Symptom Severity and Functional Impairment

For this Assignment, you evaluate and select an appropriate test to measure symptom severity as well as functioning and apply it to your virtual client.

How severe are a client’s symptoms and how do they impact a client’s functioning? Consider the case of Sami in this week’s Introduction. Sami came to counseling because she was having regular panic attacks, particularly when driving her car. On certain roads she began to hyperventilate, and on one occasion she had to pull over and call for help. She cannot figure out why she is experiencing the panic attacks and she decided to seek treatment for them. Upon beginning therapy, her counselor assessed her current level of functioning to measure the severity of her symptoms. After doing so, Sami and her counselor devised an initial treatment plan which included learning stress management and relaxation techniques. Sami came to counseling faithfully and after 3 months, her treatment was ending.

Sami’s experiences during driving had grown to the point to which she feared having a panic attack behind the wheel and was apprehensive about driving at all. How might a clinician evaluate these symptoms and incorporate the results into the development of a treatment plan?

The Assignment (4–5 pages):

• Select two tests of symptom severity (one must be a mental status examination) and two tests of functional impairment from the Mental Measurements Yearbook. (Select from the list below and see attachments to find the tests).
• Complete a comparative analysis of the tests and select one of each test (symptom severity and functional impairment) which is most appropriate for your virtual client and explain why.
• Justify your selection.
• Explain one limitation of the two tests you selected and explain why they are limitations.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are to provide a reference list for all resources.