UTILIZING PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
Just as your pediatrician orders blood work and x-rays to supplement medical judgment, I use psychological tests for the same sort of purpose – I use tests to inform my clinical work, including diagnoses, treatment, and recommendations. I also use tests for monitoring patient progress and for program evaluation. I will communicate with you about the tests I am using and explain why I am using them.
Assessment at the onset of the treatment gives me a baseline of the child’s functioning across various systems and settings. The evaluation offers a window into the strengths and vulnerabilities of your child. Family and parent information is gathered in order to better understand your child’s functioning in the context of the family. Following the initial assessment, I offer a brief verbal report that summarizes the child’s emotional, interpersonal, behavioral, and functional strengths and vulnerabilities. With such information, collaboratively we determine the treatment plan. We may include your child in planning goals for treatment.
Every so often, or as regularly as weekly, I will re-administer tests in order to determine progress. This is for the purpose of making small changes in treatment, if needed, and also for evaluating the quality of services I am providing.
Tests tend to include answering multiple choice questions. I will also ask a range of open ended questions to refine my thinking about the issues being presented in the office.
The potential risks inherent in test-taking include mild psychological discomfort and possible fatigue at the end of test administration. The benefits include the possibility of being more accurately understood and receiving more refined treatments and recommendations. Using tests and observation, I regularly assess the following areas of functioning:
Assessment at the onset of the treatment gives me a baseline of the child’s functioning across various systems and settings. The evaluation offers a window into the strengths and vulnerabilities of your child. Family and parent information is gathered in order to better understand your child’s functioning in the context of the family. Following the initial assessment, I offer a brief verbal report that summarizes the child’s emotional, interpersonal, behavioral, and functional strengths and vulnerabilities. With such information, collaboratively we determine the treatment plan. We may include your child in planning goals for treatment.
Every so often, or as regularly as weekly, I will re-administer tests in order to determine progress. This is for the purpose of making small changes in treatment, if needed, and also for evaluating the quality of services I am providing.
Tests tend to include answering multiple choice questions. I will also ask a range of open ended questions to refine my thinking about the issues being presented in the office.
The potential risks inherent in test-taking include mild psychological discomfort and possible fatigue at the end of test administration. The benefits include the possibility of being more accurately understood and receiving more refined treatments and recommendations. Using tests and observation, I regularly assess the following areas of functioning:
- Emotional functioning (e.g., happy, sad, mad, glad, anxious)
- Adaptive functioning (e.g., dressing self, tying shoes)
- Executive functioning (e.g., cognitive flexibility, impulsivity)
- Symptoms (e.g., depression, atypical thoughts and behaviors, post-traumatic reaction, sleep impairment)
- Substance abuse history and behavior, when relevant (when these issues are happening, I tend to refer to substance abuse experts and will also recommend hospitalization, if clinically indicated)
- Safety concerns, suicidal ideation, or suicidal gestures, when relevant (when these issues are happening regularly, I tend to refer to DBT coaches and will also recommend hospitalization, if clinically indicated)