The Mental Status Exam is a quick way to evaluate one’s mental health. It’s similar to a physical exam for one’s medical health. The MSE was created by Dr. John A. Schinka and is commonly used throughout the field of mental health, perhaps one of the most used tests there are. It is standardly used in hospital and clinics, but also in private counseling practice.
In a nutshell, the test explores the following areas:
- Client identification, occupation and education
- Appearance and hygiene
- Openness to experience and attitudes
- Behavior
- Emotions and expression
- Speech
- Thought processes
- Thought content
- Perceptive abilities
- Cognitive abilities
- Insight and judgment
There are 120 items to evaluate in the workbook that we will do together in a session and if we are diligent, we can complete it in in that time. You can read more about the MSE here.
