Psychological Assessment
        Assessment vs. Diagnosis
        There is a difference between diagnosis and assessment: assessment is a much broader idea, and pertains to answering questions about any type of functioning in specific settings. One example might be job assessment, which seeks to determine who would be best fitted for which job. Diagnosis is concerned with identifying a fairly specific "disorder," or as people say, a "mental illness."  Currently, diagnosis has come to mean behavior disorders, which are not truly diseases in the sense of an infectious process. Diagnosis is useful when much is known of the likely course of a disease or disorder.  Psychological assessment is less concerned with making a specific diagnosis of mental illness (or labeling a behavior disorder) than it is with describing capabilities a person has. What resources can they muster? What are the implications for continued social adjustment? Certainly not everything that can be diagnosed or assessed can be successfully treated, in the sense of making it go away. But knowing what one is dealing with allows for better planning and exercise of personal control in one's life.
        What do tests tell?
        Perhaps the most familiar form of assessment is intelligence testing: here too the idea is not so much coming up with an IQ number, but rather what are the person's strengths and weaknesses. Can this person succeed in this or that setting? Are their life goals consistent with their intellectual abilities? These are functional questions --what will work for this person. 

         Sometimes the questions to be answered by assessment are even more profound: In the case of neuropsychological evaluations the focus is on the extent of possible neurological impairment. After an accident involving head injury there are questions about likely future functioning; the answers will be necessary for planning a future. Neuropsychological assessment is largely a specialized area of psychology and it is often possible to provide physicians and family with useful information for purposes of planning. 

        Sometimes an outside person or agency will request some form of psychological assessment. Usually the person to be assessed is not the one to initiate the contact. In these cases, the psychologist is "working for" the person or agency making the request, even though the client may be responsible for the fee. An attorney may wish to have a client evaluated for psychological functioning. Parents may wish to learn whether mom or dad has suffered significant cognitive loss after a stroke, or whether their suspicions about subtle changes in behavior are founded. 

        There are many subspecialties of psychological assessment, all of which are designed to answer practical questions for treatment and or planning. Do methods of psychological assessment always answer all questions? Are the results of such evaluations infallible? Certainly not. But the specific tests have to be interpreted by a professional, and it is the quality of this interpreted information that counts. Two people with the same numerical IQ may be as different as day and night! Knowing what makes for the difference in a specific instance is the work of the professional. The magic is not in the test itself: it is in the knowledge of what the test results mean for a specific person. Assessment is one of the features that distinguish psychologists from other mental health service providers. 

        Can assessment predict future behavior?

        Human behavior is far more complex than that of a housefly, and yet I know of no one who can predict what a house fly will do next! The kinds of life and death things we want to know about the future likelihood of someone's  dangerous behaviors are the most difficult to predict. Psychological evaluations, based on formal assessment, include an interpretation of the results by a professional psychologist. Nonetheless, no test is a crystal ball, and sometimes we can only make intelligent guesses based on experience and research. Tests are only useful as tools to help plan for courses of actions. One course of action could be further testing (as in the case of brain imaging when some neurological problem is uncovered). The best prediction of future behavior is past behavior. If someone has a history of violence, and we have no other information, the chances are very good that they will continue in the path.

        Assessment Services I Provide

        I have already discussed a number of different assessment strategies: intelligence and cognitive functioning, neuropyschological evaluations for impairment, and evaluations of the elderly. Not mentioned before are various personality assessments. These include psychodiagnostic evaluations as well as evaluations for therapy. I view people as they function in their broader life settings, not just as a collection of problems. Consequently it is sometimes important to know when various occupational interest and aptitude assessments are in order. The only restriction I impose is that I do not work with children. My practice is limited to adults or adolescents aged 16 or older. 

        I have included links to major informational sites that thoroughly describe mental disorders and health related issues. I have included a site that discusses basic concepts in psychological assessment, one that you may find very informative.

        Important Links: 
         

           Specific Mental Disorders
            Health Categories
        Mental Illness in America
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