Assessment​

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Many times, we are asked by others to provide a clearer picture of our challenges as well as our strengths.  A thorough and comprehensive psychological assessment can help in this process.

 

An assessment, among other things, may be helpful to help you and your therapist plan for treatment, help with decisions about possible medication, provide detail and empirically supported recommendations in the workplace or in school, or as a powerful tool of self-discovery that can further the therapy or introspection process.

 

We perform assessments for children, adolescents, and adults in an effort to help coordinate care, request needed services, or find diagnostic clarity in an effort to help your providers to provide the best possible treatment.

 

Assessments are often requested of you or your child by schools, employers, your psychotherapist or psychiatrist, or other entities.  Please call to schedule a consultation to discuss your individual needs as well as what is entailed in an assessment tailored specifically to you.

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Child and Adolescents

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Assessments include a detailed understanding of your child’s cognitive profile and the relationship between cognition and behavior.  We also try to thoroughly understand the social and emotional life of your child.  We believe that the cognition and social-emotional factors are intricately connected and must both be understood to best help understand your child, understand their behavior, and tailor the best suggestions for ways to help your child move forward including suggestions for remediation and accommodation.

 

Children are often evaluated for learning disability, Attention Deficit Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, acting out and addictive behavior (drugs, alcohol, video games, etc.), Traumatic Brain Injury/Post Concussive Syndromes, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and other processing or language disorders. People are complicated and therefore these symptoms and conditions don’t often exist in isolation. A thorough assessment can help identify the intersection of many of these concerns and try to best understand the root causes as well as the consequences of different challenges kids face.

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Adults

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While adults often face the same challenges that kids confront, they may have very different needs. Undiagnosed learning, attention, or social cognition disorders can lead to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and many other consequences. An adult assessment is designed to understand the nature of the struggles you may be facing and to understand if hidden concerns such as undiagnosed conditions might be making it harder to feel better. 

 

Adults are often evaluated for similar conditions that children face such as anxiety, depression, behavioral concerns, adult or undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder or learning disability, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and post-concussive conditions. However, adults often have unique challenges such as different types of stress, possible atypical thinking patterns, substance use, and later, potential concerns about memory. Adults also sometimes face chronic physical health conditions which can impact their cognition.

 

Further, the older we are, the more of an impact undiagnosed issues can have on mood, anxiety, attention, and well-being. A thorough understanding of these conditions can help you at home, in the workforce, or in your work with your therapist or psychiatrist.

 

Our practice has experienced clinicians as well as doctoral-level externs who can work with you to meet your needs. All work is supervised by me, as the lead assessment clinician who has many years of experience and post-doctoral training in neuropsychology, and Dr. Tan who has a strong background in neuropsychology, mindfulness, and health psychology. You are welcome to meet with me to discuss this process more thoroughly.

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