Collaborative Assessment

Benefits of Assessment:

Assessment involves using validated tests and measures to address a wide range of questions related to the way you think and learn; the way you understand, express and manage your emotions; as well as how you relate to yourself and others. Assessment can be the most thorough and efficient way to understand your strengths, difficulties, and how you typically cope with challenges. With this knowledge in hand, we can start to explore new ways of making positive and meaningful changes in your life.

For example, assessment can help you:

  • Understand why you struggle with school or at work so you can take the necessary steps to succeed.

  • Clarify your diagnosis (e.g., ADHD, autism, learning disability, depression, PTSD, bipolar, etc), personality traits or interpersonal and attachment patterns in order to pursue appropriate interventions.

  • Understand why you struggle in relationships so you can begin to connect more meaningfully to others.

  • Identify why therapy has not worked well in the past so you can move forward in your treatment.

My Approach:

I take a collaborative approach to assessment.  Working with me will involve the use of relevant tests to answer your specific questions as well as ongoing feedback and dialogue throughout the assessment process. In this way, the assessment can become a form of brief psychotherapy where you examine your test performance in light of your evolving self-understanding and integrate new insights into a more complete and useful perspective on yourself.

What to Expect:

Depending on your goals and questions, an assessment can take between 2-8 sessions.

  • In the first session, which is typically 75-90 minutes, we will discussion your current struggles, develop goals and questions for the assessment and collect relevant background information.

  • We will then spend several sessions testing in 2-3 hour blocks. To answer questions related to cognitive or academic performance, we might use tests to assess your thinking, planning, attention and memory as well as your reading, writing and mathematics skills. To answer questions related to your emotions or relationships, we might use self-report questionnaires, semi-structured diagnostic interviews, and/or projective tests. (I only use reliable and valid tests such as WAIS-IV; WMS-IV; MMPI-3; PAI; NEO PI-R; AAP; CWS; R-PAS.)

  • At the end of the assessment process, we will meet to discuss the test results, the meaning of the findings, as well as appropriate recommendations. We will also discuss how to make use of the test findings and I will prepare a user-friendly written report that will best meet your needs. In some cases, a report can help justify and facilitate academic accommodations or outline and summarize the findings for you or your treatment providers.

  • A follow-up session is offered 8-10 weeks after feedback to go over and integrate any new questions and ideas that may have come up over time. I will continue to be available to answer questions or consult with schools or other providers after the assessment is complete at my usual rate.