What are the benefits of psychodiagnostic assessments? You might wonder if you would consider seeking out a psychodiagnostic assessment. What exactly is it and how would it benefit you? Which mental health professionals are able to properly conduct mental health assessments and provide diagnoses? We will tackle these questions and more in our blog this month. Read on!
Clarifying Diagnosis: The importance of accurate diagnosis in treatment and management
One very important aspect of the psychodiagnostic assessment is that it provides an individual with clarity. People will often be confused as to why they are experiencing certain symptoms and what those symptoms might mean. By meeting with a healthcare professional who is able to assess and diagnose these issues, individuals will often gain clarity around their symptoms and understand them better. This can help with treatment planning in the context of therapy. It can also help people understand how their mental health profile might be impacting them in the context of school, work or relationships.
Your next question might be, who can conduct psychodiagnostic assessments? The act of assessing and conveying a diagnosis is considered to be a “protected act”. This means that government regulation only allows certain professionals to actually convey a proper diagnosis to individuals. This is important because you want to ensure that you are being assessed by an individual who has this training and experience.
Psychologists and physicians are allowed to engage in the act of diagnosis – within their areas of scope and knowledge. Speaking as a psychologist, we have undergone extensive training to ensure that we are properly informed in evidence-based assessment. We have been observed and supervised to conduct psychodiagnostic assessments properly. Psychologists, depending on their training, will be able to administer psychodiagnostic assessments for a variety of presenting mental health issues. At Forward Thinking Psychological Services®, we have associates who have received training and ongoing supervision to ensure that they are selecting evidence-based tools and measures to collect the proper information to ensure the diagnosis provided is accurate and appropriate. This is a critical component of psychodiagnostic assessments.
Following the testing process, individuals are then provided an opportunity to meet with everyone involved in the assessment for what is called a feedback session. During this part of the mental health assessment, the clinician will review the information gathered to ensure that everything was captured correctly. A psychologist will also be present to review the diagnoses that were formulated and provide comprehensive recommendations. This allows the individual to be able to better understand treatment pathways that would be helpful following the assessment.
Tailored Treatment Plans: What Types of Psychodiagnostic Assessments Are Available at FTPS?
There are many types of mental health assessments that might be beneficial for you. At Forward Thinking Psychological Services®, we offer a variety of mental health assessments. We also offer assessments focused on providing insight into whether an individual might meet the criteria as an adult for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Read on to learn about different types of psychodiagnostic assessments that might be beneficial for you!
If you might be looking for some diagnostic clarity and treatment recommendations, a mini psychological assessment might be great for you. At Forward Thinking Psychological Services® (FTPS), we accomplish this type of assessment in often one visit with a clinician. You are then able to receive a very brief report or summary letter during the feedback session. This will provide diagnostic clarity and allow you to better understand possible treatment recommendations.
Some individuals might want more information than that and we would suggest a brief psychological assessment. A person might opt for this type of psychodiagnostic assessment because they might want some type of short report describing some detail about the diagnoses made as well as enhanced treatment recommendations.
For those individuals who might want to know a bit more about their interpersonal functioning and style, a comprehensive psychological assessment can often be highly beneficial. This type of assessment generally requires a few visits to allow for an in-depth mental health assessment. This type of assessment will provide you with comprehensive diagnostic clarification. In addition, you will receive highly beneficial treatment recommendations that will focus on mental health as well as interpersonal functioning. This can greatly help when individuals feel they are having issues within the context of various relational issues in their lives. We then provide a full report during the feedback session.
We also have clinicians at FTPS who conduct psychodiagnostic assessments for adults who believe they might meet the criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Like all our other mental health assessment offerings, these would be conducted by a registered psychologist or a skilled clinician under the supervision of a registered psychologist. These types of assessments are comprehensive in nature and will provide individuals with either a summary letter and/or a full psychodiagnostic assessment report. This is a conversation you can have with your assessment team. We want the process to work best for you and your needs.
A psychodiagnostic assessment focusing on ASD diagnosis consists of a large battery of interviews, self-report measures and obtaining important information from other close friends/loved ones. The measures we choose will survey various areas of functioning, including psychological history and presenting issues, psychosocial development, education and vocational history and functioning, and previous and current interpersonal functioning. It is also essential to assess these areas within a person’s life during an adult ASD assessment:
- Social emotional functioning
- Emotional awareness
- Executive functioning
- Emotion regulation.
Other areas of assessment will also be determined by your assessor and you in an iterative process. We will share the information we have and what else might be helpful in order to fully understand the diagnostic profile.
Finally, clinicians at FTPS also conduct psychodiagnostic assessments for adults who believe they might meet the criteria for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As with all our other assessments, these are conducted by a registered psychologist or a skilled clinician who is under the supervision of a registered psychologist. We use a comprehensive battery of assessment tools for this type of assessment as well. Our batter will look at a variety of different areas of functioning, including psychological history and presenting issues, psychosocial development, education and vocational history and functioning, as well as previous and current interpersonal functioning.
During an adult ADHD assessment, it is also important to assess a variety of areas of executive functioning, personality profile as well as other areas of attentional control and emotion regulation. It is also helpful to be able to obtain previous report cards from one’s academic career as part of the information. Following the collection of all the information you would expect to attend a feedback session and be provided with a fulsome report and/or summary letter that you would be able to use for treatment recommendations as well as other areas of functioning in which this might be beneficial.
What are the Benefits of Undergoing a Psychodiagnostic Assessment?
Undergoing a psychodiagnostic assessment can be a lot of time and expense for individuals. One might then wonder, why would this be beneficial for me? There are many reasons and it is important to review them.
Treatment Planning. It is often very helpful for therapists to fully understand your diagnostic presentation when ensuring the implementation of evidence-based treatment. It is important to work with a clinician who would be able to provide this diagnostic clarity as you will then feel confident that the interventions chosen make sense for you.
Accommodations at work or university. There might be times when someone believes they are experiencing symptoms that are getting in the way of their performance at work. They are adults and may or may not have experienced individuals when they were younger. Therefore, as an adult, it might be helpful to gain clarity as to what is happening that seems to be getting in the way of reaching what you believe to be your potential.
Furthering your understanding of your mental health. Individuals might often feel that “something is wrong with them” or they have difficulty when interacting with others and they are just not sure why. This can be frustrating and lead to impacted romantic relationships and friendships. Undergoing a mental health assessment might be able to shed light on some of these issues and allow you to move into a healthier place with your mental health awareness.
How Can I Go About Receiving a Psychodiagnostic Assessment?
The motivation for conducting any type of psychodiagnostic assessment is multifold. We reviewed these types of psychodiagnostic assessments today as well as some beneficial reasons you might choose to get one! Our team at FTPS would be delighted to work with you to undergo the psychodiagnostic assessment of your choice!
Does FTPS provide psychodiagnostic assessments near me?
We provide virtual assessments in Canada throughout Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and New Brunswick, so please reach out to us if you live anywhere in those regions! We provide all types of mental health assessments for adults and sometimes older adolescents, depending on the nature of the assessment question. We hope to hear from you soon!
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DISCLAIMER: This content is meant for informational and educational purposes only. Only a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist can diagnose a mental health disorder. The content of this website is not meant to be a substitute for therapy. Visiting this website should not be considered to be equivalent to a relationship with FTPS. Mental health concerns should only be discussed in the context of providing professional services after the consent process has been completed with a qualified FTPS associate outside of our website.