Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
General FAQ
Privacy, confidentiality, & consent
Assessment FAQ
What to look for in an assessment.
Therapy FAQ
How do I know if I need therapy?
Privacy, confidentiality, & consent
Privacy refers to your right to decide how personal information will be used and who will have access to it. Psychologists need your consent or permission to obtain important information used for billing and record keeping (i.e. address & phone number) or information needed to provide the psychological services you request. If a third party (i.e. insurance company) is paying for services, the psychologist also needs to provide them with the billing information. Contact with outside parties will only be made with your consent. Information shared with a psychologist is confidential. This means that a psychologist will not disclose information obtained in the therapeutic relationship without your authorization.
What is an assessment?
The general goal of an assessment is to provide a clear and objective picture of an individual, including their strengths, weaknesses, patterns of functioning, and areas of difficulty, which can then be used to devise thoughtful interventions. In short, comprehensive assessments can pull together a great deal of information and make sense of it. The resulting assessment report describes the findings and offers individually tailored recommendations to help people thrive.
Assessments are also useful for determining eligibility for attaining government or educational services. Many of these programs and services, for example, require that the individual have a diagnosis (i.e. Learning Disability or ADHD) indicating a clear need for assistance. The psychological assessment report, in many situations, is a requisite to making a proper diagnosis and to accessing services.
What to look for in an assessment
Assessments can be expensive, so it is important to do some preliminary research to ensure a solid investment. Although I am admittedly biased in what I believe should constitute a good assessment, there are some important things to consider.
You might begin by talking to a psychologist specializing in assessment. Tell them why you are interested in having an assessment done and ask about their approach. Some important questions you might ask the psychologist:
How do you determine a diagnosis?
There are minimal standards required to make certain diagnoses. The clinician should be familiar with them and be able to tell you about the method involved in a particular type of assessment.
What kind of tests would you use?
Tests and methods should be current and commonly used in practice by others in the field. Ideally, testing should use a combination of objective measures (typically pencil & paper tests) and subjective measures (clinical interviews, behavioral observation, or self/other-report measures).
Do you administer additional tests to rule out or consider related diagnoses?
Sometimes seemingly obvious problems can be caused by something else, such as an apparent learning difficulty being caused by an undiagnosed ADHD. Other times, problems can mask, or even look like others, such as an undiagnosed Learning Disorder coming out in 'behavioral problems' due to frustration. Multiple disorders are often the norm, and are not always obvious, so it is important to assess for related problems.
Do you personally administer the assessment measures?
In the interest of time and efficiency, many psychologists have opted to employ 'psychometrists' to administer the tests, which are then interpreted by the psychologist. Although this sounds relatively harmless, I believe that an assessment is much more than an interpretation of test scores and the person assessing the individual should be the one writing the report. A keen psychologist, for example, might be more inclined to 'pick up' subtle but important observations during the assessment that are critical to a report, but may be overlooked by a lesser skilled clinician. At any rate, you should know beforehand how the assessment will be done and decide for yourself whether the methods are satisfactory.
A psychologist should be very open about their assessment practice and receptive to questions. If you have any reservations or feel uncomfortable with the psychologist, you should look elsewhere.
How do I know if I need therapy?
Some people believe that therapy is only for people who have "something wrong" with them, maybe people with severe mental problems or at least a diagnosis of some sort. Despite these preconceptions, going to therapy is pretty normal, and nearly everyone can benefit from therapy at some time in their lives. If you are having a difficult time coping in your everyday life, or if you seem to be doing relatively okay but feel 'empty' or that there is something 'missing'... chances are, you could benefit from therapy.
How is talking to a therapist any different than talking about your problems with a parent or a friend?
Family members, friends, and lovers can be great resources for support. Having close interpersonal relationships is a very healthy thing and the value of those relationships should not be downplayed. However talking to a psychologist is very different. Though you may also do a lot of talking with a psychologist, they have years of training and expertise to guide their questions and help you make the changes you are looking for.
I believe that a good psychologist provides experiences, not advice. More often than not, people struggle because they get stuck, not because they lack some vital piece of information or key piece of advice. Therapy can be very challenging and can involve some difficult work, but the end result can also be very rewarding.