When engaging with a client, the first step in the mental health, clinical, and social work engagement process is the assessment phase, and there are several different types of assessments in social work that a social worker, mental health therapist, or counselor can use depending upon the situation. One of the most advanced and detailed of these is the psychosocial assessment.
Unlike social work assessments, clinical therapy assessments, and mental health analysis that are looking to identify resource needs for a client (food, shelter, financial assistance, etc.) or single-goal clinical assessments, like the GAD-7, that are designed to look for one thing, psychosocial examples of assessments are holistic to the person’s entire physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
Psychosocial Assessment Social Work
In this article, we’ll cover examples of psychosocial needs and the psychosocial assessment tool used in social work, mental health psychotherapy, and other clinical environments. We’ll also include a basic psychosocial assessment template social work PDF and Word documents that you can download for your needs.
Social work assessments provide you with valuable information on the client’s needs and how to best help them. Your assessments will also drive the priority of help needed by the client, based on the urgency of safety, mental health, and other factors.
Do you have questions about this Psychosocial Assessment Social Work guide for therapists, mental health specialists and social workers? If so, contact us, we would love to hear from you.
Table of Contents
Keep on scrolling down this page to read each section, or click any link below to go directly to that section.
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What Is a Mental Health, Therapist, and Social Work Psychosocial Assessment? What do You Really Need to Know?
A psychosocial assessment takes a detailed look at a person from a holistic perspective. If you look at an example psychosocial assessment report, you’ll find a key element included that you may not see in other types of assessment, which is physical health. A psychosocial assessment in social work is a complete comprehensive evaluation of the emotional, mental, and physical health of a person. It also includes the person’s perception of themselves and their ability to function in the community.
Not everyone being interviewed by a social worker, counselor, mental health therapist, or medical professional will require a social work psychosocial assessment. It is generally performed on those that require more intensive interventions, such as individuals in palliative care, elderly patients that may have dementia, patients of substance abuse, those that have experienced physically and mentally traumatic situations, and mental health patients.
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What Is Included in a Psychosocial Assessment in Social Work?
Psychosocial examples of this type of evaluation will include a series of questions, which can change, depending upon the client’s reason for needing social services.
The types of questions included in an example psychosocial assessment report would include those asking about a person’s family history, general health and wellbeing questions, and those asking about any past traumatic experiences.
Questioning the client to learn first-hand information and interviewing any pertinent family members or care professionals makes up the first part of the psychosocial assessment social work process. The other part is the assessment report written by the social worker that details the gathered information and provides a recommendation for a treatment and care plan.
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Here is a social work psychosocial assessment example of the main three sections of a psychosocial assessment report and what to include:
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Who Typically Completes a Psychosocial Assessment in Social Work?
Because the psychosocial assessment in social work is so extensive and covers physical and mental health, it’s generally completed by a psychiatric social worker or medical experts, such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, or nurse that works in the mental health field.
A psychiatric social worker has completed a master’s degree in social work, earned a social worker clinical license, and specializes in helping patients with more complex psychiatric and emotional needs.
T he social worker can also opt to give the client a psychosocial self-assessment to complete.
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Examples of Psychosocial Needs that You Need to be Aware of
The goal of social work psychosocial assessment examples is to help address the psychosocial needs of clients/patients.
The Law Insider dictionary definition of psychosocial needs is: “Any combination of mental health, emotional, spiritual or behavioral needs, concerns or aspects” of the individual’s life which are identified as important to the individual.
Examples of psychosocial needs include:
The section below covers what you need to know about social work psychosocial assessment templates. Contact us if you have any questions about this psychosocial assessment guide.
The Main Types of Psychosocial Assessment Templates for Social Workers
We’ve touched on a few different psychosocial examples and now we’ll expand on this by discussing different types of social work psychosocial assessment example templates.
While certain questions, such as family background, may stay the same no matter what type of social work psychosocial assessment template you’re using, other questions asked of a client will vary according to their situation.
For example, questions asked of someone with a substance abuse problem would differ from those asked of an elderly patient with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
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Here are some of the different psychosocial assessment template social work examples:
The section below provides downloadable free social work psychosocial assessment templates. Contact us if you have any questions about this guide.
Free Download | Basic Social Work Psychosocial Assessment Template
Are you looking for social work psychosocial assessment examples? Get a downloadable psychosocial assessment report template & more… This includes many of the areas of assessment that social workers need to include when conducting a psychosocial assessment in social work.
Click below to sign up for a free trial and download either the PDF or Microsoft Word version of our free social work psychosocial assessment examples template.
If you’re looking for a cloud-based psychosocial assessment social work template that allows you to automatically generate reports and analytics, please let us know.
Conclusion | Social Worker Psychosocial Assessment Social Work Template & Guide
There are many examples of psychosocial needs in all facets of society. This is why government social services programs are developed to help meet these for those in need of food, shelter, medical or mental health services, and other items vital to health and wellbeing.
A psychosocial assessment in social work is the tool social workers use to match a person in need with the right care plan and to provide appropriate resources.
No matter what field of social work you happen to be engaged in, it’s good to understand psychosocial examples and how psychosocial assessments are performed.
Social Work Psychological Assessment Examples – Additional FAQs
A psychosocial assessment takes a detailed look at a person from a holistic perspective. If you look at an example psychosocial assessment report, you’ll find a key element included that you may not see in other types of assessment, which is physical health.
A psychosocial assessment in social work is a complete comprehensive evaluation of the emotional, mental, and physical health of a person. It also includes the person’s perception of themselves and their ability to function in the community.
Here is a social work psychosocial assessment example of the main three sections of a psychosocial assessment report and what to include:
• Basic Client Information: Name, address, presenting problem, referral, etc.
• Background & Current Functioning: Family and educational background, employment and skills, physical functioning capabilities, psychological and psychiatric functioning, basic life necessities, client strengths, opportunities, influences, etc.
• Summary, Assessment & Recommendations: Clinical summary, social worker impressions and assessment, goals, and recommended care/treatment plan
Because the psychosocial assessment in social work is so extensive and covers physical and mental health, it’s generally completed by a psychiatric social worker or medical experts, such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, or nurse that works in the mental health field.
Psychosocial needs can include things like:
• Social companionship
• Therapy or counseling
• Substance abuse rehabilitation
• Improved living conditions
• Financial assistance
• Medical care
• And more
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