Comprehensive evaluations are a great way to learn more about your social, emotional, personality, cognitive, and/or learning needs without having to complete several different evaluations over the course of many months or years.
At Blossoming Minds Psychological Services PC, we offer comprehensive evaluations for individuals throughout their lifespan. We see children as young as three years old and have no age limit in adulthood.
There are two options for children and adolescents. One type includes academic and achievement testing – this is the best fit for individuals who may still be attending school or plan to return to school and need to know more about their learning style to improve study habits or to consider any possible learning disabilities. The second type of comprehensive evaluation does not include formal academic testing if there are no learning concerns or challenges identified. All child and adolescent comprehensive evaluations include testing focused on understanding a child’s intelligence, strengths, weaknesses, budding personality style, social style, and communication abilities outside of an academic context.
For adults, comprehensive evaluations seek to answer questions including but not limited to: why is it difficult to focus or be productive in the workplace? Why is it hard to connect with peers or to form relationships? Are diagnoses such as depression, anxiety, autism, ADHD, trauma, or other mental health conditions able to explain my symptoms and challenges? What are my unique personality traits? What are my cognitive, social-emotional, and/or personality strengths? What may be the best type of career path based on your unique needs and abilities? How do I better understand how my brain works?
Testing for a comprehensive evaluation can take about 4 to 6 hours for adults and 4 to 8 hours for children and adolescents. There is no difference in pricing for individuals who test quickly versus those who need more time; we believe that each brain is unique and different, which means that what may take one person an hour could take another person several hours.
The amount of time depends on the types of questions you are asking. Questions that are diagnosis focused tend to have shorter testing times than questions that are more broad or exploratory. Another factor in the testing time frame is the amount of effort, focus, and detail each individual puts into the process. Individuals who tend to feel anxious may take longer than individuals who are calm during testing; your assessor will allow for breaks as needed, encourage hydration and snacking as needed, and give you the opportunity to practice coping skills to manage any feelings that arise during the process.
Sometimes in testing sessions, practicing deep breathing, doing ground activities (such as progressive muscle relaxation), and doing a quick outdoor walk can help individuals to refocus and make better decisions.
In general, the assessment process starts with an intake interview where we will talk more about your childhood, school years, work years (if at that age), friendships, relationships, and general life experiences to learn more about what makes you who you are. Then, we will schedule a handful of testing appointments to allow you to complete tests that identify how your brain works and the factors that impact your day-to-day life. After the first testing appointment, your assessor will be able to give you a better time estimate for how many more visits will be needed.
Each testing appointment is usually between 1 to 2 hours, and the assessor is with you the entire time to answer any questions you may have. The first testing appointment is usually very interactive, with the assessor directly asking you standardized questions and guiding you through a series of tasks.
Additional testing appointments typically include self-report questionnaires to understand your perspective on any challenges or traits you may have, as well as executive functioning and neuropsychological measures to ensure that any symptoms that have similar features (such as the ways that diagnoses like anxiety, ADHD, depression, trauma, etc. overlap) are captured, considered, and explained if present.
After all testing is completed, it takes approximately two weeks for your assessor to write a formal report explaining all of the findings. This report is then reviewed with you to answer any questions you may have and to provide guidance about next steps. There is also a post-evaluation follow-up meeting that occurs about a month after your report is reviewed with you just in case you have any additional questions or want to share any feedback about your testing experience!
The goal in providing an comprehensive evaluation is to help you understand yourself better and to give structured, focused feedback on how to integrate any findings into your identity and future treatment plan.
Many of our clients tend to want to start individual therapy after their assessment, and this is always something that can be talked about once the testing process has ended. Integrating test findings into therapy is a fantastic way to feel better understood. Having a fully comprehensive evaluation done before starting treatment also allows the core parts of your life to be summarized in report form to any professionals you choose to work with going forward.
At Blossoming Minds Psychological Services PC, we strive to provide neuroaffirmative, validating evaluations that help individuals to feel seen, heard, respected, and believed.
