Collaborative Therapeutic Neuropsychological Assessment

Abstract

Collaborative therapeutic neuropsychological assessment (CTNA) is a method for giving feedback from neuropsychological test results that is based on client-centered principles. This chapter provides an overview of CTNA principles and methods as well as developments in collaborative neuropsychology, and describes two cases where CTNA feedback methods were used. CTNA's roots are most directly tied to Finn's Therapeutic Assessment (TA) and Fischer's Collaborative Individualized Assessment. TA and Collaborative Individualized Assessment (CIA) methods traditionally employ personality-assessment measures and occasionally intelligence and cognitive tests; however, there has been little application of TA and CIA in neuropsychology. Eventually methods were combined into a CTNA model that was presented at the National Academy of Neuropsychology in 2006. CTNA is based on three primary approaches: therapeutic/individualized models of psychological assessment; recommendations from previous authors on the provision of neuropsychological test feedback; and Motivational Interviewing principles as reflected in the format for providing information and advice, which is termed elicit-provide-elicit.