I find it fascinating how views are developed without regards to the
research literature. I would think one could find literature on the
utility of interviews for graduate school applicants in the I/O or
clinical arenas? Also, the utility of various questionnaires should be
out there somewhere. I think the emphasis on the (mystery complex?)
meaningful behavior of clinicians in such a "complex task" of being a
"good" counselor is worthy of more empirical discussion. Like Michael
Q, I would be leary of reliance on interviews, but only because my
rememberance of the literarure suggests problems in that area. I do
feel however, that screening applicants is justifiable if it is shown
that whacko therapists are a problem.
Where's the data? Gary Peterson
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> This thread is really starting to scare me.
> First, as Bob Hill points out, how reliable are any of these measures at
> predicting any kind of meaningful behavior? How much of the variance can
> they account for in such a complex task as being a good counselor or
> clinician?
> Second, it seems that you are making the assumption that a "pathology" that
> you can "detect" is a permanently debilitating condition justifying
> exclusion from a profession. If this is so, why are you in the profession
> that you chose?
> Third, why should we assume that, because someone suffers from a pathology,
> they are incapable of providing help to others?
> Fourth, it would seem that reliance on interviews for screening may be a
> valid indicator of how well faculty might get along with a graduate student,
> but it would be a real case of hubris to assume that you are able to
> meaningfully predict who will be the most successful with greater accuracy
> than past performance indicators. Might you not run the risk of picking
> people who look most like yourselves?
> Sorry for sounding abrasive, but since the purpose of the list is sometimes
> best served by stirring up controversy and we all like a good argument, I
> thought I would err on the side of bluntness. Or maybe I'm just sensitive
> because too many people lately have told me they know my Myers-Briggs Type.
>
> Michael B. Quanty, Ph.D.
> Psychology Professor
> Senior Institutional Researcher
> Thomas Nelson Community College
> PO Box 9407
> Hampton, VA 23670
>
> Phone: 757.825.3500
> Fax: 757.825.3807
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Hill [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 9:28 AM
> To: Rick Froman
> Cc: TIPS
> Subject: Re: Personality test for counselors
>
> Screening candidates for pathology before admitting them into a graduate
> program
> for mental health professionals appears a responsible admissions criteria.
> We
> use personal interviews with 3 different clinical faculty for our short list
> applicants and look for interpersonal skills, maturity and a lack of
> personality
> disorder pathology among other things.
>
> Using a clinical measure may be problematic for screening applicants due to
> the
> lack of validity data supporting the use of such measures for the purpose of
> predicting success among mental health professionals. That said, if I were
> to
> use a measure I would probably use the Personality Assessment Inventory
> (PAI) or
> perhaps the CPI, and watch for any prominent elevations on clinical scales.
> The
> PAI scales are more interpretable than the MMPI. Such elevations might lead
> to
> further assessment during interview rather than exclusion based solely on
> test
> scores.
>
> Bob Hill
> Psychology
> Appalachian State Un.
>
> Rick Froman wrote:
>
> > Our graduate school is looking for an appropriate personality test to give
> > to students in the counseling program to identify personality
> > characteristics relevant to counseling. They are attempting to screen for
> > people who may have a difficult time in a counseling placement. Do any of
> > you use personality tests for a similar purpose in your graduate programs
> or
> > know of a test that might be useful for this purpose. They had been using
> > the MMPI but it wasn't working for them. Thanks for your help.
> >
> > Rick
> >
> > Dr. Richard L. Froman
> > Psychology Department
> > John Brown University
> > Siloam Springs, AR 72761
> > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > http://www.jbu.edu/sbs/psych/froman.htm
