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In preparation · Invited chapter

On and Beyond the Circle: A Practical Guide to Comprehensive Interpersonal Assessment

Gilbert, K. J., Pincus, A. L., & Hopwood, C. J.

2026Cambridge Handbook of Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis

The circle is a beginning

A circle can organize interpersonal information, but no single circle is the whole person.

This project develops a practical framework for moving from circumplex structure to a richer assessment that incorporates problems, values, sensitivities, abilities, reporters, contexts, and change over time.

What comprehensive assessment has to integrate

A clinical profile becomes more useful when its vantage point is explicit.

FormatInvited practical chapter
FrameworkInterpersonal circumplex
IntegrationMultiple surfaces and reporters
Clinical aimFrom profile description to case understanding

Layer the assessment

Surface, reporter, context, and time each change what a score means.

Problems, values, sensitivities, and abilities occupy related but noninterchangeable surfaces.

Questions that prevent overinterpretation

Before interpreting a profile, locate the source of the information.

  1. 01

    Which interpersonal surface is being assessed?

  2. 02

    Whose perspective is represented?

  3. 03

    How do context and timescale change the interpretation?