Therapeutic Feedback with the MMPI-2 provides the clinician with
empirically-based, practical information about how to convey the
abundance of information in the MMPI-2 profile in a way that is
collaborative, empathic, hopeful, and facilitates a therapeutic
alliance. Readers will find this book to be as useful and applicable as
the MMPI-2 itself, which is used in psychiatric hospitals; correctional
settings; in evaluations for job selection, general medicine, forensic
and child custody cases; and even in screenings for television, game,
and reality shows. The authors expand upon this already robust test by
demonstrating how therapeutic assessment and feedback can be improved
upon by considering three contributions from positive psychology:
- that behavior can be viewed as potentially adaptive; traditional
pathological and maladaptive behaviors can be reframed as
understandable responses to stressors
- that therapeutic feedback is empathic, nonjudgmental, and mostly
jargon free; humans respond to overwhelming stress in understandable
ways that the therapist can give coherence and meaning to
- lastly, that therapeutic feedback stresses self-esteem and resilience
building through self-awareness as a goal.
Discussion centers around ten scales and 27 common code types. Each
section addresses the complaints, thoughts, emotions, traits and
behaviors associated with the profile; therapists' notes; lifestyle and
family background; modifying scales; therapy and therapeutic pitfalls;
feedback statements; and treatment and self-help suggestions. The larger
page size reflects the size of the MMPI-2 interpretive reports and makes
it easy for clinicians to copy pages of the book to share with their
clients. Therapeutic Feedback with the MMPI-2 is the most detailed
volume available on MMPI-2 feedback and is a valuable addition to the
bookshelf of any clinician who uses this test.