Psychological Evaluation
Why Choose Us?
With nearly two decades of experience, Leonard Educational Evaluations has earned a reputable standing in the community for our expertise, trustworthiness, and genuine concern for our clients. We are dedicated to addressing your concerns, pinpointing problems, and delivering personalized recommendations, interventions, and treatment options!
General Reasons for a Psychological Evaluation
The purpose of psychological evaluations is to pinpoint what is happening in someone's life that may be inhibiting their ability to perform, think, behave, feel, or achieve in more appropriate or constructive way either at home, school, or the work place. There are many types of psychological evaluations that are used for personal insight, performance in school or college, or for workplace performance. The psychologist will administer and interpret the results and be able to determine what, if any, diagnoses, disorder, or disabilities you may or may not have; as well as indicate your relative strengths and weaknesses. This information is used to provide recommendations, interventions, and treatment options for the client.
Our Psychological Evaluation is completed by highly skilled clinically psychologists, educational psychologists, licensed psychologists, and/or certified school psychologists. Our comprehensive evaluations will address the reason for referral and identify what, if any, issues are creating obstacles and determine the best remediation and interventions to address it in school, at home, and in the community.
If you or a family member have been referred or considering a psychological evaluation, please read some of the information below. It may help guide you in the best direction. Psychological evaluations are designed to help you. Think of it as going to your primary physician/doctor when you are not feeling well. You tell the doctor how you are not feeling well. They may do some formal or informal testing (take your temperature, ask you some questions, take a blood test, etc.), and then determine what your diagnosis is (e.g. flu) and then provide treatment (e.g. cough medicine). A psychological evaluation is very similar in that they are addressing cognitive, academic, social, emotional, behavioral, adaptive, personality, and mental health issues that creating road blocks for you in your life.
A psychological evaluation helps determine what the underlying issue is for the client and how best to resolve it. For example, if a student is struggling in math class. Is it due to a learning disability in math or dyscalculia? Perhaps it could be ADD - ADHD or Executive Functioning weaknesses; or there could be environmental conditions with family, friends, or colleagues that are causing significant stress and having an impact on memory? Psychological tests and assessments allow a psychologist to understand the nature of the problem, and to figure out the best way to go about addressing it.
Specific Reasons for a Psychological Evaluation
- School Difficulty
- Work Problems
- Relationship Issues
- Emotional Difficulty
- Behavior Problems
- Diagnosis or Disability Determination
- Mental Health Concern
- Educational Disability
- Learning Disability
- IEP / 504 Plan
- Special Education
- Gifted Education
- Private School Admissions
- Accommodations in Classroom and on State and Standardized Tests (e.g. SAT / ACT)
- Dyslexia
- Academic and Educational Testing
- ADHD / ADD
- Autism
- Executive Functioning
- Auditory Processing
- Cognitive - Intelligence
- Memory and Processing Speed
- Verbal / Nonverbal Intelligence
- Vocational / Career
- Transition Planning
- Auditory Processing
Potential Benefits from a Psychological Evaluation
- Reveal or provide clarification on disorder/diagnosis contributing to current symptoms
- Gain Access to special education or gifted education services
- Receive an IEP
- Receive a 504 Plan
- Customized accommodations, modifications, and instructional interventions
- Personalized IEP goals/objectives to address your child's weaknesses in school
- Receive related services, such as speech/language, occupational, & physical therapy
- Gain access to accommodations at work
- Accommodations in College Courses and Exams
- Accommodations on Standardized Test (SAT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT, ACT, Bar Exam, etc.)
- Accommodations on State Test, Certification Test, Licensure Test
- Reveal what motivates you
- Determine career / degree best suited for you
- Find out how to learn better and use coping strategies at work or college
What steps are involved in a Psychological Evaluation?
- Schedule an appointment: We know how important it is to find someone that can be trusted, highly skilled, and compassionate to address your questions and concerns in a helpful way. We won't let you down. Simply call or email us, and we will be here to assist you in the best way possible!
- A review of the presenting problem(s): Let us know why you want an evaluation, what questions you would like to have answered, symptoms you are having, and how it is affecting you in you daily life. If you are not sure, we'll guide you through an easy process that will get to the root of the issue which will help us create a strong foundation so we know what are the best assessments to use in your situation.
- A psychological interview: We'll go into more detail about your concerns, symptoms, and other important information that was brought up during the review of records and social history. We will review any previous records and conduct a social history about your background that can provide important information (personal/childhood history, family history, relationships, substance use, medical conditions, developmental issues, education, and recent experiences that brought you here, etc.).
- Observation (depending on age of client and reason for referral): Observations during testing session (for adults) or at school (for children).
- Psychological testing related to the concerns and symptoms: You'll be administered various tests that are a minimum of at least one hour or longer depending on several factors. However, prepare to spend hours during a testing session depending on your reason for referral.
- A psychological report/summary is written and reviewed with you: You'll receive a psychological report with the social history, interview, observation, and results of the psychological testing.
- Recommendations, interventions, and treatment options are discussed: The report will also have recommendations related to your reason for referral and guide you in the most appropriate way to assist you.
Psychological Tests and Assessments
- Neuropsychological/Neurodevelopmental Tests
- Intelligence - Cognitive Tests / I.Q. Tests
- Achievement - Educational Tests (Reading, Writing, Math, etc.)
- Social, Emotional, Behavioral, & Adaptive Tests / Mental Health
- Personality & Motivation Tests
- Visual-Motor Integration Tests
- Speech/Language Tests
- Fine-Gross Motor Tests
- Inventories (some not all)
- Checklists
- Surveys
- Open-ended questions
What to Expect in a Psychological Evaluation
The psychologist will try to collect as much pertinent information possible through various techniques (e.g. review of records, interviews, observations, testing and assessments) and then help paint a picture of how and possibly why you are struggling and how best to remediate it. You can not study or prepare for psychological evaluations. The best way is to just be yourself, try your best, and be open and honest. The information you receive can help you in ways never imagined!
How to Interpret Psychological-Educational Test Scores
It's important that client's do not interpret test scores by themselves because it can be easily misinterpreted on many levels. Therefore, it is very important that you contact your doctor or specialist who completed the evaluation for appropriate interpretation in your specific case. However, from a mathematical and statistical point of view, we hope this general information can provide some assistance.