Critique of the “Bradley Center Mental Health Assessment Kit” or “Personal Data Kit”

Abstract

This is a critical evaluation of the method employed by the Bradley Center, Inc., of Columbus, Georgia, to train ministers and general physicians (and more recently public health nurses and social workers) to assess the nature and intensity of parishioners' or patients' emotional problems. It is concluded that the use of the Bradley Center “Personal Data Kit” or “Mental Health Assessment Kit” without an adequate validation study constitutes a potential hazard to the welfare of counselees. Suggestions are made whereby many of the errors and dangers inherent in the kit could be corrected.