Comprehensive Psychological Evaluations
Comprehensive Psychological Evaluations
Who performs the evaluation?
Comprehensive Psychological evaluations are completed by a Licensed Clinical Psychologist.
What do the evaluations consist of?
Depending upon the referral questions, these evaluations may address various aspects of the child’s functioning including:
- Cognitive – The child’s ability to reason, problem solve, sustain attention, recall information and process information across both verbal and nonverbal modalities
- Adaptive – The child’s independence and consistency with performing activities of daily living and other behaviors that are required as part of everyday life
- Behavior – The child’s symptoms in areas such as anxiety, depression, externalizing behaviors, attention problems, social difficulties, and thought problems
- Personality Dynamics – The child’s ability to tolerate stress, manage emotions, perceive and think in a reality-based manner, and relate to others effectively, as well as underlying issues that may be impacting their functioning in these areas
What can you learn from an evaluation?
Comprehensive evaluations can assist with the diagnosis of mental health issues and can also provide information to the Planning and Placement Team to assist with determination of special education eligibility and exceptionality. Evaluations can also provide a profile of strengths and weaknesses to help guide treatment recommendations regarding interventions and needed services/supports.
What should you expect from your appointment?
About the Evaluation
Clinical Interviews and face to face testing can last from one to four hours. Evaluations can be broken into multiple sessions to accommodate the needs of the child and the family. Because parents will need to meet with the psychologist without the child present, they will need to bring a responsible person to monitor the child while they are meeting with the psychologist. Alternatively, they would need to schedule an additional appointment to complete that portion of the assessment at a different time.
In addition to the written report, the comprehensive psychological evaluation also includes a meeting with the parents to review results, as well as participation by phone in a PPT meeting to review findings.
Other services, such as conducting an observation of the student in their school placement, meeting with school staff or attending a PPT in person are available for an additional fee.
Documents Needed
For your appointment, you will need to bring contact information for mental health service providers and medication prescribers. You will also need lists of present and past psychiatric medications and the results of any relevant medical or genetic testing, school records, progress reports, previous evaluations or other relevant background information.
For referring school districts, a referral packet should include the following information:
- Description of the reason for referral and any related questions or concerns
- Previous evaluations including psychological, educational or related services
- Most recent IEP or 504 plan
- Report cards and/or progress reports
- Disciplinary record
- Name and contact information for relevant school personnel,
Insurance Carriers We Accept
We accept a variety of Health Insurance Plans including:
CIGNA, United Behavioral Health General, United Veterans Affairs Coordinated Care, Connecticare, Harvard Pilgrim. Choice Plus, UMR, Oxford (Liberty, Freedom, and Commercial), River Valley, Providence, All Savers, Anthem (includes Century Preferred PPO Network and Blue Cross and Blue Shield), Husky.
