New Assessment Tool Provides "Psychological Vital Signs" For Psychotherapists

Have you ever
noticed how much information your physician has about
you before she even enters the exam room? All the
information on her clipboard - vital signs, symptoms,
and other important medical data - was collected in
advance in order to maximize the limited time you have
with your doctor. Now mental health professionals can
have access to "psychological vital signs" at the
start of each therapy session through a new 10-minute
psychological test called QPASS: The Quick
Psycho-Affective Symptoms Scan.


QPASS measures anger, anxiety, depression, and scans
for "red flag" behaviors (such as alcohol and drug
abuse) that therapists need to be aware of in order to
help their clients. Test author Dr. Scott Lownsdale
explains how he came up with the idea: "Facing the
challenge of a busy counseling practice, I asked
myself, 'What if we therapists had data on clients'
"psychological vital signs" at the very start of each
session?' Immediately, I saw how a brief self-report
measure of depression, anger, and anxiety - three
important emotional dimensions of psychopathology -
administered before sessions in the waiting area,
could greatly reduce the time required for assessing
clients, and provide more time for actual therapy.
Moreover, it would offer a convenient way to track
progress, screen for psychopathology, and provide
symptom documentation in support of diagnoses and
treatment interventions, which could have relevance to
third party payers and therapist's legal protection."
QPASS has been found to be an accurate measure not
only of depression, anger and anxiety, but other
constructs as well, such as global psychopathology, or
overall psychological distress. QPASS is available
only for use by mental health professionals and
researchers. More information, such as QPASS'
psychometric properties is available at
qpasslive.


There are a number of very good psychological tests
measuring depression, anxiety, and anger already
available - The Beck Depression Inventory, The Beck
Anxiety Inventory and the STAXI, just to name a few.
However, these instruments were developed
independently from one another, requiring the
therapist to assemble a lengthy, cumbersome and
expensive test battery to fully assess these three
emotional constructs for one client. QPASS measures
all of these emotions and also provides data on an
additional 22 psychiatric symptoms as an aid to
therapists.


In addition to being accurate and thorough, QPASS also
saves time and money. Taking the two Beck Inventories
and STAXI requires about half an hour of testing and
costs over $5.00. In comparison, QPASS measures all
three constructs in about 10 minutes for only 69?? per
client. QPASS can be scored in only a few minutes by
the therapist, so that results are immediately
available.


Therapists using QPASS are excited about the new
instrument. "QPASS is practical, easy to administer,
and easy to score. Very useful in busy counseling
practice settings!" says Dr. David Rising, Ed.D.,
Counseling Psychologist, Williamsport, PA. Joan Cook,
Director of Phoenix Christian Counseling Associates,
Phoenix, AZ has this to say about QPASS. "QPASS gives
a quick picture of the impact of issues with new
clients, and also picks up symptoms that are not
always reported in face-to-face interviews. It is now
a standard part of our intake process with every
client."


Dr. Scott Lownsdale is a Licensed Clinical
Professional Counselor in private practice in
Rockford, Illinois since 1993. His articles have been
published in the Journal of Personality Assessment and
the Journal of Psychology & Theology.


qpasslive