Assessment

Like with therapy, the assessment process begins with an intake session. Here, the client will share their question, what they hope to learn about themselves through the assessment process. A client might be curious about a diagnosis or simply want to better understand the way they think, feel, and act. It is not uncommon for a client to be referred for psychological assessment by another provider, particularly if there is a question around a diagnosis. The intake also allows for the clinician to gather relevant childhood, family, medical, and psychiatric histories that might be relevant to the assessment question.

From the intake session, the clinician will select assessments to conduct with the client. Assessments refer to cognitive tasks, interviews, and questionnaires (self-report and from others). Usually, a clinician will schedule between 2-5 sessions to complete the assessments. The clinician will then synthesize the results of the assessments with the initial information collected in the intake appointment to answer the initial question. The results of the assessments are integrated into a report and presented in a feedback session. The feedback session is the final appointment of the assessment process, providing a space for the clinician to walk through all the results and client to ask any questions. The client is provided with a copy of the report, which can be shared with the client’s providers. In the case of accommodations, the clinician can also provide necessary documentation to a school or employer.