"People are hired for their skills but fired for their personality".S.D.

A Psychometric Consultant

We believe that problems are a part of life. It is not the presence of problems that determines our health
and well-being, but what we do when we encounter them. Our mission is to help our clients find solutions
that will lead to personal happiness and the ability to maintain healthy relationships in their lives.

An assessment is integrated when it presents a broader set of information than is normally derived from a standard research
activity. Because integrated assessments bring together and summarize information from diverse fields of study, they are often
used as tools to help decision makers understand very complex environmental problems.

In assessment of climate change, integrated assessment refers to that activity that considers the social and economic factors that
drive the emission of greenhouse gases, the biogeochemical cycles and atmospheric chemistry that determines the fate of those
emissions, and the resultant effect of greenhouse gas emissions on climate and human welfare. More specifically, the two
defining characteristics of a climate change integrated assessment are 1) that it seeks to provide information of use to decision
makers rather than merely advancing understanding for its own sake; and 2) that it brings together a broader set of areas,
methods, styles of study, or degrees of certainty, than would typically characterize a study of the same issue within the bounds of
a single research discipline.

The Thematic Guide essay In Search of Integrated Assessment undertakes a survey of the state of the craft of integrated
assessment as it is being applied to climate change.

What are Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs)?

Integrated assessment modeling is a tool for conducting an integrated assessment. The two activities, however, are not identical
even though the terms are often confused and used interchangeably. Integrated assessment models (IAMs) are mathematical
computer models based on explicit assumptions about how the modeled system behaves. The strength of an IAM is its ability to
calculate the consequences of different assumptions and to interrelate may factors simultaneously, but an IAM is constrained by
the quality and character of the assumptions and data that underlie the model.

Most climate change integrated assessment projects now under way are developing an integrated model. These
models provide a very useful framework or methodology for organizing and assessing information and for
conducting research. They allow for consistency in the integration and assessment of information, and they are
useful in illustrating where research and knowledge is lacking (see the paper Assessing Integrated Assessments by
Risbey, Kandlikar, and Patwardhan).

It is important to remember, however, that doing integrated assessment does not require building a model. Models
are tools, albeit, a very useful tool for organizing and assessing information. The Thematic Guide essay In Search of
Integrated Assessment includes a discussion on the differences between integrated assessment and integrated assessment modeling,
and provides details on nineteen integrated assessment models.

Description

Integrative Assessment for Counselors presents valuable assessment information and guidance which emerging
helping professionals, students, and those preparing for licensure can apply to various mental health, school,
community, and organizational settings. Using a case study approach, and written in a practitioners voice, this
practical guide presents a comprehensive, balanced look at a number of topics readers can put to immediate use in
their practices including assessment information and guidance, testing, the risks and resources approach to
assessment, interviewing principles and methods, exploring presenting problems and readiness for change,
informal and formal observations, assessing the therapeutic alliance, standardized risk assessments,
dangerousness to self and others, and assessing substance abuse.