Assignment 1: Hernandez Family Assessment

Assessment is as essential to family therapy as it is to individual therapy. Although families often present with one person identified as the “problem,” the assessment process will help you better understand family roles and determine whether the identified problem client is in fact the root of the family’s issues. As you examine the Hernandez Family: Sessions 1-6 videos in this week’s Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat the client family.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Assess client families presenting for psychotherapy

To prepare:

Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide on family assessment.

View the Hernandez Family: Sessions 1-6 videos, and consider how you might assess the family in the case study.

Note: For guidance on writing a comprehensive client assessment, refer to pages 137–142 of Wheeler (2014) in this week’s Learning Resources.

The Assignment

Address in a comprehensive client assessment of the Hernandez family the following:

Demographic information

Presenting problem

History or present illness

Past psychiatric history

Medical history

Substance use history

Developmental history

Family psychiatric history

Psychosocial history

History of abuse and/or trauma

Review of systems

Physical assessment

Mental status exam

Differential diagnosis

Case formulation

Treatment plan

Note: Any item you are unable to address from the video should be marked “needs to be added to” as you would in an actual comprehensive client assessment