CHILD PSYCHOTHERAPY AND ASSESSMENT

FINAL PROJECT REPORT

Bilal Pervaiz

Roll No. 191520153

BS Clinical Psychology

Course

Child Psychotherapy And Assessment

Supervised by

Ma’am IQRA ASHRAF

INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOLOGY

GIFT UNIVERSITY,

GUJRANWALA.

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 Table of Content

Sr PAGE NO.
No. Content

1 Introduction Of Educational Setting 3

2 Mental Health Issues Face By Children 4 to 7

3 Assessment Procedure 7

4 Clinical Interview 8

5 Behavioral Observation 9

6 Subjective Rating Scale 9

7 School Children Behavioral Scale 10

8 House Tree Person Test 11

9 Good-Enough Harris Drawing Test 11 to 12

10 Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test 12

11 Digit Span Test 12

12 Thematic Apperception Test 13

What is educational setting?

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The study of methods of training and teaching and their
effectiveness, and of the problems experienced in
learning formal material; in particular, the study of how
to help people, esp. school children, with learning
problems to overcome their difficulties

In educational setting, psychologists work with children

who find it difficult to learn, understand or
communicate with others or may have behavioral difficulties. Educational psychologists work in
schools with teachers, families and school administrators to help children who are struggling
with specific educational issues.

Role of psychologist in educational setting:

In educational settings, psychologists apply theories of

human development to understand individual learning
and inform the instructional process. While interaction
with teachers and students in school settings is an
important part of their work, it isn’t the only facet of
the job.. People don’t only learn at school, they learn at
work, in social situations and even doing simple tasks
like household chores or running errands. Psychologists working in this subfield examine how
people learn in a variety of settings to identify approaches and strategies to make learning more
effective.

In educational settings, psychologist helps gather information from teachers and parents when
students have academic or behavioral problems, and they work with students, teachers, parents,
and administrators to resolve students' learning and behavior problems. They evaluate the
effectiveness of academic programs, behavior management procedures, and other services
provided in school setting.  They help people to accommodate to change or to make changes in
their lifestyle. They use techniques such as interviewing and testing to advice people how to deal
with problems of everyday living. They assist by evaluating students' thinking abilities and
assessing individual strengths and weaknesses. Together, the parents, teachers, school

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psychologist, and educational psychologist formulate plans to help students learn more
effectively.

Mental health issues face by children

 Problems with reading, writing, spelling, specific learning difficulties/dyslexia, behavior,

and ADHD, general learning difficulties, language delay and disorder, physical difficulties,
Autistic spectrum disorders, and other disorders and syndromes are evaluated and treated by
educational, school, and clinical psychologists. 

Learning disabilities

A learning disability is defined as a “significant reduced ability to understand new or complex

information, to learn new skills (impaired intelligence), with a reduced ability to cope
independently (impaired social functioning), which started before adulthood”.

Learning disabilities are caused by something affecting the development of the brain. This may
occur before birth (prenatally), during birth, or in early childhood. Learning disabilities can be
caused by any one of a variety of factors, or by a combination. Sometimes the specific cause is
not known. There are some types of learning disabilities

 Dyslexia

Dyslexia is characterized by deficits in accurate and

fluent word recognition. Individuals with dyslexia
struggle with word recognition, decoding, and
spelling. Reading comprehension is sometimes
impaired due to very poor word reading skills.
Individuals with dyslexia often have deficits in
phonemic and phonological awareness, which refer to
the ability to hear, identify and manipulate the sound structure of a spoken word, including its
phonemes, syllables, onsets and rimes. Individuals with dyslexia may also have impaired
orthographic processing, which interferes with connecting letters and letter combinations with
sounds accurately and fluently.

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  ADHD

A disorder that includes difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling
behavior and hyperactivity. Although ADHD is not
considered a learning disability, research indicates
that from 30-50 percent of children with ADHD also
have a specific learning disability, and that the two
conditions can interact to make learning extremely
challenging.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a

condition that becomes apparent in some children in the preschool and early school years. It is
hard for these children to control their behavior and/or pay attention. It is estimated that between
3 and 5 percent of children have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or
approximately 2 million children in the United States. This means that in a classroom of 24 to 30
children, it is likely that at least one will have ADHD.

 Dyscalculia

Individuals with this type of learning disability

demonstrate impaired math calculation skills and difficulty
understanding numbers and math facts. Dyscalculia is
associated with weaknesses in fundamental number
representation and processing, which results in difficulties
with quantifying sets without counting, using nonverbal
processes to complete simple numerical operations, and estimating relative magnitudes of sets.
Because these math skills are necessary for higher-level math problem solving, quantitative
reasoning is likely impaired for these individuals.

 Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a learning disability which involves

impaired ability to produce legible and automatic letter
writing and often numeral writing, the latter of which may

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interfere with math. Dysgraphia is rooted in difficulty with storing and automatically retrieving
letters and numerals. Individuals with dysgraphia often have difficulties in Executive Functions
(e.g., planning and organizing

 Processing Deficits

Processing deficits are problems with the processes of

recognizing and interpreting information taken in through
the senses. The two most common areas of processing
difficulty associated with learning disabilities are visual
and auditory perception

These five learning disabilities can manifest with varying

degrees of severity, and some students may struggle with more than one. By understanding these
disabilities, it is possible to find workable solutions so that every student can succeed in the
classroom.

 The Hyperkinetic disorder

A specific and common behavior disorder in

children, the hyperkinetic syndrome, may be due
to organic causes and is characterized by:
hyperactivity; short attention span and poor
powers of concentration; impulsiveness;
irritability; explosiveness; variability; and poor
school work. Children with HKD are easily
distracted, jump up in class, shout out into the classroom, are able to focus their attention for a
short timespan only, miss important information in class, disrupt their fellow students, drop class
materials, or topple over with their chairs

 Specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills

Children with specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills experience significant

impairment in the acquisition of reading, writing and mathematical skills. If not remedied at the
earliest, these children are at risk of developing severe stress related disorders.
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In this children mostly faced problems in learning to read, arithmetic skills, spelling and affected
students often avoid attending school, with the result that several weeks of absence may accrue.

 Depressive disorder

Depressive disorders are characterized by sadness or

irritability that is severe or persistent enough to
interfere with functioning or cause considerable
distress. The main symptoms include difficulties in
concentrating, lack of self-worth, low mood,
joylessness, a loss of activities and interests, social
withdrawal, giving up leisure activities, changes in
appetite, sleep disruption, and—in moderate to severe forms—suicidal thoughts and acts.

Affected students experience their inability to perform as a personal failure, and having to repeat
a year is interpreted as punishment, which triggers additional stress. Because of their depression,
such students cannot compensate for the learning impairment.

Educational setting in which we act as a child psychologist is

Normal school area

Now in normal school there are many mental health issues that children face. So as a child
psychologist, this is our role to assess and diagnoses these issues.

Assessment procedure

Source of Referral:

This is the first step of assessment in which psychologist know about who has referred the child.
The child was mostly referred by teacher in school settings for the purpose of assessment and
management of his academic and emotional behavioral problems or all other problems.

Reason of referral

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In this psychologist find put the reason of referral that why the child is referred to him.in school
setting, student mostly referred for psychological testing as part of an initial evaluation to
determine her/his eligibility for special education services per the request of her/his mother or
teacher.

Formal assessment

For the assessment tool was used to assess all these issues or disorder in educational setting is
given below

 Clinical Interview
 Behavioral Observation
 Subjective Rating scale
 School Children Behavioral Scale

Some test also used for assessment of different mental health issue of children

 House Tree person test

 Good-enough Harris drawing test
 Bender visual motor gestalt test
 Digit span
 TAT

Clinical interview:

A clinical interview is a dialogue between psychologist and patient that is designed to help
the psychologist diagnose and plan treatment for the patient. It is often called 'a conversation
with a purpose

 Clinical Interview is a main tool of gathering information from client, parents, and other
informants.
 Clinical interview was conducted to assess the client insight about his academic,
emotional and cognitive problems.

Significance

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 The importance of interviews for a child psychologist in educational setting is that because
through interviews we can build trust and rapport with the client. Honest, open disclosure is
needed for accurate assessment. An effective clinical interview helps determine whether a
client is suffering from a psychological or behavioral disorder

Behavioral observation:

 Behavioral observation was done to assess the appearance, posture, speech, verbal, non-
verbal cues and eye contact of the client. Behavioral Observation is a systematic way of
recording the observable responses of behavior.
 Most methods of behavioral observation provide quantitative and objective data that can
be used to determine current levels of behavior, to set goals for behavioral improvement,
and to measure change following intervention plans.

Significance

Through Behavioral observation, we can get valuable information to the assessment process and
is useful for identifying and quantifying symptoms of fear and anxiety, such as avoidance.

Subjective rating scale:

The subjective rating scale was used to take his belief about his cognitive errors about studies.
Subjective rating scales are measurement tools for assessing the sequence or rating of
phenomena.

Significance

Through subjective rating scale we can assess the child feelings, desires or their emotions. For
example if a child comes with having these beliefs as shown in table then we can assess their
belief thorough rating scale (1-10) and these rating are randomly chosen for the sake of
convinence.

The subjective rating of the client about his enemies are listed below

Beliefs Subjective Rating (1-10)

Fear of failure 8
Cannot learn the lesson on time 10

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 Forget the lesson 10
Chemistry and math 8
If the child reported that she has a fear of failure because she could not learn the lesson
on time. She tries to manage the entire book regularly, but due to the shortage of time she finds
difficulty in completing homework. It was reported by the child that she find Math and
Chemistry difficult, these two subjects took excessive time of the client. It was reported by the
child that if anyway, she gets successful in learning all the lessons, so she forgets before class
starts. The results of this test indicate that the child had high pressure of academic achievements.

Social children problem scale:

SCPS scale was used to assess the social problem of school children, which will provide a
baseline for adjustment problem faced by the child.

SCPS refers to the social problems of the school children caused in difficulty achieving the class
equivalent grades.

Significance

Through this scale, we assess the way a child resolves problems encountered in typical social
settings with other children. For example if a child have these issues as shown in table then we
can also asses these issues through this scale. These scores are just randomly select for the ease
of convenience.

Quantitative Results of the child’s score on Social Children Problem Scale

Factors Obtained Score Category

F1 25 Anxiety
F2 18 Academic
F3 13 Aggression
F4 10 Rejection
F5 12 Somatic

Total 87

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 The child obtains 25 scores on the anxiety scale, which shows lack of confidence of the
child towards herself and toward the teacher and peers as well. She doesn’t ask for support in
studies rather gets anxious about her weakness. The child secure 18 score on academic
performance which shows that the child hide her weakness rather she uses defense mechanisms
to overcome her weaknesses because her class grades indicating that she had been a poor student.
The child obtained 13 scores in aggression scale which shows that the child was cool minded.
The child secured 9 scores on withdrawal scale which showing the child lack of interest in life.
The child secured 10 scored in rejection scale, which is showing the internal gaps and conflicts
of the child towards her family. The child secures 12 scores on somatic scale which was
indicating that the child has stressful thoughts and describes her emotional disturbances in
medical terms.

House tree person test:

In the HTP, the test taker is asked to draw houses, trees, and persons, and these drawings provide
a measure of self-perceptions and attitudes. The HTP can be given to anyone over the age of
three. Because it requires test takers to draw pictures, it is often used with children and
adolescents. It is also often used with individuals suspected of having brain damage or other
neurological impairment.

Significance:

The primary purpose of the HTP is to measure aspects of a person's personality through
interpretation of drawings and responses to questions. It provides clinically useful information
about a person's psychological, emotional, and mental health status.

Every drawing has its own mean.

And it measures the person's psychological and emotional functioning. The house reflects the
person's experience of their immediate social world. The tree is a more direct expression of the
person's emotional and psychological sense of self. So by using this test we can assess the
person’s psychological and emotional functioning.

Bender visual motor gestalt test

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The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt test (or Bender-Gestalt test) is a psychological assessment used
to evaluate visual-motor functioning, visual-perceptual skills, neurological impairment, and
emotional disturbances in children and adults ages three and older.

The standard Bender Visual Motor Gestalt test consists of nine figures, each on its own 3 × 5
card. An examiner presents each figure to the test subject one at a time and asks the subject to
copy it onto a single piece of blank paper. The only instruction given to the subject is that he or
she should make the best reproduction of the figure possible. The test is not timed, although
standard administration time is typically 10-20 minutes. After testing is complete, the results are
scored based on accuracy and organization.

Significance

Through this, we can evaluate visual-motor functioning, visual-perceptual skills, neurological

impairment, and emotional disturbances in children and adults ages three and older.

Good –enough Harris drawing test

The Goodenough-Harris Drawing test was a projective personality test used for clinical purposes
and intelligence testing. Children participating were asked to draw three pictures, one of a man, a
woman, and of themselves. The drawings were then evaluated using 73 scoring items.

The test is completely non-invasive and non-threatening to children, which is part of its appeal.
The purpose of the test is to assist professionals in inferring children's cognitive developmental
levels with little or no influence of other factors such as language barriers or special needs.

Significance

Through this, we can assess the child intellectual level. If he/she has problem with their
intellectual ability then we can assess by using this test. And this test used to measure nonverbal
intelligence or to screen for emotional or behavior disorders. Based on children's drawings of
human figures, this test can be used with two different scoring systems for different purposes

Digit span test

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Digit span measures the memory of span which is the number of items, usually words or
numbers that a person can retain and recall.

The 'digit span' task requires children to repeat lists that vary in length from 2-8 digits. This task
is presented to children in the context of playing a copycat game with a robot. ... When the list is
completed, the child is prompted to recall as many digits as possible, in forward order, from the
end of the list.

Significance

Through this test, we can measures one's verbal working memory and attention.in this we present
some digit to client and then client have to recall them until the client can’t remember the
complete sequence or until the client repeat it incorrectly.

Thematic Apperception Test:

The TAT is a widely used projective test for the assessment of children and adults. It is designed
to reveal an individual’s perception of interpersonal relationships.

 Thirty-one picture cards serve as stimuli for stories and descriptions about relationships
or social situations.
 Cards include specific subsets for boys, girls, men, and women.
 The test is useful as part of a comprehensive study of personality and in the interpretation
of behavior disorders, psychosomatic illnesses, neuroses, and psychoses.

Significance

Through this test, we can help client to express his feelings. We can also assess the client
psychological condition. If client may not yet be able to express a certain feeling directly, but
they might be able to identify the emotion when viewed from an outside perspective. So, to
explore themes related to the person's life experiences, then we use this test.

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Bender visual motor gestalt test

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