Psychological Evaluation

A psychological evaluation examine's an individual's behavior, personality, and cognitive functioning. This type of evaluation is used to help determine an individual's diagnosis and develop a treatment plan.  The evaluation will include a detailed social history and clinical interview, review of medical records, and a comprehensive battery of tests.

Some of the abilities or skills that will be examined are: Memory (short-term, working, long-term), Processing Speed, Verbal Skills, Nonverbal skills (Reasoning), Auditory Processing, and Executive Functioning.

When assessing memory skills there are three types of memory that may be assessed. Short-term memory is the capacity for holding, but not manipulating a small amount of information in a short period of time. Working memory is the ability to hold and manipulate information for a short period of time. Long-term memory is the storage of information over a long period of time.

Processing Speed assesses one's ability to automatically and fluently perform relatively easy or over-learned tasks. Attention and concentration often impacts one's processing speed.

Verbal skills are one of the few cognitive skills that is impacted by one's education. Verbal skills assess one's mastery of acquired knowledge. 

Nonverbal or reasoning skills assesses one's ability to solve novel problems and interpret or manipulate visual information. Nonverbal tests often have little to no language skills involved.

Auditory Processing assesses one's ability to process and interpret sounds.

Executive Functioning assesses many different processes, such as attentional control, working memory, planning, flexibility, time management, and organization.

Behavioral assessments are used to identify a wide range of behaviors. Depending on the referral concern, the following behaviors may be assessed: anxiety, depression, psychosis, aggression, inattention, hyperactivity, withdrawal, leadership, social skills, adaptive skills, and daily living skills.