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Presented interpretive correlates for 95 college students who were seeking mental health services and who generated the following infrequently occurring MMPI code types: Spike 2, 2-0/0-2, 2-4/4-2, 2-6/6-2, 3-4/4-3, 3-9/9-3, 4-7/7-4, 6-7/7-6, 7-9/9-7, and Spike O. Descriptors were derived from intake interview and mental status information collected without knowledge of the MMPI profile. Those items that discriminated between each profile type and the remainder of the student mental health population (Chi Square, alpha = .05, .01) are presented as tentative interpretive descriptors that may be helpful in generating hypotheses for use with college student psychiatric outpatients.

The construct validity of family therapists' assessments of client functioning was evaluated with data collected in a clinical setting (N = 1,165). The assessments were provided by the therapists in the context of the intake interview. The convergent and discriminant validities of various dimensions of client functioning were evaluated through analyses conducted within the therapist-generated judgments and with data collected directly from clients. The analyses were generally supportive of the construct validity of the assessments. A factor analysis of the client functioning data also is reported.

In order to determine why individuals apply for help to a university counseling center, a parallel-response questionnaire was administered to the patients and therapists of the Kent State University psychological clinic immediately after each intake interview. Analysis focused on the frequency, structure, and patient-therapist agreement of reported wants. Eight of the 14 surveyed wants were endorsed by over 80% of the 57 patients surveyed. The items most frequently endorsed by patients were: "Get help in talking about what is really troubling me" (95%) and "Have someone respond to me on a person-to person basis" (91%). Although patients exceed therapists in the frequency of endorsement of nearly all of the items, both were in high agreement about the underlying dimensions of patient wants. Three major themes predominated for both the patients and therapist samples: Self-exploration, Catharsis, and Encouragement. The results underscore the importance of clarifying patient wants in the initial interview.