Psychological Assessment
Psychological Assessments are the gathering and use of data to evaluate a person’s behavior, abilities, and other characteristics, particularly for the use of a skilled clinician to formulate a diagnosis and a compatible treatment plan. Psychological assessments use a variety of psychological tools and tests (such as interviews, observations, standardized tests, self-report measures, and other apparatuses) to assess diverse psychiatric problems as well as non-psychiatric concerns in clinical, educational, organizational, forensic, and other settings. From this data, a clinician can learn general to specific facts about the person and make an inference to their current function and predicted future behavior.
Adult Psychological Assessments
Psychological assessments gather information to evaluate a specific patient’s behavior, however, there isn’t a one-sex-fits-all evaluation. Our team of clinicians will tailor your assessment to you and your needs. Our goal is to use the data from these assessments to formulate a diagnosis and work with you (the patient) to create a treatment plan in order to best improve your day-to-day life. Furthermore, we hope to provide the patient with new insight about their unproductive and destructive patterns of behavior. Enabling the patient with greater awareness about their unconscious habits, stressors, and problems allows the clinician and the patient to work together to build tools to respond to different situations with.
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- ADD/ADHD
- Anxiety
- Academic Achievement
- Learning Disorders
- Depression
- Forensic Evaluation
- Neurocognitive Assessment
- OCD & other compulsive thoughts or rituals
- Separation Anxiety and Fearfulness
- Sleepiness and Nightmares
- Night terrors or sleepwalking
- Excessive sadness
- History of neglect or abuse (emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse)
- Extreme aggression
- Emotional Disturbances
- Oppositional Defiant Behaviors or Disorders
- Disturbances in conduct
- Excessive shyness and separation problems
- Eating disorders
ADHD & other Medical Conditions
Overlapping Symptoms and Complex Relationship: Exploring PTSD and ADHD
PTSD and ADHD are two distinct mental health disorders with overlapping symptoms. PTSD is a response to a traumatic event, causing prolonged anxiety and requiring professional treatment. ADHD is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity, and difficulty paying attention. While both disorders share symptoms such as impulsivity, difficulty concentrating, and irritability, ADHD includes unique symptoms like organizational difficulties and excessive talking.
Diagnosis for PTSD involves traumatic event exposure and specific symptom criteria, while ADHD diagnosis requires the presence of specific symptoms for an extended period. Comorbidity is common, with individuals experiencing trauma more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. The causes of these disorders involve various factors, including genetics, trauma, and brain differences.
The relationship between PTSD and ADHD is complex and bidirectional, with ADHD potentially increasing the risk of PTSD and vice versa. Treatment approaches differ, with ADHD often treated with stimulant medication and behavioral therapy, while PTSD benefits from psychotherapy and medication. Treating one disorder may help improve symptoms of the other. Further research is needed to enhance understanding and improve treatment outcomes for individuals with comorbid PTSD and ADHD.
Psychoeducational Asessments
In the context of a psychological assessment, an educational evaluation is a comprehensive process that aims to assess an individual’s cognitive abilities, academic performance, and learning style. It involves gathering relevant information from multiple sources, such as interviews, standardized tests, observations, and academic records. The evaluation seeks to identify strengths and weaknesses in the individual’s learning abilities, as well as any potential learning disabilities or challenges they may face.
The assessment may include measures of intelligence, academic achievement, attention and concentration, memory, and information processing skills. Additionally, the evaluation may involve exploring the individual’s social-emotional functioning, behavioral concerns, and their overall educational needs. The findings from an educational evaluation provide valuable insights for educators, parents, and clinicians to develop targeted interventions, accommodations, and support strategies to optimize the individual’s learning experience and academic success.
Adult ADHD/ADD
While ADHD is typically associated with overstimulated young boys, the diagnosis of ADHD has spiked in adult women, shedding light on the issue of sidelining the proper diagnosis of young women with this condition. Many characteristic symptoms are present from an early age, from disorganization of action and thought (associated with words like “lazy,” “difficult,” “airhead,” “anxious,” etc.) as well as impulsive behavior. Early diagnosis is vital for women to be able to build proper strategies to combat the effects of ADHD from an early age and integrate them properly in their daily routines. An early diagnosis can also provide the young women with a degree of relief and comfort that what they are experiencing isn’t a fault of their character but rather a condition that occurs and in which they are not alone. While a late diagnosis can provide a similar degree of comfort, it comes at the cost of years of dealing with ADHD symptoms which they’ve expressed all along and without the proper knowledge on how to tackle them.
The isolation brought about by the pandemic has resulted in many ADHD symptoms worsening as those affected are stuck within the confines of their own home. However, now like never before the ADHD community has grown and awareness has spread. From social media platforms with the tag #adhd, many can find others broadcasting their own ADHD experiences to the world which can be a vehicle for others to seek treatment if they share many similarities with those experiences.
This growing group of adult women being diagnosed with ADHD have experienced the symptoms of this neurological disorder their whole lives as this condition manifests in early childhood, affecting the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. ADHD brains, notably, experience low levels of norepinephrine and dopamine. ADHD also comes in three main forms: hyperactivity-impulsivity, inattentive, and a combination of both. Notably, women are most likely to be diagnosed with inattentive ADHD, however, while starting off as less severe than in males it becomes more pervasive and obvious with age studies have shown. Furthermore, ADHD has a high degree of heritability. Women are socially conditioned to be polite and pleasing therefore many with undiagnosed ADHD develop coping mechanisms which can present themselves as depression or anxiety. Hormones can also impact the effects of ADHD in women a lot differently than in men, with studies showing that perimenopause and low estrogen can increase struggle with focus and memory. Furthermore, mood changes that can be caused by ADHD have been easily mislabeled as symptoms of puberty and menstruation.
As awareness of ADHD symptoms spreads and access to therapy improves, it would be exciting to see this trend of late ADHD diagnosis for women to shift. An earlier diagnosis can lead to the proper building and integration of vital strategies in order to alleviate ADHD symptoms and to lead a healthy and more fulfilling life.
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Unlike women who are statistically likely to be diagnosed with ADD/ADHD as adults, men are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age due to how clearly the symptoms present themselves. As young boys, ADD/ADHD presents itself more clearly with a combination of persistent problems including impulsive behavior, hyperactivity and difficulties paying attention. As adults, ADD and ADHD in men can present itself in unstable relationships, poor work or school performance, low self-esteem, amongst other things. Many adults with ADD/ADHD aren’t aware they have it but rather find everyday tasks challenging. They might find it difficult to focus on tasks or prioritize activities, meetings or social plans – effecting both their work life and their social life.
Unlike for women, men with symptoms of adult ADD/ADHD are not as easily recognized or diagnosed. While this tendency for early diagnosis gives men with childhood ADD/ADHD more time to find the best treatment (medication, psychotherapy, psychological counseling or a mixture of multiple strategies), similar solutions are available and beneficial for adult men who are late diagnosed.
Child & Adolescent
Psychological Assessments
A child & adolescent psychological assessment uses psychological tools and techniques to gain insights into a child or adolescent’s social, behavioral, and personality developments. This insight then allows our clinicians to tailor recommendations to play a child’s educational and mental health needs.
Our clinicians begin this intricate process by working to build a strong, trusting relationship with both the patient and their family. In child and adolescent psychological assessments this strong partnership and trust between all parties is essential. With children, play therapy is a vital tool used for the clinician to learn more about non-verbal signals of the child in a non-threatening setting.
Adolescents, on the other hand, require more patient/clinician time, although parents are still an immense and important source of information. Our clinicians aim to work as a team to help both child & adolescent patients struggling with various problems and craft a narrative that accurately describes the complexity of their inner struggle and create instruments to help alleviate the problem.
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Separation Anxiety and Fearfulness
- Sleepiness and Nightmares
- Night terrors or sleepwalking
- Excessive sadness or depression
- History of neglect or abuse (emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse)
- Extreme aggression
- Oppositional Defiant Behaviors or Disorders
- Disturbances in conduct
- Excessive sibling rivalry
- School Readiness
- Aggressive behaviors at school
- Compulsive thinking or rituals
- Inattentiveness and disinterest in learning
- Educational issues
- Excessive shyness and separation problems
- Social development and preparedness for school
- Eating disorders
- Emotional disturbance