Conditions

Psychological Testing and Evaluations

Psychological Testing

The use of psychological tests are often seen in a therapeutic or diagnostic setting. Through extensive research, a multitude of psychological assessment scales have been developed to objectively and precisely measure various aspects of psychological functioning and personality characteristics. Your psychologist or therapist may request that you participate in psychological testing in order to help him/her better understand your situation or to answer a diagnostic question. Psychological testing is only performed by psychologists who are trained in the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the testing. Testing can be used to assess areas such as intelligence, memory, personality traits, motivational problems, neuropsychological problems, or relationship conflicts.

ADHD Assessments

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common disorder among children, adolescents, and adults. We often hear about it in the school setting; however, many adults are finding that they struggle with staying focused or concentrating in areas such as work. An ADHD assessment can help in identifying common symptoms and traits of the disorder, while also ruling out other potential diagnoses, such as depression or anxiety, as the root cause.

Psychological Evaluations

Psychological Evaluations assess whether an individual appears to have psychological problems. In particular, psychologists assess whether the individual has the symptoms of any specific psychological diagnoses. An evaluation may also describe or explain general psychological adjustment problems being presented by an individual, in an effort to understand the individual’s behavior. Identifying specific problems is a necessary stop in the development of a treatment plan. The evaluation determines what time of treatment is most likely to be beneficial. Diagnostic evaluations can be informal assessments made during the initial interview with a client at the beginning of psychotherapy, and may include one or two psychological tests. A comprehensive psychological evaluation may take several hours, or even several days, depending on the problems being assessed, and the reason for the assessment. Comprehensive evaluations often include several psychological testing instruments.