Psychological Evaluations:

 

               A psychological evaluation involves a formal process to examine some aspect of a person’s psychological functioning.   The most common goal of a psychological evaluation is to help establish a diagnosis for the particular problem the individual is having and make recommendations.   Other possible goals of a psychological evaluation include:  helping determine a patient’s psychological ‘readiness’ for certain medical procedures, helping determine psychological factors that may be impacting a patient’s medical care, helping to make decisions regarding educational and career choices, and helping determine an individual’s degree of psychological disability.  A psychological evaluation will typically involve a clinical interview with the psychologist (usually lasting approximately an hour) and then the completion of formal psychological testing.   The testing may involve the administration of one or more standardized tests or batteries of tests, questionnaires, or surveys.   How much time the testing takes can vary considerably depending upon the specific referral questions and purpose of the evaluation.  Some formal testing may take less than an hour while other testing may take five hours or more.  Following the testing, the psychologist will score and interpret the testing results and produce a written summary report that will either be given to the patient, or sent to relevant parties, such as a physician’s office, a school, or clinic with the patient’s authorization.  

 

               Dr. Born commonly performs psychological evaluations that relate to the following concerns: