Psychological evaluations can take place for different purposes. For example, clinical psychological evaluations involve applying research techniques and principles in order to understand and ultimately treat an individual’s behavior or specific mental health conditions. On the other hand, a forensic psychological evaluation is intended to draw insights that can inform legal decisions. Forensic psychologists do not provide individualized treatment recommendations for clients. Instead, they advise courts on legal matters.
Some people may have to undergo forensic psychological evaluations as part of a legal process, and they do not quite understand how this differs from talking to a therapist. Other people may have loved ones going through this process and have questions about how it works. Let’s explore a few of the key differences between clinical and forensic psychological evaluations.
Who Are the Clients?
In a clinical evaluation, the individual going through the assessment is the client. If a child or adolescent is being evaluated, their parent or guardian is the official client. Often, an individual requests the evaluation for themselves or their child. Sometimes, a child’s school might recommend an evaluation.
A forensic evaluation is court-ordered, and in some cases, it may be referred by a government agency, a defendant’s attorney, or a business to assess fitness for duty or facilitate pre-employment evaluations. In this case, the client is technically the retaining party, which is typically the court, an agency, or an attorney.
Confidentiality Procedures
The results of a clinical psychological evaluation will always remain confidential. However, the results of a forensic evaluation are not. If the evaluation is court-ordered, the entirety of the results will be compiled into a report for the court. They can also be posted publicly on the court’s website. If the evaluation was ordered by an institution other than the court, the results will be given to the referral source. The individual participating in the evaluation will not see the results.
Client Consent
Consent is important in clinical evaluations. Individuals typically set up these evaluations on their own or request them for their child for the sake of their wellbeing. But in a forensic evaluation, the individual has to participate even if they do not want to. Their consent is not required for the evaluation to move forward, and participating is a legal requirement.
Focus of Evaluations
In a forensic evaluation, the psychologist has to answer a limited set of specific legal questions. They are not supposed to seek out or provide information that is irrelevant to these questions. Including unrelated information in the results could be viewed as introducing a bias.
However, in a clinical evaluation, the questions can be quite broad. The psychologist might take down details that the client shares that don’t pertain to any specific question. There is room for the client to interpret the questions with their own perspective. Even if the psychologist is assessing the client for a specific disorder, they can still gather additional information to gain a better understanding of the client.
Accuracy in Evaluations
When it comes to forensic evaluations, accuracy is paramount. The individual’s point of view is not the psychologist’s priority. They are not intending to collect information about their childhood, their relationships with their parents, how they connect with romantic partners, or even how they feel about the situation they are dealing with in the legal process. Instead, the psychologist is striving for objectivity and accuracy.
On the other hand, in a clinical psychological evaluation, the psychologist will take the client’s point of view into account when developing treatment recommendations.
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If you have questions about clinical or forensic evaluations, call our office or reach out to us via our contact form.