Specialist Clinical Assessment and Diagnostic Services
We offer specialist assessments and diagnostics in the areas below. The results of these assessments have been used and are useful in a variety of general clinical, treatment planning, legal, industrial, educational and other settings. We strive to make the exercise of diagnostics meaningful and to demonstrate the significance for instance of how ‘caseness’ thresholds differs form ‘trait’ level functioning, with respect to risk related matters, or modes of treatment intervention for example.
Personality and Personality Disorder
The approach to the assessment of personality is an integration of (i) clinical examination (interview, history-taking and mental/psychological status examination). These findings are filled out (where necessary) by elaboration of clinical diagnostic themes deriving from it, by (ii) a semi structured examination as per the SCID I & II[3] or IPDE[4] systems and finally and also where indicated, these findings are further explored psychometrically using the iii. PAI[5] (for clinical and non-clinical populations) or the MCMI-III[6] (for established clinical populations). The overall approach is a developmental, dynamic one, but we ensure a final opinion which is free of jargon (or jargon well explained) and pragmatic with respect to the context in which it is to be used.
We are also conversant with Dimensional models in personality analysis and are not unsympathetic to its value. Thus, where appropriate reference is made to clients’ personality profiles according to the primary FFM[7], OCEAN[8] domains.
Results are integrated into a comprehensive analysis of the personality profile.
Complex Cases
We have accumulated a wide range and depth of experience in most major psychiatric and clinical psychological syndromes. We can also access further specialist expertise when required (e.g. specialist medical, educational etc.).
Risk Assessment
In the assessment of risk of violence in established forensic populations we offer a personality assessment/diagnosis as above in conjunction with more specialised assessment of psychopathic disorder using the PCL-R[9].
For risk assessments in the general and forensic populations we adopt an approach utilising the model imbedded in the HCR-20 .
Differential Diagnostics
We have expertise in the differential diagnostics of:
• Organic (trauma or drug induced states for example) from functional disorders or to comment on their interplay.
• Functional disorders from malingering (or offer a view on such differentials).
• Functional psychiatric disorders from personality disorders (or their interplay).
• Psychotic disorders from Borderline States
Neuropsychological Assessment
We offer a range of screening assessments for psychological disorders suspected of having an organic basis. We undertake a full clinical assessment of the presentation. We support tentative findings from this examination by refined screening for various functional disorders: cognitive capacity; memory; impulsivity; poor planning; personality change; organic induced mood disorders etc. We employ a range of standard psychometric measures in the assessment of such states.
How to Proceed with a Referral
Contact us for more information on dr@robinson-ruthenberg.com
[3] SCID 1 & 2: Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I and II conditions as per DSM-IV classifications.
[4] IPDE: International Personality Disorder Examination.
[5] PAI: Personality Assessment Inventory
[6] MCMI-III: Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III.
[7] FFM: Five Factor Model
[8] OCEAN: Openness to Experience; Conscientousness; Extraversion; Agreeableness; Neuroticism.
[9] PCL-R: Revised Hare Psychopathy Checklist