Assessment feedback through individualized fables

Tharinger, D. J., Finn, S. E., Wilkinson, A., DeHay, T., Parton, V. T., Bailey, K. E., & Tran, A. (2008). Providing psychological assessment feedback to children through individualized fables. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(6), 610.‏  

 http://therapeuticassessment.net/PDFs/Fablearticle.pdf

  

A wonderful paper.

 

Discussing the results of a psychological assessment directly with young children can be a daunting and often unsuccessful process. Direct feedback can be emotionally overwhelming for many children.  Individualized fables can be a useful and powerful method for providing assessment feedback to children.  The authors provide  assessors with a framework from which to develop fables.    The fable allows the child to feel that he or she has been heard and understood through the assessment and presents the child and the family with new ways of viewing their situation as well as possible next steps to be taken  Further, the process of writing the fable and presenting it to the child can be incredibly rewarding. Students and other professionals trying this method for the first time have reported that they have never understood the results of a psychological assessment as well as when they tried to summarize it in a meaningful fable. Writing a successful fable requires assessors to “get in the shoes” of a child and family.