For more on the Majors PT Elements and PT Inventory go to www.aureliuspress.com/assessments.

Gary Monti with Aurelius Press continues the interview with Dr. Mark Majors with regards to Carl Jung, his approach to therapy, and the relationship to psychological assessments.

 The topics discussed in part one are reviewed. This includes the origins of the assessments created by Mark along with the approach that Carl Jung took and Isabel Myers approach. Mark emphasizes how young focused on what was observable and patterns within those observations versus theory. The importance of avoiding what Mark calls “theoretical punishment” is emphasized.

The review concludes with Mark’s comments on avoiding the “Guru Trap,” which Mark expands upon.

While theory has its place, it is important to remember that the unfocused on the observable and associated patterns. The function of theory is to serve those observations rather than replace them and predict what an individual “is about” without making a direct connection. There is a risk of falsify the individuals life.

The discussion turns towards the importance of paying attention to the client’s motivations in order to better understand how to help them improve versus simply observing traits in making judgments as to how best to put those traits to work. The individual interpreting the assessment results needs to connect directly with the client to avoid making erroneous judgments and risk being abusive.

it is important that the client the results and interpretation of the assessment. Traits may in fact be based upon coping mechanisms that are unhealthy for the client.

Mark shares how the personality formation scores in the Majors PT Elements can be used to ensure the client is treated empathetically and fairly.

A danger is present when an assessor assumes they can draw conclusions about the client without checking in with them. No serious perfect.

At the center of this work is the individual who is then surrounded with the tools and assessments. It is important for the assessor to develop their own process, which takes time.

Mark continues with his advice to the new practitioner. The practitioner must consciously decide how the assessment will be used. The individual must always be the focus of attention without the assessor being by theory or the assessor’s own personal experiences. There is a need to continually check with the individual for accuracy.

Use the scores from the personality formation portion of the Majors PT Elements to formulate questions that facilitate the client opening up and stating the extent to which they connect with the assessment results as well as what those results mean to them. Our job is to offer possible hypotheses regarding the road they would like to take. Don’t declare, ask questions, be humble.

The importance of the assessor going through their own therapeutic process is emphasized.

When the connection is established the conversation becomes more personal and may appear to be informal but the reality is the assessor is bringing to bear their discipline in humility to help the client go within and explore himself.

The discipline of intentionality is expressed through the humility of the professional. All behaviors are focused on the intentionality of helping the client. An authoritarian approach is damaging to the client. Being authoritarian puts the focus on the assessor rather than the client.

Putting the theory and assessment before the client adds to the damage done by the authoritarian approach.

The courage required to stay with the intentionality when working in the business world is discussed.