Therapeutic Assessment

Therapeutic Assessment (TA) is a semistructured form of clinical personality assessment derived from humanistic principles and builds on an intense collaboration with clients. This chapter describes the specific nature of the client–assessor relationship in TA and proposes epistemic trust as a transdiagnostic mediator for the efficacy TA has shown in a variety of patient populations. The central importance of having clients develop their personal assessment questions is highlighted, as well as the need for highly individualized case conceptualizations to address these. Furthermore, the chapter details the steps of a full adult TA, along with case material examples and reflections on how each step might enhance epistemic trust. The chapter also provides a brief description of variations on the basic adult model (e.g., TA in children or adolescents, with couples, or ultra-brief).