Abstract In this paper we present a new model of intervention with documented efficacy that combines psychological tests and assessment methods with therapeutic techniques to
promote change in clients. We will discuss Therapeutic Assessment of Children and their
families (TA-C) through the case of a 4-year-old girl, Clara, and her family. Clara’s parents
were distressed by her uncontrollable rage outbursts and feared she might be ‘‘crazy’’. The
treatment helped to shift the narrative the parents had about Clara and give new meanings
to her behaviors. We describe in detail the steps of the assessment and provide a theoretical
discussion of the therapeutic processes involved.
Keywords Assessment � Family � Children � Therapy
Within systemic therapy, skepticism about the tools and methods typical of psychological
assessment has been fostered both by the social constructionist stance that prevailed within
the field in recent year, and by prejudices about the very nature of testing, i.e., the idea that
psychological tests pertain to the domain of naı̈ve realism and tend to give an account of
clients’ problems framed in a positivistic view. In such a context, psychological assessment
is viewed as an effort to measure the ‘‘true reality’’ of clients’ problems, thereby mini-
mizing their own experiences, views, and hypotheses (Brown 1972). While this underlying
philosophy may characterize the traditional approach to psychological assessment, in
recent years new ways have been developed of integrating the tools and methods of the
assessment practice in a therapeutic and post-modern framework. This is the case of
Therapeutic Assessment (TA), a semi-structured form of brief integrative intervention
(Kaslow 2000) developed by Finn and his colleagues (Finn and Tonsager 1992, 1997; Finn
2007) over the last 20 years. TA combines psychological assessment with techniques and
F. Fantini � F. Aschieri (&) European Center for Therapeutic Assessment, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Nirone 15, 20123 Milan, Italy e-mail: filippo.aschieri@unicatt.it
P. Bertrando Private practice, Milan, Italy
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Contemp Fam Ther (2013) 35:731–744 DOI 10.1007/s10591-013-9265-3
principles of interpersonal and systemic psychotherapy. TA has proved to be effective with
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