A Psychological Assessment Can Determine The Right Treatment For Your Needs
The term "Psychological Assessment" often gets thrown around.
Today, we at KMA are going to demystify what a psychological assessment actually is, and help you determine if it's the right next step for you.
First off, what exactly is a psychologist assessment?
A psychological assessment is a full and sometimes lengthy evaluation which is designed to understand the full extent and root to your problem(s). Often times, a psychological evaluation or assessment will result in a DSM-IV diagnosis. It's important to ask the psychologist if this is something you think is important. Your psychologist may also conduct psychometric tests which are designed to help you understand the severity of your symptoms and issues. This will provide insight into deciding the best course of action, treatment plan, objectives and goals that will fit you the best.
Psychological assessment is similar to psychological testing, however, an assessment is more of a comprehensive evaluation. Psychological testing and evaluation is a series of actions that involves the integration of information from multiple sources, for example:
- Normal and abnormal personality
- Tests of ability or intelligence
- Tests of interests or attitudes
- Personal interviews
Collateral information is also accumulated about personal, occupational or media history through records or from interviews with people that you are close to such as:
- Parents
- Spouses
- Teachers
- Prior Therapists
- Prior Physicians
One of the major benefits of having a psychological assessment, is that can determine the right course of action.
Ie: treatment for your needs because the psychologist will understand the extent to your issue/problem which will help determine the root problem. Another reason why psychological assessment can determine the right treatment for your needs are because the psychologist will get a better understanding of you, through information from people who know you and through evaluations that will be collected after you have done the evaluations.
At KMA Therapy we have several psychologists who conduct Psychological Assessments.
