The MMPI-2 in Psychological Treatment

Psychological treatment–using psychodynamic, behavioural, or any other approach–is most successful when both the therapist and client have a clear understanding of the client’s problems, weaknesses, resources, and strengths.

In this book, James Butcher, a member of the team that developed the new Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test (MMPI-2), focuses on how the MMPI-2 can provide objective information to both the client and clinician, and how this information can be used in treatment planning and selection. By using the MMPI, the most widely researched and most frequently administered clinical assessment tool, the clinician can provide objective feedback both before treatment begins, as a baseline, and as treatment progresses.

The book begins with a descriptive overview of the MMPI-2 and a summary of the empirical correlates underlying the validity of the test and its clinical scales. Dr. Butcher summarises available treatment-related information that can be obtained from the clinical scales and brings together in one chapter what is known about the use of the traditional MMPI scales in treatment evaluation. Since several MMPI-2 content scales have been found useful for treatment evaluation, these are described in detail. The book will also include several MMPI-2 “special scales,” such as Es and Mac-R , which have been found useful in providing specific information about the client’s present self-orientation. Dr. Butcher presents a procedure with which to provide test feedback to clients and illustrates this method with several clinical examples. He also discusses the role of computerised psychological interpretation in providing personality descriptions, which can be effectively used in therapy feedback sessions.