Why Choose Assessment?
Psychological assessment is about answering questions. Our clients seek assessment to help determine their diagnosis, assess strengths and weaknesses, and decide the course of treatment most likely to be helpful. Here are some reasons to seek psychological assessment:
You have been in treatment and nothing seems to work. Medications have failed. Therapy does not produce results. Every time you see a new provider, they give a different diagnosis. These are all signs that you need the kind of diagnostic clarity that psychological assessment can provide. With a deep understanding of the issues, recommendations for treatment can be tailored to your specific needs.
You suspect you are neurodivergent and would like an assessment to provide support. Neurodiversity is becoming more well-known, which has the added benefit of individuals realizing later in life that they may be neurodivergent. If you think this is you and you want an assessment to given support or validation for this claim, an Autism and/or ADHD assessment may be right for you. There are no guarantees that the findings will support your hypothesis, but Dr. Chrissy is well-versed in how neurodiverse conditions present in adulthood, particularly individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB).
You have experienced trauma and you or your provider want more information on how those experiences impact the way you are living your life. Trauma-based disorders often replicate symptoms found in other conditions such as ADHD, mood disorders (depression, anxiety, bipolar, etc), and personality disorders (e.g., Borderline Personality Disorder). But how do we know which is which? And when does “PTSD with dissociative features” become a specified dissociative disorder? Not all psychological evaluators are knowledgable on how severe trauma and dissociation manifests or recognize it in comparison to other disorders, which can be crucial in determining appropriate and successful treatment.
You want to know more about your strengths and weaknesses. Whether this is about intellectual and academic abilities or personality and socio-emotional functioning, psychological assessment can give you a snapshot of your skills and provide insight into what drives your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
You have been referred for psychological testing by a doctor, teacher, or other person in your life. If you’ve been referred for assessments there is a reason. Let’s find out what you need together.
You are seeking admission into a Gifted school, program, or organization and need to provide documentation of your IQ. These limited-scope assessments cover just the time necessary to complete the testing and the one-page form of results.
*Psychological assessments are also known as psychological evaluations or psychological testing. These terms are used interchangeably on this site.
Schedule an Appointment
Contact Maria to schedule an initial intake appointment, to discuss your assessment needs, or ask any questions about the process. We are all about transparency here at Mindful Psychology, so feel free to ask as many questions as necessary before moving forward.
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Insurance
Unfortunately, insurance typically does not cover psychological evaluations. However, Dr. Chrissy is in-network with Aetna and would be happy to fill out documentation for pre-authorization to determine if your insurance will cover any or all of the assessment process. Please be aware that if insurance decides not to cover the testing, even if they originally said they would, the balance due is the responsibility of the client.
** Service fees are an estimate based on assumed amount of hours.
Types of Assessment
Autism ($4000)
Autism assessments focus on this specific diagnosis and ruling out other potential sources for the symptoms presented. These assessments may include cognitive and adaptive functioning assessments as well as assessments specifically designed to detect autism. At times, a referral for an autism assessment requires a comprehensive assessment (see below) due to the need for extra assessments of personality or specific ADHD assessments to fully understand symptoms.
What’s involved:
Intake/Clinical interview (1 hour; billed separate at $350)
Parent interview, if necessary (1 hour)
Test taking (3-8 hours)
Score analysis, interpretation, and report writing (4-16 hours; client is not present)
Feedback session (1 hour)
ADHD ($5000)
ADHD testing is sometimes referred to as neuropsychological testing, depending on what types of assessments are used. Components of ADHD assessments include cognitive functioning, executive functioning, socio-emotional functioning, and sometimes, academic performance. Our ADHD evaluations are very comprehensive to ensure that symptoms can be adequately assessed and the roots of behaviors and symptoms are determined. Symptoms of ADHD easily overlap with other conditions, such as trauma-related disorders or mood disorders. As you can imagine, appropriate treatments would vary drastically depending on which condition is accurate. That’s why we always provide thorough evaluations for ADHD. (If full psychological testing is not needed, we can refer to other providers for diagnosis.)
What’s involved:
Intake/Clinical interview (1 hour; billed separate at $350)
Parent Interview (1 hour; even adult clients need an interview from a secondary source)
Test taking (6-15 hours)
Score analysis, interpretation, and report writing (8-30 hours; client is not present)
Feedback session (1 hour)
trauma and dissociation ($4000)
Trauma and dissociation is a specialized area of mental health, both for assessment and therapy. Many professionals do not know what to look for regarding more complex instances of trauma and all forms of dissociation. These types of assessments focus on those experiences and help determine the degree trauma impacts functioning, the presence or absence of dissociation, whether dissociation is best understood as a feature of trauma or whether the threshold crosses into a separate dissociative diagnosis (and which one). The assessment is geared towards understanding depth of experiences and symptoms as well as providing individualized recommendations for treatment and support.
What’s involved:
Intake/Clinical interview (1 hour; billed separate at $350)
Test taking (3-6 hours)
Score analysis, interpretation, and report writing (3-8 hours; client is not present)
Feedback session (1 hour)
Comprehensive ($6000-9000)
Comprehensive evaluations cover all of the above. We will explore cognitive, academic, executive, and socio-emotional (personality) functioning. During the intake, we will discuss together what is actually needed and only provide the measures that will truly enhance the understanding of the presenting problem.
What’s involved:
Intake/Clinical interview (1 hour; billed separate at $350)
Parent Interview, if needed (1 hour)
Test taking (8-15 hours)
Score analysis, interpretation, and report writing (10-30 hours; client is not present)
Feedback session (1 hour)
Iq only ($1000)
Sometimes, all you need is a cognitive test to get your IQ. Whether this is to submit to a gifted school, application for MENSA, or just your own curiosity, sometimes one test is all you need. An IQ Only assessment provides this service with brief intake and no formal report. Instead a table of scores is provided with limited information on a one-page form. This keeps the time and financial commitment lower than a full report or assessment process.
What’s involved:
Consultation - An email or 15-minute phone exchange to make sure parameters of assessment are understood and that IQ Only is the best fit
Abbreviated intake interview with administration of selected IQ Test (3-4 hours)
Scoring and creating form with results (1 hour; client is not present)
Feedback session (15-30 minutes)
Why so expensive?
We know. Looking at the assessments offered and the pricing, they are expensive. That’s why we provide the breakdown of services so you can see how many hours you are expected to participate, as well as all the “behind the scenes” hours that go into writing a thoughtful, comprehensive evaluation that will likely benefit you for years to come.
How much money do you spend on treatment? How much would you spent on incorrect treatment if your providers are treating the wrong diagnosis? By completing a psychological assessment, you could save thousands of dollars and years worth of the wrong medications, therapy, and/or inpatient treatment or rehab. This one-time up-front expense can save you much more in time and money.
Testing we don’t do:
Forensic evaluations
Court evaluations
Custody evaluations
Fitness for Duty