Fine Print, Copyright, and Disclaimer Info for the MHPCT

All rights reserved. No part of this web survey may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of Dr. Joseph H. Hammer (hereafter referred to as “the Developer”).

Why I developed this Test: There are many different mental health professions out there to choose from.  When I was an undergraduate psychology student, I had no idea that all of these professions existed, much less what the differences and similarities between the professions were.  I was very fortunate to have excellent mentors at my university who gave me valuable information about some of these occupations, but nobody I talked to was familiar with all of the possibilities.  This made it very hard for me to carefully consider all of my possible options.  I wanted to create a test that could address this shortcoming–something that could give people exposure to the wide array of mental health professions and help guide them toward those occupations that are most likely to be a good fit for their career interests and passions.  This Test is not designed to tell people what one occupation they should go into.  Rather, it is supposed to point them in the right direction.  In other words, it is a start to the conversation rather than “The Answer” to the big question of “What career do I want to pursue?”  I particularly wanted to create this Test because high quality mentors can often be in short supply.  This is particularly true for students from marginalized and under-served groups.  We need to address the systematic injustices embedded in our U.S. educational system (e.g., the school-to-prison pipeline), and ensuring high quality mentoring for marginalized students is one component.  I hope this Test can help all students, but especially marginalized students, explore the possibility of entering the mental health professionals and find the right career for them.

Why these particular 21 occupations? This list of mental health occupations is not exhaustive.  There are other mental health professions that exist.  There are also different ways of sub-dividing the mental health professions.  For example, the three social work occupations could have been combined into one.  Likewise, mental health counselors could have been subdivided into several subgroups of mental health counselor.  The current version of the Test is primarily based on the mental health professions listed in the O*NET OnLine database.  However, no test is perfect.  Thus, future versions of the Test may provide scores for an expanded or refined list of mental health occupations.  In fact, if you are a current mental health professional who wants to provide feedback on how to improve this Test, please complete the MHPCT Feedback Form.

Use of your data: If you choose not to provide your email address toward the end of the survey (this is an option), all of your responses on the Test will be completely anonymous.  The Developer will not know the information you provided came from you.  There is no way to link your responses with your identity.  It will NOT be possible for the Developer to contact you, as no contact information would be collected.

However, if you choose to provide your email address toward the end of the survey, your responses will not be anonymous, though they will be kept confidential.  The Developer will not share your responses or your email address with any third party.  The Developer will only use the email address you provided him in order to email you at a later date and invite you to complete a brief questionnaire using this same online survey platform.  You can accept or decline this invitation when it comes.  The purpose of this brief questionnaire will be to collect additional information about how your career has progressed and which mental health profession (if any) you ended up choosing to pursue.  This information will only be used to help better understand the ability of the Test to point people towards the right career for them.  It will NOT be used for any other purpose, including research purposes.  It will not be shared with third parties.

This Test was built with the well-respected online survey platform, Qualtrics.  Any data collected through Qualtrics will NOT be used for marketing purposes. Qualtrics does not use the data entered into the surveys, they only store the data for the Developer. The Developer will use the data to help improve the Test.  The Developer owns and may retain or destroy any data that you provide via the Test and/or the brief questionnaire at his discretion.  If you provided your email address when you completed the Test, you are welcome to email the Developer to request the destruction of your data.

Disclaimer:  All information provided on this web survey is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only.  This Test was developed by drawing upon content available from the Summary Reports from O*NET OnLine (https://www.onetonline.org/) as well as the personal opinions of the Developer.  This test is not scientific and does not claim to be.  This Test is not “research”, per the USA DHHS definition [45 CFR 46.102(d)]] given that it is not designed to develop or contribute to generalized knowledge.  The University of Kentucky Institutional Review Board (IRB) Chairperson reviewed this Test and determined on 5/17/2016 that IRB review was not needed at this time for the Test.  Evidence for the reliability and validity of scores generated by this test has not been investigated.   The Developer makes no guarantees of any kind and cannot be held liable for any outdated or incorrect information. In no event should the Developer be responsible or liable directly or indirectly for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any such information available on or through this resource.  Information from this website and the Test should not be used for assessment purposes or be substituted for career/vocational advice or legal advice.  This Test is “not providing treatment” and does not establish a therapy relationship. It is your responsibility to research the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of all information found on this website and the Test. The Developer assumes no responsibility or liability for any consequence resulting directly or indirectly for any action or inaction you take based on or made in reliance on the information or material on this website and the Test.