"Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud" - Dr. Maya Angelou
Spence Children's Anxiety Scale
The Spence Children's Anxiety Scale is an assessment used to determine the severity of anxiety symptoms aligned with the DSM-IV's dimensions of anxiety disorder. This 44-item measure assesses six domains of anxiety including generalized anxiety, panic/agoraphobia, social phobia, separation anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and physical injury fears. The individual being assessed is asked to measure the frequency with which they experience each symptom on a 4-point scale from "never" (0) to "always" (3) (Spence et al., 2003).
This assessment was administered with a self-referred 10th-grade student who described symptoms of anxiety that were impacting their ability to succeed in school. This student and I engaged in person-centered and cognitive-behavioral therapy prior to administering the SCAS. This student received a T-score of 61, indicating elevated anxiety symptoms, predominately in the social phobia and OCD categories. This student was referred to the school-based mental health counselor for treatment, in addition to bi-weekly school-counselor check-in meetings.
Holland Codes
Based on Holland's Theory of Career Choice, the Holland Code Self-Directed Assessment (RIASEC) evaluates an individual's personality, interests, and unique abilities to determine careers that will be satisfactory and congruent with their traits. This measure consists of 48 questions that ask the individual to rate their interest in a given activity on a 5-point scale, from "dislike" (1) to "enjoy" (5). The Holland Code provides individuals with the top 3 types that they most closely align with. Each combination of types corresponds with numerous careers that are likely to be an optimal fit, based on the individual's unique code.
During a student's Junior 3E meeting, they expressed a desire to engage in college and career exploration, as they were unaware of what they wanted to study. I administered the Holland Code Self-Directed Search assessment to determine their top three types, and together we processed her results (Tang, 2019). This student felt that they aligned with their codes: Social, Investigative, and Realistic. After the assessment and subsequent discussion, I encouraged her to reflect on her codes and investigate careers that align with her top three types. Together, we reflected on the occupations that she felt could be a good fit, based on her type, and discussed her feelings on her level of interest in each occupation. Another activity that I implemented was discussing college majors and programs that aligned with careers that she expressed the most interest in, based on her codes.
Beck Depression Inventory-II
The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is an assessment used to screen for depression symptoms in adolescents and adults, ages 13 through 80. The BDI-II is a 21 item, self-reporting questionnaire on a 4-point scale from 0 (symptom absent) to 3 (severe symptoms) which surveys the presence of affective, cognitive, somatic, and vegetative symptoms, reflecting the DSM-IV criteria for major depression (Jackson-Korku, 2016).
This assessment was administered with an 11th-grade student who had described symptoms of depression, during their Junior Year 3E conference. During the follow-up meeting, this student and I engaged in a brief person-centered therapy session, before the BDI-II was administered. This student received a score of 24, indicating moderate depressive symptoms, and was referred to the school-based mental health counselor for treatment.
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Valid & Reliable Assessments
