One of the challenges the field of clinical neuropsychology faces is to
develop an assessment process that is relevant and responsive to the
needs of patients. Indeed, it has been suggested that the survival of
neuropsychology as a clinical discipline may be threatened due to an
overemphasis on diagnosing cognitive deficits as opposed to developing
methods that meet patients' needs. One way to meet this need is for
psychologists to extend their services by developing clinical
interventions that contribute to enhancing patients' cognitive and
emotional well-being. Providing feedback from the results of
neuropsychological tests is one method suggested as a way to enhance
patient care and satisfaction with the assessment process while
providing a link between clinical assessment and therapeutic
interventions.
In current practice, providing feedback to patients about the results of
neuropsychological assessments has been considered an optional procedure
by clinicians and thus received little attention in the literature. Yet
there is evidence that when feedback is provided to patients the effects
are overwhelmingly positive. Feedback provides a bridge between
assessment and treatment by facilitating the development of applicable
treatment plans. There is no agreed upon conceptual framework for
providing feedback from neuropsychological assessment, although
researchers have made recommendations. However, these recommendations
have done little to affect clinical practice and training despite the
fact that including patient-oriented feedback enhances the likelihood
that neuropsychological assessment will remain a relevant and important
component of patient care. The purpose of this proposed book is to first
describe developments in methods of neuropsychological assessment
feedback that involve active collaboration with patients in an open
exchange of information and results. Second, we will present a
comprehensive model for conducting neuropsychological assessment
feedback. The authors of this book are expert clinical practitioners and
academic researchers who are at the forefront of the development and
implementation of Collaborative Therapeutic Neuropsychological
Assessment methods. Table of contents follows.
