Running head: OBSERVATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION REPORT

Observational Assessment Evaluation Report

Ryne Zuzinec
Argosy University, Twin Cities
MF 6525: Systemic Appraisals and Assessments
Dr. Pang Foua Yang Rhodes, Ph.D, LMFT
June 18, 2016

OBSERVATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION REPORT

For this assignment, I was assigned the video Irreconcilable Differences to complete an
observational assessment evaluation report. In this paper I will provide family demographic
information as well as a general idea of what is happening in the system. Next, I will be
providing scoring information on three global assessments: 1) the Global Assessment of
Relational Functioning (GARF), 2) the Clinical Rating Scale for the Circumplex Model (CRS)
and 3) the Beavers Interactional Competence Scale and Style Scale (BIC). After providing scores
for these assessments, I will discuss how the three instruments integrate together. Finally, I will
share my groups scores and an interpretation of why our scores differ.
Family Information
In this video, we were introduced to Bill and Leslie, a couple who has been married for
seven (7) years and have two children, a 5-year old and a 3-year old. Bill also has a child from
his first marriage and makes child support payments to his ex-wife. For work, Bill is a taxpreparation attorney for a law firm and is trying to make partner, which means working extralong hours during the week (70+). Leslie is a director of customer service for a
telecommunication company.
There appears to be some hostility coming from Leslie towards Bill. When asked if Bill is
good at his job, Leslie stated, Well, you probably should ask some of the ladies that he sees so
much. You know, that he was with his clients. Excuse me, those are his clients. Bill assured
Leslie nothing was going on with any of his clients besides work. With Bill working so much,
Leslie feels unsupported in the relationship; she has to do most of the housework, never knows
when Bill will be home, picks Bills son (from first marriage) up from school and drives him
home.

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Based on the interview, Bill does not feel supported by Leslie, and the work that he is
doing trying to create a life from my family. Bill knows that the current situation is hard, but
realizes that the hard work now will pay off later. In regards to what the couple wants, there are
some differing opinions. For the couple, there is a common growth area for the couple and that is
communication. Bill does not keep Leslie up-to-date about when he will be home nor his day to
day activities. Leslie wants Bill to take more responsibilities at home and actively listen.
When asked about their commitment to make things work, Bill said that he is, on a scale
of 1-10, a 7 which means he is almost willing to do anything it takes to make things work. On the
other hand, Leslie stated that she was at a 10, but has recently talked to a lawyer, and considers
herself a 5. One strength of this couple is that they are determined to make things work, shown
by their willingness to go to couples therapy and their ability to compromise.
Global Assessment Scoring
1) GARFGlobal score: 25, problem solving: 19, organization: 35 and emotional
climate: 21. For the GARF, I chose the score of 25 as the family is clearly
dysfunctional and appears to be on the verge of ending the relationship (was talked
about in video). A strength that kept them out of the 1-20 range was their ability to
communicate in session albeit their frequent interrupting of one another. I scored the
family low in problem solving based on their lack of routines. The wife never knows
when the father is going to be home and there is a huge communication breakdown
between the parents. With the father working 70+ hours per week, there is little time
for his family. For organizational I scored high because when decisions are being
made (as made evident in session) both partners had input and neither fought with
what the other was saying. In regards to emotional climate, I scored at the low end of

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the 21-40 range. I heard multiple times there is no sexual satisfaction with the couple,
they spend little time together as a couple romantically or just together in general (he
comes home after she goes to sleep and wakes up to him lying there). I did not score
in the 1-20 range because they are on the path to recovery.
2) CRSRelationship type: rigidly disengaged, cohesion: 1, family adaptability: 1, and
communication: 2. I rated the family as rigidly disengaged. I chose this rating based
on the following:
Cohesion: I saw a lack of cohesion among the couple. Separateness seems to be the
norm in the family (father working 70+ hours, mom 50+). The couple also does not
share their feelings/emotions with each other (unless you count the session). There is
also a lack of a parent/child relationship, specifically on the fathers end (and with the
step-sonthe wife is the one picking him up).
Flexibility: as there was not much discussion about the family outside of their
relationship, this was harder to asses, so I chose to only look at the couples
flexibility. From what I saw, there was no flexibilitythe wife was very demanding
of the husband being home more, husband was very demanding that wife lighten up
as he is making a future for us. Neither appeared to be lenient; again unless you
were to specifically address the session itself.
Communication: I rated this as a 2 due to little communication between the couple.
There is a lack of respect on both partners in the relationshipneither can respect
how the other is feeling. I scored this higher than the 1 on the other two domains
because the couple has seldom interruptions/premature closer (a score of 1-2 is that
these are often evident), but they do meet more criteria for the 1-2 than a 3-4 range.
3) BICFamily functioning: borderline, health/competence: 7, and style: 4. I chose
these ratings based on the fact that the couples communication is severely poor (no
calling, no talking to each other about feelings/emotions)health/competence. The

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couples roles are clearly defined, but are not flexible in nature. The couple also
appears to have an easier time expressing their negative feelings, the family denies
being close, and the fact that their conflicts are hidden.
Integration
When we look at these three instruments scores in relation to one another, we see some
commonalities. All three assessments score the family low on communication (emotional
climate/problem solving in the GARF). It is important to realize that although these three
assessments look at and address different domains, they provide a general overall picture of the
relationship. The family is struggling and they need help. The GARF addressed different
domains, but still gives the same general picture as the CRS and the BIC. The family is scoring
low in almost all domains on each instrument. By having three different instruments to look at,
we can ensure that the couples issues are being addressed because each instrument looks at each
potential area of difficulty differently.
Group Scores
For the GARF, our scores ranged from 25-60; I scored 25, Ashley scored 40, Lindsey
scored 47, and Lucia scored 60. For the GARF, in our breakdown of scores, Lucia and Lindsey
tended to be a bit more optimistic in their ratings. For the Organization, Lucia and I rated 35, and
for the Emotional Climate, Ashley and I were close in scores, with Lucia and Lindsey scoring
very similar (47 and 45 respectively). For Problem Solving, I scored the lowest with 19, and the
others were in the same group (30-40). We all seemed to agree that the couple has problems, but
the way in which we viewed their problems and their ability to make it through, were quite
different.

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For the CRS Circumplex instrument, I again was pessimistic in my scoring. The three
other members in my group scored relatively higher in cohesion and flexibility/family
adaptability. In regards to communication, we all scored either a 2 or a 3. We all saw that there
was a breakdown in roles, and communication amongst the parents. With the family types,
Ashley and I both said rigid for their flexibility, but differed on the cohesion, while Ashley and
Lindsey agreed on being separated (cohesion). All of us (except Lucia who did not provide
details), agreed that the husband is spending a lot of time at work, and that is creating a divide in
the couples relationship. Also, Ashley made a good point regarding the rolesalthough there
isnt flexibility, the couple does have clearly established roles.
For the Beavers instrument, we were all very similar in scoring and the
health/competence dimension (the type). All scores were within 1 point of one another;
health/competence was 6-7 and style was 3-4. Overall, there was a high inter rater reliability in
this instrument.

References
Psychotherapy.net. (1994) Irreconcilable differences, presented by Insoo Kim Berg. [Video file].

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