Parts of a Psychological Report

- Contains the result of psychological assessment in a non technical presentation. (AVOID PSCYHOLOGICAL TERMS such as
Oedipus complex, sublimation, etc., since readers of psychological reports are non psychology majors such as parents of the
assessee, persons with disorder who are not familiar with psychological terms, or lawyers.)
- Avoid statements that result to BARNUM EFFECT (statements that can be applied to anybody, ex. The patient has tendency
to be anxious, WHO DOES NOT, ANYWAY?), Quantify or qualify the statements to make it idiographic (statements that
suggests the uniqueness of the individual, ex. The patient has tendency to be highly anxious with the result of his exams
that he tend to call his teacher from his mobile phone to know his score)
- Should always be in the third person omniscient point of view
I. Identifying Information
- Bulleted information of the test taker
- Contains the NAME, AGE, ADDRESS, BIRTHDATE, RELIGION, RACE/ NATIONALITY, OCCUPATION, DATE OF
ASSESSMENT, PLACE OF ASSESSMENT,
II. Referral Question
- 2 – 3 sentences that answers the question “Why is the person here?” of Why is the person being assessed?
- It can be events that happened such as “the patient threw muriatic acid to the face of his brother”, or the “the
patient suffers from headache for three days already”
- Determines the reason why the person is being assessed.
III. Case Background
- YOU ARE NOT TO MENTION HERE THE RESULTS OF THE TEST, RATHER THE RESULTS OF THE INTERVIEW TO THE
PATIENT. (specifically, case history interview results)
- Events/adjustments/developmental stages related to the referral question. State here in this section the events
why the person might have been found to be as the result of the test.
- Major parts of the case background:
- Developmental stages: (Infancy, Childhood, Adolescences, Adulthood)
- Educational and Occupational Background
- Interpersonal Relationships (Family, Friends, Opposite Sex)
- Self Concept
IV. Behavioral Observation
- Result of your observation to the patient during test administration and interview.
- You should include here “signs” of what you have seen to the patient.
- Generally the output of the MENTAL STATUS EXAMINATION (APPEARANCE, MOOD, MOTOR ACTIVITY, MEMORY,
ETC.)
V. Psychological Tests Administered
- Bulleted types of test taken by the test taker with date when he/she has taken it.
VI. Interpretation of Test Results
- DO NOT MENTION HERE THE ACTUAL SCORES OF THE TESTTAKERS, RATHER THE INTERPRETATION OF THOSE
SCORES ONLY.
- PARAGRAPH FORM
- Has three parts (or minimum of three paragraphs) discussing the following topics: Cognitive, Personality, and
Psychopathology
VII. Diagnostic Formulation
- Logical explanation of why you think the person has this kind of disorder/disturbance.
- RELATED HERE THE INTERPRETATION OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST, BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATION, AND
INTERVIEW
VIII. Diagnostic Impression
- Tell whether the patient might be suffering from a disorder or the general picture of his personality.
- Possible Diagnostic Impression: Major Depressive Disorder, Stressed out from school, Burnout, No disturbance
IX. Recommendation
- Enumerate here what are your recommendations to the test taker
- Possible recommendations: Therapy (tell the type), further assessment