Handbook of Clinical Rating Scales and Assessment in Psychiatry and Mental Health (Current Clinical Psychiatry)

From the reviews:

“Forty-one American academics and practitioners … contribute 15 chapters discussing focused assessments for improving patient care. The text provides a practical guide for clinical psychiatrists, psychologists, family physicians, social workers, psychiatric nurses, and counselors.” (SciTech Book News, March, 2010)

“Psychologists … have edited a useful and practical handbook for mental health professionals. … ‘The overarching goal of this handbook is to provide you, as a mental health clinician, with the knowledge and tools necessary to integrate measurement into your ongoing clinical practice.’ …  the Handbook of Clinical Rating Scales and Assessment in Psychiatry and Mental Health is a wonderful resource for students, trainees and established professionals. … read the book to become or to improve your skills as an empirical clinician.” (James K. Luiselli, New England Psychologist, Vol. 19 (3), April, 2011)

“This handbook reviews ‘the most commonly used outcome and screening measures for the major psychiatric diagnoses and treatment scenarios.’ … Psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, family physicians, and social workers are the intended audience. … distills a large amount of information into a practical and easy-to-use handbook. It concisely discusses the psychometric properties of each scale as well as the research behind it … in an organized and understandable manner. The sample scales it provides also make it a valuable collection of tools for the clinician.” (Heather Huang, Doody’s Review Service, June, 2010)

“It offers clinicians a guide for practicing by this gold standard. … the handbook should be helpful for many practicing clinicians and serve their purposes. … the greatest usefulness of this book will be to those who have basic knowledge of selecting an instrument on the basis of its psychometric properties. … may be of greatest value as a quick reference guide for practitioners who work with persons who have mental health disorders. … this volume can help readers select tools for client assessment.” (Jacqueline Remondet Wall and Andrea Schultz, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 55 (31), August, 2010)

Psychiatric clinicians should use rating scales and questionnaires often, for they not only facilitate targeted diagnoses and treatment; they also facilitate links to empirical literature and systematize the entire process of management. Clinically oriented and highly practical, the Handbook of Clinical Rating Scales and Assessment in Psychiatry and Mental Health is an ideal tool for the busy psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, family physician, or social worker. In this ground-breaking text, leading researchers provide reviews of the most commonly used outcome and screening measures for the major psychiatric diagnoses and treatment scenarios. The full range of psychiatric disorders are covered in brief but thorough chapters, each of which provides a concise review of measurement issues related to the relevant condition, along with recommendations on which dimensions to measure – and when. The Handbook also includes ready-to-photocopy versions of the most popular, valid, and reliable scales and checklists, along with scoring keys and links to websites containing on-line versions. Moreover, the Handbook describes well known, structured, diagnostic interviews and the specialized training requirements for each. It also includes details of popular psychological tests (such as neuropsychological, personality, and projective tests), along with practical guidelines on when to request psychological testing, how to discuss the case with the assessment consultant and how to integrate information from the final testing report into treatment.

Focused and immensely useful, the Handbook of Clinical Rating Scales and Assessment in Psychiatry and Mental Health is an invaluable resource for all clinicians who care for patients with psychiatric disorders.