Assignment: Family Assessment

Assessment is as essential to family therapy as it is to individual therapy.

Although families often present with one person identified as the “problem,” the

assessment process will help you better understand family roles and determine

whether the identified problem client is in fact the root of the family’s issues.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

To prepare:

 Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide

on family assessment. Be sure to review the resource on psychotherapy

genograms.

 Download the Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Note Template and review

the requirements of the documentation. There is also an exemplar provided with

detailed guidance and examples. 

 View the Mother and Daughter: A Cultural Tale video in the Learning Resources

and consider how you might assess the family in the case study.

https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/mother-and-daughter-a-cultural-

tale?account_id=14872&usage_group_id=95102

The Assignment

Document the following for the family in the video, using the Comprehensive Evaluation

Note Template: 

 Chief complaint

 History of present illness

 Past psychiatric history

 Substance use history

 Family psychiatric/substance use history

 Psychosocial history/Developmental history

 Medical history

 Review of systems (ROS)

 Physical assessment (if applicable)

 Mental status exam

 Differential diagnosis—Include a minimum of three differential diagnoses and

include how you derived each diagnosis in accordance with DSM-5 diagnostic

criteria

 Case formulation and treatment plan

 Include a psychotherapy genogram for the family

Note: For any item you are unable to address from the video, explain how you would

gather this information and why it is important for diagnosis and treatment planning. 

https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/mother-and-daughter-a-cultural-

tale?account_id=14872&usage_group_id=95102

 

or

https://video.alexanderstreet.com/embed/mother-and-daughter-a-cultural-tale