Customer Reviews

Essentials of MMPI-2 Assessment (Essentials of Psychological Assessment Series)

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David Nichols provides detailed, easy-to-understand guidance for assessing psychopathology and personality using the MMPI-2. As a graduate student in clinical psychology, I found this book extremely helpful in evaluating MMPI-2 profiles. The book we are using in my Assessment of Personality course - Newmarks' Major Psychological Assessment Instruments, was simply too dry and academic. I purchased Essentials to help me understand the powerful MMPI-2. It worked! In class, when called upon to provide my own assessment of MMPI-2 profiles, I was able to quickly make sound judgments. Other students were amazed. In fact, the professor asked: "How did you know that?" When I shared I was using Nichols' book, he exclaimed; "That explains it. That book is excellent."

Essentials includes far greater detail on potential 2, 3, and 4 code profiles. In addition, it includes insight into the history, treatment and prognosis of individuals with various clinical scale, validity scale, and profile code scores. It also includes detailed information on the clinical and normal groups and validation stragy used for each scale. Many tables also provide quick references for later use.

I have an entire shelf of MMPI/MMPI-2 books. While I can't give up my Roger Greene volume, nor Caldwell, Butcher, and others, this little book wins the prize for practicality. Dr. Nichols has integrated manifestations of psychopathology and real world behaviors that are commonly seen in various MMPI-2 score elevations or depressions at a level that exceeds that of other available handbooks. This is not just a book for the beginning student -- while it will give novices a real jump start, it is a book which advanced practitioners including forensic psychologists will find exceptionally useful. This book is worth every penny and then some. I only wish that Wiley would put this book into e-book format so that I could have it in my computer for ready access wherever I go.

I agree with Dr. Rogers that this book is an invaluable reference for the psychologist or other mental health professional who seeks a comprehensive yet succinct text to help interpret MMPI-2 profiles. Some of the characteristics of the book I particularly like are:

* Very well researched with up-to-date references to the studies that support the author's statements.

* Very well-written and easy to follow yet sophisticated in its language and articulation of often complex interpretive issues.

* Frequent descriptions of the heterogeneity or homogeneity of individual scales and subscales, which is crucial to understanding how to best interpret scores. In a similar vein, the author also frequently calls attention to the correlation between subscales, which also is important to help aid interpretation.

* The "Rapid Reference" boxes provide a nice overview of important features of a scale.

* Providing the following for every scale: Presenting Problem, Symptomatic Pattern, Interpersonal Relations, Behavioral Stability, Defenses, History, Diagnostic Considerations, and Treatment Considerations.

Although I too like to have the classics (e.g., Greene, Graham) available, if I had to choose only one MMPI-2 interpretive text it would be Essentials of MMPI-2 Assessment.

I use this book every time I interpret an MMPI-2 in my practice. It is very detailed but easy to understand.

We use the MMPI-2 at my place of employment; I work as a substance abuse counselor. I am going through the book with my LCSW supervisor. This book helps me gain better understanding of the psychologist's interpretation of test results for my clients. Though the book is useful, it appears that much of the interpretation of the MMPI test results comes from experience.

While I am not a big fan of the MMPI2, if you must use it and write reports on it, this book will help you out immensely.

However, if you are just beginning to do assessments, I recommend mastering the Personality Assesssment Inventory (PAI) instead, because it was written in response to MMPI criticisms and is more contemporary. And if for no other reason than the fact that you don't need millions of stencils to handscore it!!