Evaluation can help clarify emotional symptoms that may have been difficult to understand, have changed over time, or overlap with other conditions.

Common referral questions may include:

• Depression and persistent mood difficulties

• Bipolar and related disorders

• Anxiety and panic symptoms

• Obsessive-compulsive symptoms

• Trauma- and stressor-related disorders

• Emotional dysregulation

• Irritability, anger, or significant changes in mood or behavior

• Questions about whether symptoms are better explained by another psychological, developmental, medical, or situational factor

Personality develops through an interaction of temperament, relationships, experiences, environment, and patterns of coping over time. Assessment can be particularly helpful when difficulties are longstanding, affect multiple areas of life, or have not responded as expected to previous treatment.

Evaluation may address:

• Borderline personality disorder

• Narcissistic personality features or disorders

• Antisocial personality features or disorders

• Avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive, and other personality patterns

• Chronic interpersonal or relationship difficulties

• Recurrent emotional or behavioral crises

• Identity and self-concept difficulties

• Longstanding patterns of impulsivity, anger, instability, or maladaptive coping

• Differentiating personality pathology from mood disorders, trauma, ADHD, autism, or other conditions

Psychological assessment can help determine whether alcohol or other substance use has developed into a clinical disorder, understand its severity and impact, and identify psychological conditions that may be occurring alongside—or contributing to—the use.

Evaluation may examine:

• Alcohol, cannabis, or other substance use concerns

• Whether use meets criteria for a substance use disorder

• Severity and functional consequences

• Patterns, triggers, and contributing factors

• Co-occurring depression, anxiety, trauma, personality pathology, ADHD, or other conditions

• Whether psychiatric symptoms may be related to substance use

• Appropriate treatment needs and level-of-care recommendations

Best for: Individuals or families seeking a better understanding of concerning substance use, particularly when the relationship between substance use, behavior, and mental health is unclear.

Evaluations required for a court, employer, licensing board, driving-related program, or other specific administrative purpose are considered separately and may be subject to additional requirements.

Not every behavioral problem has the same cause. Similar behaviors can arise from developmental differences, emotional distress, environmental stressors, learning difficulties, family dynamics, psychiatric conditions, or combinations of factors.

Evaluation may be helpful for concerns involving:

• Frequent anger, aggression, or severe outbursts

• Defiance or difficulty following expectations

• Impulsivity and poor behavioral control

• School refusal or significant school difficulties

• Sudden or unexplained behavioral changes

• Social difficulties

• Risk-taking or concerning substance use

• Repeated conflict at home or school

• Behaviors that have not improved despite intervention

The goal: To better understand what is driving the behavior so that recommendations can address the underlying problem rather than the behavior alone.

Assessment may be appropriate when an individual experiences unusual thoughts, perceptions, beliefs, or changes in functioning and additional diagnostic clarification is needed.

Referral questions may involve:

• Hallucinations or unusual perceptual experiences

• Paranoia or suspiciousness

• Unusual or fixed beliefs

• Disorganized thinking or behavior

• Significant changes in functioning

• Questions involving schizophrenia-spectrum disorders

• Differentiating psychotic symptoms from trauma, mood disorders, substance effects, personality functioning, developmental conditions, or other causes

Assessment may help investigate changes or longstanding difficulties involving thinking and cognitive functioning.

Referral questions may include:

• Memory concerns

• Attention and concentration

• Processing speed

• Executive functioning

• Cognitive changes associated with aging

• Dementia and other neurocognitive disorders

• Cognitive concerns following traumatic brain injury

• Intellectual functioning

• Questions regarding patterns of cognitive strengths and weaknesses

Already have a diagnosis, but still have questions?

Diagnostic consultation may be appropriate when you want an independent clinical perspective regarding an existing diagnosis, have received different diagnoses from different providers, or want to better understand whether additional evaluation may be worthwhile.

Consultation can also help individuals and families better understand mental health terminology, common treatment approaches, levels of care, provider roles, and what types of services may be appropriate for their situation.

Consultation does not replace a comprehensive psychological evaluation when formal diagnostic conclusions or psychological testing are required.

Sometimes the referral question isn't “What diagnosis do I have?”

You may already have one—or several.

Psychological assessment may be useful when someone has spent considerable time in treatment but continues to struggle, diagnoses have changed between providers, medications have produced unexpected results, or the existing explanation does not seem to account for the full pattern of difficulties.

In these situations, evaluation can revisit the diagnostic picture, examine overlapping or previously overlooked factors, and provide recommendations for what may be worth doing differently.