Assessment hours on the AAPI

[JockNerd]

Hi all. I was trying to find info on how assessment work counts on the AAPI but was having trouble. Specifically, I'm looking at doing an assessment-focused practicum, and I wanted to find out now how assessment hours are typically counted. As in, am I counting the time I spend administering the test? I can see that for a WAIS, but it seems ridiculous for an MMPI.

Thanks!

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[JockNerd]

Bump! Please give me feedback on this, someone 🙂

 

[psychmama]

Hi JockNerd. I'm not sure what others do/did, but my understanding is that you count all face-to-face hours, so I counted administration of assessments. Of course, the time I counted for a WAIS was a lot more than what I wrote down for things that are self-reported and don't require me to sit there reading prompts, etc. The AAPI instructions make clear that we're to make our best estimates of time spent, which I interpret as meaning that no one is expecting rigorous precision in the counting process. I'd just be conservative when in doubt, but don't shortchange yourself either.

 

[JockNerd]

Hi JockNerd. I'm not sure what others do/did, but my understanding is that you count all face-to-face hours, so I counted administration of assessments. Of course, the time I counted for a WAIS was a lot more than what I wrote down for things that are self-reported and don't require me to sit there reading prompts, etc. The AAPI instructions make clear that we're to make our best estimates of time spent, which I interpret as meaning that no one is expecting rigorous precision in the counting process. I'd just be conservative when in doubt, but don't shortchange yourself either.

Thanks!

I'll make it clearer that I'm wondering *what* we count. So, you were counting the time you spent sitting across from someone who was writing the MMPI? Things like the WAIS are more clear for me, because I'm obviously doing something, but counting time for something like the MMPI/MCMI/whatever seems weird.

 

[psychanon]

Only face-to-face hours count, and I can't imagine that being in the room while someone was filling out an MMPI would really count (except for support hours, which aren't as important). If you did an unstructured interview as part of an MMPI, that would count. Also, you have to report how many of each different kind of assessment you did, and having a bunch of MMPIs/ MCMIs could be valuable to some sites. I would do it if it fits with your interests and goals without being so concerned about the hours it might generate.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Only face-to-face hours count, and I can't imagine that being in the room while someone was filling out an MMPI would really count (except for support hours, which aren't as important). If you did an unstructured interview as part of an MMPI, that would count. Also, you have to report how many of each different kind of assessment you did, and having a bunch of MMPIs/ MCMIs could be valuable to some sites. I would do it if it fits with your interests and goals without being so concerned about the hours it might generate.

From my understandings, sites want an idea of what kind of exposure you have to various types of assessments. It was interesting on interviews to see the range of what people encountered during their training. Some places require projective testing, while others don't care. I'd think IQ and personality are a given, and then things like neuro will be more site specific.

 

[psychmama]

I'd agree with what others have said. The sites I applied to seemed to mostly care about how much experience you'd had with different assessments -- they did not seem that interested in quantifying the hours spent doing; more concerned with how many MMPIs, WAISs, Rorschachs, etc I'd given and to whom.If you're doing an assessment practicum, you'll be in good shape, I'm guessing.

 

[psy86]

I think you'd probably be justified in counting time that you spend going over the instructions for how to complete the MMPI with patients-- which is probably about five minutes, max. In my opinion, you could count that as face-to-face contact time. I would not count the time that the person spends completing the items while you're just sitting around proctoring and likely working on something else. (Not that those five-minute increments are going to change anything one way or another in terms of getting an internship, but if you want to know what you're justified in counting, I think that's it). Hope that helps.