Evaluations
A personalized battery of assessment measures is created for each patient based on the referral question(s). Common reasons for assessment could include the following scenarios:
- A child may be having behavioral, social, emotional or academic difficulties and an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan is needed.
- A patient and their physician have questions about intellectual or emotional functioning.
- A patient needs a surgery that requires evaluation either for the physician to perform the surgery or for insurance to cover it.
Types Of Assessments Offered
Psychological Evaluations:
The purpose of a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a person’s ability to think, behave, or regulate emotion functionally or constructively. A Psychological Evaluation is divided into two primary procedures: The clinical interview is a core component of any psychological evaluation. The clinical interview is an opportunity for the psychologist to gather important background and family data about the person. Think of it as an information-gathering session for the psychologist’s benefit (but ultimately for your benefit). Before any formal psychological testing is done, a clinical interview is nearly always conducted (even if the person has already gone through one with a different professional). Psychologists conducting the testing will often want to form their own clinical impressions, which can be best done through a direct interview with the person. After the clinical interview an appointment is scheduled for the psychologist to administer standardized psychological tests that assess Intellectual/Cognitive Functioning, Personality Assessment and Behavioral Assessment. In addition to these primary types of psychological tests, other tests are available for assessment of specific areas, such as academic aptitude or achievement in school, pre-employment screening for public safety or law enforcement agencies and pre-surgical screening for Spinal Cord Stimulator and Bariatric procedures.
Neuropsychological Evaluations:
A Neuropsychological Evaluation follows the same procedures outlined above for a Psychological Evaluation (Clinical Interview, administration of standardized psychological tests), but additional neuropsychological tests are administered that measure brain functioning. This type of evaluation is completed on persons with a history of neurologic or medical disorders known to impact cognitive or neurobehavioral functioning. The evaluation includes a history of medical or neurological disorders compromising cognitive or behavioral functioning; congenital, genetic, or metabolic disorders known to be associated with impairments in cognitive or brain development; reported impairments in cognitive functioning; and evaluations of cognitive function as a part of the standard of care for treatment selection and diagnostic clarification.
Forensic Psychological or Neuropsychological Evaluations:
A Forensic Psychological or Neuropsychological Evaluation is a psychological or neuropsychological assessment of persons who are involved, in one way or another, with the legal system. These types of evaluations are available for threat assessment for schools or work; psychosexual evaluations for adolescents and adults, pre and post sentencing; child custody or parental fitness evaluations; competency evaluations of criminal defendants to stand trial or enter into a plea agreement; competency or guardianship evaluations for the elderly or those suffering from a brain related dysfunction or psychiatric illness; fitness for duty evaluations; disability evaluations; and personal injury litigation.
Other Assessments
If you’re looking for something that we haven’t listed, call us and ask how we can help. As mentioned above, each assessment battery is custom tailored to answer referral questions. We may be able to create a something to meet your needs.
