 The core topic we are talking about in this module is conducting psychological assessment, its settings, its function and how it is going to proceed. Psychologist only provides psychological services within the boundaries of professional competence. This is something very important and very very trivial to be in practice because there are a lot of psychologists who have specific expertise and if those expertise are not being used in a particular manner, then there is no benefit for them. Let's say an individual is trained for CBT, but the setting where they are working is a psychoanalytical approach. The practice of CBT will go into waste because clients are more acclimatized and have a more psychodynamic approach. Similarly, in some cultures, they use certain practices such as REBT, and the chemistry approach. If someone uses a psychodynamic approach, such as psychodrama or role-playing, then maybe they can't understand it so much. So, according to competence, what kind of therapy we have to use in our setting? For example, religious therapies are used effectively in Pakistan. Surah Rahman's therapy helps a lot in settings. In hospitals, Surah Rahman's therapy is given as a baseline practice, which is very effective. So, we have to see that what is the culture, what is the setting and what is the function of the therapy which is going to create an impact on the population. So, this includes but it is not only restricted to working within the limit of their education, training, supervised experience and appropriate professional experience. Now, if I only talk about the religious therapy, which does not have any practice on it, which does not have any professional competence on it, but they are using it as a technique, then maybe there is a lot of manipulation involved. Similarly, certain people work with a special age group. For example, there are some people who are comfortable working with a female population, and they are comfortable working with young children. Old age populations are interested in working on geratrics. So, this competence to have according to the clients and to deal with them, and to assess them is very important. Then extending their services on established knowledge of the discipline and professional or profession of psychology. Like, if you claim that you are a psychologist, then they should be a recognized and valid degree with which you are practicing. So, a lot of allied disciplines, a lot of allied health professionals claim that they are psychologists and that they are not actually psychologists. So, they are not authorized to use those psychological assessments because they do not have any training on how to score them, how to interpret them. So, that could be a great barrier in interpretation of a proper result and they can do wrong diagnosis and they can stigmatize the wrong people, they can label them wrong. So, one should be very careful enough in the area of their professional competencies when psychological assessment is being taken care of. Then, complying with the law of authority in which they provide psychological services. If you cannot allow any particular things in that sector, that society or that culture of a law enforcement agency, then you cannot do that. For instance, if we are trying to do some psychological assessment in an experiment which we feel is a bit risky to do here, then we should not first take help from the proper channel, we should take permission from the proper channel and then apply it to them. Because in every setting, everything is not possible or allowed for us. For instance, if we are doing research on early marriages and we are taking data and their experiences, then in different countries, the age of marriage is different. There are 14 years, there are 16 years, there are 18 years and there are 18 years later. So, we have to see that what we are going to do, in what setting we are going to do and what law enforcement agencies need to be, you know, where they need to be taken into loop. So, without this, we cannot do an assessment. And heading to the code and guideline of psychological assessment. Especially, these goal and guides are very important when we are going to do it with vulnerable populations. For instance, in a prison, we are doing research in a jail setting. There, we see that a child can stay in jail for many years. Then, after that, it is detached and out of the jail. Now, we are doing an assessment there, we are taking the experience, we are seeing the separation anxiety of the mother and the child. So, it is very important that we need to follow all the code of psychological assessment and we will take all the approvals there, we will follow all the guidelines and then we are going to conduct that research. Ensuring that the emotional, mental and physical state does not impair the ability to provide a competent psychological service. So, it is very important for the person who is going to do the assessment that his own well-being, his own stake is very strong so that his abilities do not have any impact on his assessment because of being undermined. So, it is very important to look at all these principles to ensure that we are fair and unbiased, to do a good psychological assessment. Then, competent conducting of psychological assessment is also very important. It includes but it is not limited to the following steps which include determining the need to undertake a psychological assessment. So, the first important thing is that before doing a psychological assessment, it is very important to be rational that why are we going to do this assessment? What is the need for that? Then, determining and choosing appropriate and sound procedures. What are the reasons for us to use the procedure and whether there are alternate procedures it is very important to be clear. And we are necessary making adaptation to allow for cultural differences and in the assessment where we feel that there are some cultural barriers we can modify the items, questions, procedures according to the given culture in which we are doing the assessment. Then considering assessment data in context of all available information but the client, rather they are interpreting assessment data in isolation. Assessment data as I earlier mentioned is not only used alone with all the details its maintenance its predisposing factors what can be done its describing factors what can be done it is very important to take them into account. It is necessary to assess that depression is there but why depression is there is very important to be explained. Accurately scoring and interpreting the result this is very important that we have to give very reasonable scoring we do not overdo anything we do not undermine anything and we have to give it in an appropriate manner. Then drawing calculations and conclusions from assessment of the client that are based on data obtained from a range of sources so finally conclude that the information we have from all the sources how to explain that assessment. Effectively communicating the result by oral and written feedback to individual clients or by writing report to the authority who is asking for those results like if we have committed an individual then we have to give oral and written results and if he is a company or a party then we have to give this organization in writing report like we have a lot of freelancers in multinational companies they help in recruitment through different softwares then you have to generate reports like that. Making sound decisions and recommendations on the basis of results here competencies are involved ensuring each component of assessment is appropriately weighed let's say if the component is involved like qualitative component and quantitative like if we talk about assessment like the daughter's incomplete sentence plaque qualitative component and quantitative the results of both components should be equally weighted and the results should be aligned qualitative component and quantitative result we have to weight each of the component of the assessment and then make a clear concise and a very open report easily comprehensible to the individual or to the organization