Drew Summerer, PsyD
Licensed Psychologist
Psychological Assessment
Psychological Assessment
What is Psychological Assessment?
Oftentimes it can be difficult to have a clear sense of an underlying diagnosis or understand what is leading to challenges in places like work, school, relationships, or your overall emotional wellbeing. Psychological assessment involves both gathering information about your history and symptoms and using testing instruments to illuminate psychological processes underlying symptoms or a diagnosis. Psychological assessment can aid in determining or clarifying a formal diagnosis, treatment planning, developing realistic strategies to support areas of distress, and provide answers and insights into your own unique person.
Comprehensive psychological assessment utilizes robust and evidenced-based instruments that target multiple facets of psychological functioning such as, intellectual and cognitive abilities, executive functioning, learning, memory, adaptive abilities, and personality/emotional functioning to bring nuanced insights into symptoms and their diagnostic origins.
My Approach to Psychological Assessment
Assessment can feel cold, detached, and unhelpful when it does not address the questions patients have about themselves nor offer down-to-earth and understandable explanations about their psychological landscape. I aim to include my patients’ questions, insights, and curiosities about themselves into the assessment process. I often find it helpful to hear about the ways my patients have come to understand themselves. A formalized assessment can add further evidence to this insight and/or offer novel ways to hone your self understanding.
At the onset of the assessment process, I encourage my patients to come up with their own questions and curiosities about what they hope to discover and learn about themselves. Towards the ending of the assessment process, I return to these questions and curiosities alongside the assessment results and interpretive findings. Patients receive a unique report that outlines the assessment findings and offers understandable explanations of results, any formalized diagnoses, and recommendations about support and treatment options. If desired, authorized health providers or other relevant sources are sent a copy of the report to assist in treatment and other accommodation services.
My Approach to Psychological Assessment
What to Expect
The assessment process typically has the following five stages
​​
01: Preparation
02: Interview
03: Testing
04: Feedback
05: Final Report
​
01
Preparation
​​
-
Review and sign informed Consent and other necessary forms to engage in psychological assessment services
-
Review and sign any necessary authorizations to request relevant medical and educational records and disclose assessment information to other individuals or entities (such as medical providers, family members, spouse or partner, academic institution, or employer).
-
Complete a comprehensive History and Background form.
-
Complete relevant screeners.
The interview is a semi-structured conversation where I will ask you questions about your current symptoms as well as your history and background. I consider and often share diagnostic criteria from the DSM-V-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) to explore if your current symptoms align with a specific psychological diagnosis.
02
Interview
03
Testing
Depending on the assessment focus, testing typically involves several 2-3hr appointments where you will be administered various tests and instruments that assess psychological functions that may include intellectual strengths and abilities, executive functioning, memory, academic abilities, and personality/emotional functioning. Testing typically looks like a series of 10-15 minute interactive mental games. Testing may also include completing personality inventories and rating scales.
After all tests have been scored, you will be invited to participate in 1-2 interactive feedback appointments to review the results. During the feedback session/s we return to some of the initial questions that led to you seeking out a psychological assessment. Testing results will be explained to you and whether or not you meet diagnostic criteria for a mental health-related condition. We also discuss recommendations for specific ways of supporting any areas of concerns revealed during the assessment. I seek to answer any questions you have regarding the assessment findings. My goal for feedback sessions is to offer clear and understandable explanations of the assessment findings, answer both questions formulated at the onset of the assessment process, and additional questions that come up with assessment findings.
04
Feedback
05
Final Report
A final report will be prepared after the feedback session that includes all relevant assessment findings, interpretations, diagnosis/es, and recommendations. This assessment report can be shared with medical providers, employers, academic institutions, or other relevant parties needed to support your mental health needs.
