting. Know the components of a biopsychosocial and spiritual assessment, the mental status examination, genograms and ecomaps, and the distinction between screening instruments (brief, indicate risk) and full assessment (comprehensive, guides planning). Understand DSM-5-TR style diagnostic reasoning: criteria, duration, functional impairment, differential diagnosis, and ruling out substance use, medical conditions, and culturally sanctioned responses. Risk assessment deserves its own attention, including suicide risk factors (prior attempts, plan, access to means, hopelessness, isolation, substance use) and protective factors, plus violence and abuse indicators and mandated reporting duties. The strengths perspective, client self-determination, collateral and family input, cultural formulation, and the collaborative service plan complete the picture.
The classic traps are sequencing errors. Candidates choose an intervention when the item calls for more assessment, or diagnose on the first session using a single self-report. Screening is repeatedly offered as if it were assessment. Watch for answers that ignore medical and substance-related causes, skip confidentiality limits before contacting collaterals, or omit the client from the planning process. In risk items, a reassuring statement from the client never overrides a stated plan and available means.
Rule of thumb: safety before diagnosis, diagnosis before treatment. When an item contains any hint of danger, resolve risk first.
Worked example: A 42-year-old client reports two weeks of low mood, poor sleep, and declining work performance, and mentions "everyone would be better off." The strongest first response is a structured suicide risk assessment-ideation, plan, intent, means, history, protective factors-not scheduling a full diagnostic interview or starting a mood-focused intervention. Diagnosis and treatment planning follow once safety is addressed.