Teenage Depression > Personal Values > Personal Multi-screening Inventory > Familiarity with PMSI Subscale Performance
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Familiarity with PMSI Subscale PerformanceFamiliarity with PMSI Subscale Performance
It is extremely important that the practitioner have a basic understanding of how the PMSI performs before administering it to any client. How does one gain such experience if one has never administered it? Very simple; complete the PMSI yourself. This is a very important exercise that represents one of the principal means whereby practitioners can train themselves to better understand and interpret scores that will be later obtained from clients.
Practitioners who have never used the PMSI should complete every subscale that is applicable to their own personal life situation. When practitioners complete the PMSI, they should carefully examine their scores in relation to the way they feel about their own affective responses to each area that is measured. That experience will provide an important understanding of the meaning of scores that will later be obtained from others. For example, if one feels a bit stressed and obtains a score of, say, 45 on the stress subscale, it will then be possible to develop some appreciation or understanding of the level of stress someone might feel who obtains a score of 67 or 80. Eliciting the Client's Confidence
If practitioners demonstrate by their attitude or manner that they are uncertain of the value or importance of the PMSI responses, the client is also likely to have little confidence in them, and the client may then refuse or be reluctant to complete the instrument. If that happens, the practitioner may have lost an important opportunity to gain information that could help to understand the magnitude of the client's strengths in 33 different areas of corporate, personal and social functioning. Also, the door may then be closed to an opportunity to determine more precisely whether one's wellness programme efforts were effective in helping the client to solve the applicable problems. The best way to avoid these problems is for the practitioner to demonstrate to clients a high degree of confidence in the value and importance of what they do together. Practitioners should never be apologetic or show hesitation when asking an client to complete the PMSI. Explain the Purpose of the PMSI Clients have a right to know why you are asking them to complete the PMSI, and they have a right to know how you will use the results. So tell them. By doing so, the practitioner shows respect for the client and is likely to get better results. Moreover, by clearly and adequately informing clients of the purpose and use of the PMSI, they are included in the implementation and conduct of the strategic plan. They are less likely to feel they are strangers in some mysterious world through which only the practitioner, as expert, has right of passage. When providing this information it is not necessary to give lengthy, detailed explanations, and clients certainly do not need details concerning the psychometric properties of the PMSI. For example, you might say to an client: "Mr. Johnson, you have made it clear to me that you are having some problems and that you do not feel good about them. I want to understand this a little better and I want you to fill out an assessment scale for me, the PMSI. When you finish the scale, I will score it, show you the results and tell you what they mean. This information will also help us with our strategic planning. If the client asks what the PMSI is supposed to do or reveal, by all means tell him. You might say something like “The PMSI will show us how you are getting along in a number of different areas, and problems in one area can be related to problems in others. The PMSI will tell us a great deal about your strengths and problems in many areas that could be related to one another." The keynote to successful use of the PMSI is to be as open and candid about its use, and the results, as good judgment will allow. |