Diagnostic Testing & Assessment

What is a Psychological Assessment?

A psychological assessment is a type of examination by a psychologist, aimed at clarifying the following:

• mental health functioning
• mental health diagnosis (like depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, for example)
• prognosis (is the condition likely to improve?)
• treatment recommendations
• conclusions regarding ability to return to school or work

What’s involved?

A psychological assessment typically involes a 1.5 to 2 hour interview with the client as well as possible follow up interview with someone who knows the client well.

Testing involves self-report questionnaires that ask about personality characteristics, symptoms (such as mood changes, memory issues, relational difficulties, and pain for example), and functioning.

Following completion of the assessment, a report is prepared that contains information about the presenting problem(s), the results of the assessment, diagnoses, prognosis, and treatment recommendations.

Clients are often invited to a 1-hour feedback session with the clinician to review the report, to talk about the conclusions, and to discuss any treatment planning.

Our Psychoeducational Assessments

At Brookside Psychologists, our licensed psychologists provide diagnostic testing for individuals from four years of age through adulthood. An assessment can address the following issues:

• Behavioral issues
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD)
• Emotional issues (depression, anxiety, etc.)
• Learning disabilities
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Giftedness
• Recommendations for your child’s school board for identification and academic placement

Each child is different, and evaluations are tailored to the specific referral question.

What is a Psychovocational Assessment?

What is a Neuropsychological Assessment?

The purpose of a neuropsychological assessment is to determine the presence and severity of any cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioural  difficulties associated with possible brain damage (from things like a traumatic brain injury or stroke), brain disease (like a brain tumor, Alzheimer’s disease, or other forms of dementia, for example), severe mental illness (like chronic severe depression or psychosis), or developmental condition (such as autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD), or learning disability).

What is Involved in a Neuropsychological Assessment?

Neuropsychological assessments involve testing of cognition (for example, memory, attention, language, problem solving), emotional functioning (through self-report questionnaires asking about mood, relationships, etc.), and behaviour.

A neuropsychological assessment can involve one to three days of testing (with breaks of course!). During the first meeting, a clinical interview is conducted (about one to two hours in duration). The client is asked to complete some self-report questionnaires asking about symptoms, personality, and functioning. For the majority of the assessment, time is spent completing all sorts of cognitive tests. Most of these tests are done with an examiner sitting across the table from the examinee. Some of the tests are done on A computer.

Because the assessment can be lengthy, some people prefer to break the assessment up across a few days. Others prefer to complete it in one or two days.

Please let us know if there is anything you need to make your assessment more manageable or comfortable. We are happy to accommodate as best we can!

What is a Medical-Legal Assessment?

Medical-legal psychological and neuropsychological assessments are provided for use as evidence in litigation; for example, in relation to compensation for work-related stress or after a traumatic event such as an accident. The psychological assessment may be requested in order to establish a link between the trauma and the victim’s psychological condition, or to determine the extent of psychological harm. Medical-legal assessments address issues such as:

• Reasonableness of treatment and rehabilitation
• Determination of catastrophic impairment
• Tort issues such as permanent and serious impairment
• Ability to work
• Loss of economic advantage, pain and suffering, or loss of quality of life