The Theoretical Evaluation Self-Test (TEST)

Developing self-awareness starts with taking time to reflect on your own strengths and weaknesses, what distresses you, and what you find most comfortable in social work practice with your clients and colleagues. You have read about many theories and models at this point. There may have been theories and models that you were more inclined to use. Or there may have been theories and models you were not comfortable using. The Theoretical Evaluation Self-Test (TEST) was developed by Daniel Coleman. It is a quantitative instrument that measures a therapist's theoretical orientation. It consists of 30 close-ended statements with a 7-point Liken scale, asking the extent of agreement about "psychotherapy, the human psyche, and the therapeutic process" (Coleman, 2003, p. 74). The seven theoretical orientations that are measured are psychodynamic, biological, family systems, ecosystems, cognitive, pragmatic, and humanistic. Coleman (2003) cautions that the TEST is not meant to give therapists a conclusive and definitive sense of their theoretical orientation. Rather, the goal is to promote self-reflection about their personal tendencies toward approaching therapy. For this Discussion, you take the TEST to stimulate self-reflection. You will also take some time to reflect on all the different theories and models covered in this course.