Psychological testing is used to precisely narrow the symptoms, disorder(s), and causes associated with a person’s mental health difficulties. This kind of evaluation is often recommended by primary physicians, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, school personnel, and other professionals.
However, many people find that psychological assessment is the most effective, robust way to begin a journey into improving their mental health or their child’s mental health. When you begin with psychological testing, ambiguity and guesswork are bypassed. In essence, you get directly to the heart of the matter and can pursue the most suitable evidence-based treatments for you or your loved one.
The reason other professionals outsource assessments is that specialized methods and instrumentation are used to obtain a level of detail, and therefore specificity of treatment recommendations, that is often unavailable to most clinicians, especially in a typical amount of time spent with a patient. For example, a psychiatrist may choose to hold off on prescribing any psychotropic medications until a patient’s complex symptoms, life circumstances, and background are carefully and specifically examined by a psychological evaluator.
Psychological testing is applicable to disorders as specific as trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling) and as prevalent as adjustment-related depression due to stressful life circumstances like a divorce or the recent delivery of a child.
Once psychological testing has been completed, a debriefing appointment is offered, during which the findings and recommendations are therapeutically communicated. It is not uncommon for your providers (psychotherapists, psychiatrists, neurologists, etc.) to follow up with the psychological testing specialist for consultations, requests for clinical advice, and other types of collaboration.
Psychological testing can sometimes reveal the need for certain resources or treatments, to which your testing specialist can direct you. Dr. Chase is well-connected in the world of neurobehavioral health and can help guide your quest for quality providers.