diplomat, group dynamicist, salesperson, artist, and
yes, even psychologist. As a sociologist, the assessor
must assay the local mores to aid in the acceptance
of the report and to direct the report to those most
likely to implement it. In some instances, this may
mean interacting directly with hospital personnel to
convince them of the validity of the report and to
encourage them to act on it. These interactions may
involve ward attendants, nurses, psychiatrists, and
others. Such persuasion may at times seem more suit-
able for a politician or a diplomat than for a clinician.
One should not accept the role of clinical
huckster. However, there are certainly times
when reports will have to serve the function of
convincing reluctant others. Not everyone is will-
ing to regard the clinician as a purveyor of wisdom
and unadulterated truth. Ideally, of course, the evi-
dence for clinicians’conclusions and the tightness of
their arguments will be reasons enough for accept-
ing their descriptions and recommendations.
There is no single“best format”for a report.
The nature of the referral, the audience to which
the report is directed, the kinds of assessment proce-
dures used, and the theoretical persuasion of the cli-
nician are just a few of the considerations that may
affect the presentation of a clinical report. What one
says to a psychiatrist is likely to be couched in lan-
guage different from that directed to a school official.
The feedback provided to the parents of a child with
mental retardation must be presented differently
from the feedback given to a professional colleague.
In Table 10-2, we present a sample outline of a
psychological test report (Beutler, 1995).
The Referral Source
The major responsibility of the report is to address
thereferral question. The test report should carefully
and explicitly answer the questions that prompted
the assessment in the first place. If the referral ques-
tions cannot be answered or if they are somehow
inappropriate, this should be stated in the report
and the reasons given for this judgment. In some
(perhaps most) instances, contradictions will be
inherent in the assessment data. Although the clini-
cian must make every effort to resolve such
contradictions and present a unified view of the
patient, there are instances in which such resolution
is not possible. In those instances, the contradictions
should be described. Distortion in the service of
consistency is not a desirable alternative.
There are often secondary readers of clinical
reports. For example, although the primary report
may be sent to the referring person (a psychiatrist, a
school, another clinician, or an agency), a secondary
readermaybeanagencyadministrator,aprogram
evaluator, or a research psychologist. In specific cir-
cumstances, it may be necessary or even desirable to
prepare a special report for such people. In any event,
a clinical report does not always serve an exclusively
clinical or direct helping function. It can also be use-
ful in assisting an agency to evaluate the effect of its
programs. It can likewise be useful from the stand-
point of psychological research. Information in clini-
cal reports can often be helpful in validating tests or
the interpretations and predictions made from tests.
Such data can sometimes provide a baseline against
which to compare subsequent change in the patient
as a function of various forms of intervention.Aids to Communication
The function of a report is communication. The
following are some suggestions for enhancing that
function.Language. One should not resort to jargon or to
a boring and detailed test-by-test account of patient
responses. Again, it is important to recall the nature
of the referral source. In general, it is probably best
to write in a style and language that can be under-
stood by the intelligent layperson. Of course, what
is jargon or excessively technical is partly in the eye
of the beholder. A considerable amount of technical
language can be tolerated in a report sent to a pro-
fessional colleague whom one knows. On the other
hand, technical jargon has no place in a report that
is going to a parent. The termsintertest scatterand
Erlebnistypus (a somewhat obscure Rorschach
index) may be all right for another clinician, but
they should not appear in a report sent to a junior
high school counselor.CLINICAL JUDGMENT 301