Assessment

Psychological Assessment

Intelligence and achievement testing are necessary for helping families and schools develop a full picture of a student to determine if he or she may need special services or resources (for example, for gifted and talented students or students with learning disabilities). These tests can also be helpful in clarifying whether ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) or other diagnoses most accurately characterize an individual student. For children with behavior problems at home or school, additional testing that involves the participation of parents and teachers (usually by completing behavioral questionnaires about the student) is invaluable in arriving at or refining a diagnosis of ADHD or ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). In my testing, however, I strive to go beyond handing out diagnostic labels to help parents and schools understand with greater depth the needs of a student and the best treatment and educational options available.

Personality testing is extremely important in helping to gain insight about a number of dimensions of functioning, including emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal. It goes beyond diagnostic labels to reveal, with depth and complexity, how and why symptoms operate in a person’s life. Personality testing can help move psychotherapy in the right direction, shed light on difficulties at home, school, and work, and help people feel less confused about and more in control of their most distressing symptoms and behavior.

For families in conflict, the completion of family assessments will help reveal family members’ different perspectives of family functioning, strengths, and weaknesses. These assessments guide treatment by establishing a starting point for understanding the conflicts and by helping individual family members articulate their unique experiences within the family system.