What is a Comprehensive Psychological Assessment?
A Comprehensive Psychological Assessment differs from a simple assessment conducted for the purpose of therapy and is sometimes referred to as medico-legal assessment, but with a particular focus on an individual’s psychological functioning. A Comprehensive Psychological Assessment provides an evaluation of an individual's overall psychological functioning based on information gathered from various sources. These sources include:
1. Documentation
Psychologists review a variety of documents in the course of a Comprehensive Psychological Assessment, including health care files, psychological assessment and treatment records, court records, personnel files, military records, educational documents, and other administrative reports. The time spent reviewing documentation obviously depends on the amount of information in the file.
2. Interview(s)
An initial interview will usually last 1-2 hours, though may take longer if the person has language deficits or when English is the person's second language. Depending on the type of assessment and the need to clarify details follow-up interviews may be required.
NOTE: When an interpreter is used it raises concerns regarding accurate representation of individual's psychological functioning, especially with regard to testing data as most measures have been constructed for English-language speakers. Many words do not translate well into other languages and vice versa. As such, some meaning is almost always lost in translation. Moreover, even accurate translation does not take into account the culturally specific idioms that would only be understood by an individual from that culture or someone with extensive experience and training with a particular culture.
3. Information from Collaterals
Many assessments require that information be gathered from collateral sources, such as family and friends. This is usually the case with more contentious matters (e.g., custody evaluation, injury claims, civil suits). However, assessments conducted purely for the purpose of diagnosis, such as a straightforward referral from an insurance company case manager often do not require the gathering of collateral information.
4. Behavioral Observations
Mental status falls under the category of behavioral observations and is a part of any psychological assessment. An individual's behavior is a particularly important source of information in a Comprehensive Psychological Assessment. For example, if an individual is complaining of back pain the person would not be expected to move around vigorously. Certain types of assessments include behavioral observations as a core component of the assessment, in particular parent-child interactions in the course of a custody evaluation.
5. Psychological Testing
There are a wide variety of psychological tests, including intelligence tests, achievement tests, symptom and personality inventories, physical health and pain coping tests, occupational interest and career inventories, symptom validity tests, and neuropsychological tests. Testing can take from 2 to 10 hours depending on the referral question(s). Psychological testing provides an additional source of information that is integrated with the interview and other information to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the individual.
Test Theory must be adequately understood to be able to appropriately interpret psychological tests and defend conclusions and recommendations when scrutinized, such as under cross examination. As such, many of the more complex psychological tests are only available to psychologists or other individuals who have had advanced doctoral training in statistics and psychometrics. Please consult individual testing companies regarding their policies on authorized test usage (e.g., Psychological Assessment Resources, Pearson Assessments, The Psychological Corporation, Western Psychological Services).
6. Psychological Report
Once all the information is collected from relevant sources it is integrated into a psychological report that is written in a form appropriate for the type of evaluation and the people who will be reading it. For example, an assessment for an insurance company or the court is going to contain as little psychological jargon as possible and will directly address questions asked in the referral. When a specific mental disorder has been identified a report will also include treatment recommendations, as well as an opinion regarding prognosis and ongoing limitations in daily functioning.
A Comprehensive Psychological Assessment is a complex process of investigation that should be performed by a licensed professional who has sufficient training and experience. Relative to the number of assessments that we conduct very few end up in court. However, our assessment and reporting procedures are carried out with the idea that they may have to stand up to significant scrutiny.
Please note that a psychologist who has provided treatment to an individual is not ethically able to then provide a Comprehensive Psychological Assessment. A psychologist who has provided treatment can be a fact witness, but not an expert witness. On the other hand, a psychologist who has provided an assessment can then provide treatment. However, it is important to ensure that there is no possibility of future litigation. As such, when a person is referred to us for treatment subsequent to an assessment the psychologist providing treatment will often be a different individual than the assessor. That said, we have had cases where the same psychologist has provided subsequent treatment because we were assured that there was essentially no possibility of further expert testimony required.
Please contact us if you require further information or would like to refer your client to a psychologist for an assessment.
Calgary: (403) 313-8309
Vancouver: 1-877-313-8309
You can also contact us by e-mail.