Psychological assessment refers to the objective measurement of a person’s psychological functioning by gathering information about a person’s behavior, character, strengths, and needs for diagnosing, setting goals, and recommending treatment. Psychological assessment can be used to evaluate whether a person meets the criteria for an emotional, personality, behavioral, or cognitive disorder (e.g., ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, etc.) or membership in a particular group (e.g., giftedness). The type of assessment varies depending on why a person is seeking a psychological evaluation.
We provide comprehensive individualized psychological assessments tailored to the individual’s needs. This includes the most widely-used standardized measures that assess various areas, including cognition, auditory processing, visual processing, motor integration, executive functioning, achievement, behaviors, social-emotional functioning, and more. Our goal in an assessment is to evaluate current functioning and provide detailed descriptions of strengths and weaknesses, all leading to recommendations for services and treatment. Our assessment clinicians assess how all areas of an individual’s life may affect their functioning and success.
Cognitive Behavior Health Partners offers four different types of assessments:
Psychodiagnostic Assessment is designed to determine if a specific diagnosis is present (e.g., Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) in children or adults. It can also be used to rule out or differentiate diagnoses. We provide individualized comprehensive psychological assessments tailored to the needs of each individual. We use widely used standardized measures that assess a range of presenting concerns.
Brief ADHD Assessment determines if a child or adult meets the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder criteria. This is a more straightforward process than a full psychodiagnostic assessment.
Psychoeducational Assessment measures a child’s intellectual functioning and current academic performance. This type of assessment may be requested to determine if a learning disorder may be present and includes suggestions for accommodations if a learning disability is present.
Giftedness Assessment consists of a standard intelligence test that measures a child’s analytical intelligence level, including verbal and non-verbal intelligence. This type of assessment may be sought when planning for a child’s academic placement, as a screener for potential academic problems, to qualify for advanced classes in school, or to include the results as part of an application for admittance to exclusive educational opportunities.
Testing involves 2-8 hours of face-to-face assessment, depending on the type of assessment, including a clinical interview, administration of the test battery, scoring, and reporting results into a detailed, narrative report. With consent, collateral information may also be gathered from a person’s close contacts. Feedback on the results is conducted in a separate session.