THERAPEUTIC ASSESSMENT WITH A CHILD AS A FAMILY INTERVENTION: A CLINICAL AND RESEARCH CASE STUDY DEBORAH J. THARINGER University of Texas, Austin STEPHEN E. FINN Center for Therapeutic Assessment, Austin, Texas ALISON D. WILKINSON AND PAMELA MCDONALD SCHABER University of Texas, Austin Psychological assessment has the potential to impact positively both those individuals being assessed and the systems in which they are embedded (e.g., families and schools). Therapeutic Assessment (TA) is a relatively new paradigm that uses collaborative psychological assessment to address consumers’ questions of interest and promote positive change. TA with children aims to impact the parents, the child, and their relationship and to date has been used primarily in clinics and independent practices, with some auxiliary involvement of schools. This article draws from the first research project investigating the efficacy of TA with children and families. Clients were referred from the waiting list of a community mental health center, and TA was provided in a university clinic setting. First, excerpts from a TA “report” with a child are presented. Next, the theoretical underpinnings and research on TA are discussed, as well as the protocol for using TA with children and families. Finally, a detailed clinical case study is presented, with outcome measures indicating high acceptability and satisfaction, decreased child symptomatology, im- proved hope and self-esteem, and enhanced parental efficacy. Yet to be explored is the effective- ness of comprehensive TA in the schools, where the target of intervention could also include teachers, organizational aspects of schools, and parent-school collaboration. Until that time, suggestions are provided for implementing techniques of TA—as currently conceptualized— within schools. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. In this article, we introduce a clinical method, Therapeutic Assessment (TA), which explic- itly uses psychological assessment with a child as the cornerstone of a family intervention. We start by sharing the end point of TA with one family through excerpts from a letter written to Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez at the end of our assessment of their 11-year-old granddaughter, an assessment in which they were actively engaged. As will be discussed fully in a later section, a goal of TA is to promote new understanding and empathy in parents about their child that allows them to take steps toward systemic and individual change. Another goal is to provide the child with an assess- ment experience that directly impacts her in positive ways and enhances her capacity to be respon- sive to the new parental change. At this point, we encourage you to set aside your experience with formal psychological reports and to read the following excerpts as if you were parents of a child who had problems. How does it affect you? What would you experience receiving this letter? Letter to Maria and Edward Sanchez Dear Maria and Edward, We’re writing this letter to give you a written copy of the results from our psychological assessment of your daughter, Christina. This letter summarizes the answers for the questions you posed for the assess- ment and provides more details about how you can relate to Christina. Before addressing your ques- tions in writing, we want to say again how much we appreciated working with your family. Despite Correspondence to: Deborah J. Tharinger, Department of Educational Psychology, SZB 504, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712. E-mail: dtharinger@mail.utexas.edu Psychology in the Schools, Vol. 44(3), 2007 © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/pits.20224 293