What is Psychological Testing?
Most people know what psychotherapy looks like: you go and sit with someone who is trained to listen, and they help you talk through things. Over time, they help you make changes that make your life better. Even though movie and TV depictions are almost comically simplified (or sometimes plain scandalous!), we have lots of visuals of what a therapy session looks like. But when I talk to people about Psychological Assessment/Evaluations/Testing, most people have never even heard of it! My goal with this article is to help you understand what Psychological Assessment is for, what it looks like, and how it can be tremendously helpful.
Let’s be more specific about the types of testing: in general, there are three major categories. There’s:
1. Educational Testing (e.g. seeing if someone has a learning disorder like Dyslexia)
2. Neuropsych Testing (e.g. seeing if someone has Dementia or has suffered a stroke)
3. Psychological Testing (e.g. determining a mental health diagnosis and treatment plan.)
While I do perform Educational Testing (which I will write about soon), my specialty and passion is in Psychological Testing/Evaluation, which is the focus of this article.
So, what is Psychological Testing actually for? It turns out that getting an accurate picture of someone’s problems and personality is really hard without advanced training. In my personal experience, it is shocking how often someone comes to me with a list of diagnoses that just don’t seem to fit, or are way more extreme than necessary. For example, did you know that someone can have a full-blown psychotic episode without having Schizophrenia? Or that a supposed diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder could really just be a Thyroid problem? Without specialized training, a lot of diagnoses could just be plain wrong and send an individual down the wrong path of treatment for months or even years. Psychological Testing is a specialty that tries to maximize accuracy about diagnosis, which leads to better treatment.
Okay, so Psychological Testing tries to nail down the diagnosis as accurately as possible. What does that actually look like? Typically, I see patients for 3-4 hours for a bunch of different tests. Some of the tests ask you questions about yourself that you answer “True” or “False.” Some tests ask you to tell a story about characters in a picture. And yes, I even use the famous “Ink Blot Test.” All throughout, I will be asking you to participate in thinking about the results. Sometimes, the best data I get is actually just from talking with patients during tests. Most people find the testing interesting and sometimes even fun. It doesn’t typically feel like tests from high school, I promise! After the testing, I put together the data and write a report. Then we have a feedback session where we discuss the results and the options for moving forward.
Why is Psychological Testing so tremendously helpful? Well, a good Evaluation tells us more than just the problem in a person. It also tells us about the person with the problem. It can tell us about why a person’s relationships aren’t going right, why a person seems to keep hitting a wall at work, and what might keep causing mental health collapses for that specific person. It can tell us about the way they learn, why they get stuck, and why therapy hasn’t worked so far. This information allows me to refer the person to the right kind of therapy and gives me the ability to help their therapist work with the person in the best way. When you put it all together, testing maximizes the chances of treatment success. Psychological Evaluation doesn’t just help get the right diagnosis: it helps supercharge the treatment.
Thank you for reading through this article! Now you know about what testing is for, what it looks like, and why it can be so helpful for so many people. If this kind of specialized attention sounds right for you, go ahead and book an intake appointment with me. I can help you decide the best way forward.
-Dr. Husick