The term, "Psychological Evaluation" can refer to a variety of different procedures. Given the wide variety of psychological processes, such as cognitive, emotional, personality and interpersonal functioning to name a few, a psychological evaluation can focus on a wide assortment of areas. Often it is assumed that a psychological evaluation is one specific procedure. This is not the case. It is a process that is designed to answer a particular “referral question.” A psychological evaluation will involve specific methods and procedures relevant to addressing the “referral question(s).”
Psychological evaluations are often requested when there is some question about the cause of a person’s difficulties. They might be initiated in order to gather information about a person's current emotional/psychological well-being, to gain insight into a person’s personality structure, or to determine academic, occupational or intellectual functioning. Evaluations might also be requested to facilitate the resolution of a legal matter such as custody, guardianship, criminal responsibility, etc.
A psychological evaluation can be brief and narrowly focused or quite extensive. The more brief variety is routinely used in a clinical context. When meeting a mental health professional for the first time, a psychological evaluation takes place to gather information about a person’s “presenting problem,” which may be difficulties with psychological symptoms or managing particularcircumstances. An evaluation like this might also be called an "assessment," "initial assessment," or“intake assessment.” It entails a clinical interview that generally lasts for one to one and a half hours. This may also include completing questionnaires and psychological screening tests. The findings of this type of evaluation would guide a clinician in designing a treatment plan to address the presenting problem.
A more comprehensive psychological evaluation would similarly begin with an interview, but also include administering psychological tests and reviewing “collateral information” including medical, psychiatric, educational, legal records and other relevant documents. Interviews with “collateral”sources, such as parents, teachers, current and past treating clinicians may also be part of the evaluation. Such an evaluation can take many hours to complete over an extended amount of time. A comprehensive psychological evaluation may be appropriate if the “presenting problem” iscomplex and influenced by multiple factors or when the findings may be contested (such as in an adversarial legal process).
Psychological tests are often an important part of a psychological evaluation. They are used as an additional way of gathering objective information about a person for the purpose of resolving uncertainties and making decisions. Psychological tests can include assessments of personality, emotional well-being, intelligence, academic achievement, neurological functioning, and specific psychological disorders and their severity.
The use of psychological tests requires years of training that involves not only learning how to administer, score and interpret the tests, but also how to integrate various information from a variety of sources into a cohesive evaluation. This would involve integration of the psychometrics of the tests themselves as well as the test results, the information gathered as part of the overall psychological evaluation and knowledge of relevant psychological theories and research. Licensed clinical psychologists are the only mental health professionals who are fully trained and qualified to use psychological tests and to complete a comprehensive evaluation of the sort just described.