What Is A Psychological Evaluation? Psychological evaluation is the term used to define a process of testing an individual with respect to their personality, behavior and ability to draw a conclusion by making use of a sequence of techniques. This kind of evaluation is ideally requested to understand a problem of a particular person and what he/she might be going through. It also allows you to gather information about the current emotional psychological state, emotional well-being, or intellectual and academic functioning of the individual. A psychological evaluation helps highlight personal strengths and/or academic challenges, aide employment applications, clarify diagnoses to assist treatment and offer information about someone’s behavioral and social functioning. The assessment is geared towards individual and social needs. Why do you need a psychological evaluation? Testing someone’s psychology can be for various reasons. Some people use it to help find special accommodations at work or school, while others use it to learn more about themselves and use it as a unique approach in dealing with the outside world. The reasons of the assessment can be: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
School accommodations Mental health diagnoses Workplace applications Treatment planning Behavior prediction Assessing cognitive functioning Occupational aptitude Assessing intellectual functioning ADHD evaluation Egg donor evaluation Personality assessment Learning disabilities
What to expect during a psychological evaluation? If you or any of your family members have been referred for psychological evaluation, you probably are wondering what to expect from this evaluation. Psychological evaluation might sound intimidating but it has been carefully designed to assist you. A health care provider orders a blood test or X-ray to evaluate the symptoms, and the results produced help design a treatment plan.
Psychological evaluation serves the same purpose. Psychologists make use of assessment tools and related tests to observe and understand client’s behaviors to guide treatment and diagnosis. The assessment is ideal for children experiencing trouble in school, and may undergo testing for learning disabilities or take an aptitude test. Evaluation for skills like reaction time, memory and dexterity can assist a neuropsychologist in diagnosing conditions such as dementia or brain injuries. If a person is having trouble adjusting in school or at work, or even in personal relationships, psychological evaluation can help in understanding whether he/she has interpersonal skills or anger management issues. This kind of evaluation is ideal for people experiencing emotional disorders resembling depression and anxiety. The underlying cause of certain emotional disturbances isn’t always visible. For example, why is someone not able to focus at work or in school? Is your child reading backwards, indicating dyslexia? Do they have a problem like ADHD or impulse control? Assessment and psychological evaluations allow a practitioner to understand the nature of the problem in detail and figure out the best possible way to deal with it. When is psychological evaluation mandatory? ● ● ● ● ● ●
For children taken into custody Alcohol and drug evaluation Periodic updates for children in foster care Evaluation fitness for parenting Domestic violence and anger assessment Psychosexual evaluation
What makes an ideal psychological evaluation? ● Validity needs to be addressed properly ● Testing includes academic screening, IQ screening, visual-motor functionality, behavioral-emotional-personality functioning (both projective and objective) ● No set standards ● Includes interviewing (with collateral and client), behavioral observation, record reviewing, and understanding standard psychology The results of psychological evaluation vary from test to test, however the results can help someone grow at personal and social levels. Testing involves a formal test including checklists and questionnaires deemed “norm-referenced test.” The
psychological evaluation may have numerous components such as a medical or school records, interview information, informal tests, observational data or medical evaluations. The psychologist will then determine the results to indicate a person’s limitations and strengths.
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