Psychological Testing or a Psycho-Educational Assessment by a psychologist can be extremely useful when there is lack of clarity or understanding regarding the causes of various emotional, psychological, learning, or behavioral problems of a child or adolescent. It is a comprehensive evaluation process that involves not only the administration and interpretation of psychological tests, but also the integration of information from multiple sources, including interviews with the patient and family, collateral information from teachers, school educational or testing reports, medical history, as well as information from other mental health professionals. After all of the data has been collected and analyzed, I will prepare a comprehensive written report that is not only used for individual understanding, but can also be submitted, at the individual's request, to other professionals, schools, or institutions.

Psycho-Educational assessment, an even more comprehensive process, includes the aforementioned, as well as an examination of cognitive functioning and learning problems, which might impact an individual's ability to be successful in school or working domains. Both Psychological Testing and Psycho-Educational assessment assists the formulation a mental health treatment plan and/or educational intervention strategy in order to best assist in tracking the difficulties at hand. Most who have undergone this comprehensive process of evaluation have commented on the ways in which this process has not only helped to organize their understanding of psychological and cognitive difficulties, but also provided a clear path to the best options for treatment.

Common reasons why a Psychological or Psycho-Educational evaluation may be recommended include:

• Behavioral and conduct problems
• Concerns about cognitive and intellectual factors which may be leading to problems in the learning process at school
• Learning and academic problems; learning disability
• Determine cause of attention and concentration problems, such as ADHD or otherwise
• Understanding causes of emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, social skills deficits, low frustration tolerance or extreme anger, poor impulse control, mood instability, poor coping or emotion regulation skills
• Speech and language problems
• Recommendations for school or residential treatment placement
• Determine eligibility for special education services
• Identify factors underlying problem behaviors
• Determine if there is a specific cause for a child's academic, social, or psychological difficulties