Emotional and Personality Assessments 

Emotional and personality assessments are generally conducted to clarify diagnoses and make targeted recommendations for therapy. They can be conducted with individuals of all ages—children, adolescents, or adults.

The evaluations can provide diagnostic clarity, including shedding light on the nature and expression of psychological symptoms. They may also show the potential impact of trauma or negative life experiences in a child or adult’s level of functioning.

Emotional and personality evaluations are usually requested for individuals struggling to manage daily functioning and/or experiencing significant psychological symptoms. They may be indicated for individuals who lack understanding of the nature of their difficulties and for whom such clarity may help them progress in therapy or other treatment.

In children, emotional assessments may be requested when the child is having difficulties that manifest as poor emotional regulation, behavioral regulation, and/or social challenges.

Emotional and personality assessments are extremely helpful for individuals who feel they are stagnating in therapy. They provide a measure and framework for understanding the individual’s inner world, including historical processes that may have contributed to current functioning. These processes can serve as important areas of focus for treatment.

The first step in the testing process is an in-depth interview about an individual’s developmental, social, emotional, occupational, academic, and medical history. With children and adolescents, this interview includes a portion with just the parents, as well as a portion with the child or adolescent. Additional interviews are often conducted, in which a valuable perspective is obtained from others who are familiar with the individual being tested (e.g., spouses, teachers, therapists).

The testing itself is completed over one or two sessions of 1–3 hours. The evaluation includes both self-report and projective measures.

Self-report measures consist of questionnaires and structured interviews that inquire about specific aspects of psychological functioning, including patterns of emotions, behaviors, social interactions, experiences, and beliefs. Responses to questionnaires are scored and compare the individual to his or her

peers in terms of their levels of symptoms and/or strengths. Interview responses are often analyzed to determine if an individual meets the criteria for a diagnosable mental health condition.

Projective measures are different, in that they assess an individual’s response to ambiguous stimuli (e.g., ink blots or pictures). The individual’s pattern of responding may be analyzed for thematic content, and/or compared to a sample of his or her peers to make hypotheses about the person’s emotional functioning, as well as deeper conflicts, and even subconscious processes.

Examples of measures used in social/emotional evaluations are the MMPI-3, MCMI-IV, MACI-II, PAI, SCID-5, K-SADS, BDI-II, BAI, BYI-II, RCACDS, SADS, TSI-2, STAXI-II, BRIEF-II or BRIEF-A, EDI-3, Y-BOCS, VOCI, Rorschach Technique, TAT, and Sentence Completion Test, among others.

Results are analyzed and summarized in a report which is presented in a comprehensive feedback session. The report and feedback session are designed to help clarify potential diagnoses, and, perhaps more importantly, to provide a broad understanding of the client’s functioning across domains.

Thus, information is relayed related to an individual’s psychological strengths and resources, coping styles, perception of experiences, reality testing ability, thinking style, behavioral regulation, emotional processing, self-perception, and interpersonal functioning. Common processes that may underlie various diagnoses are discussed.

Finally, targeted recommendations are presented to help the client in their personal, social, occupational, and/or academic life. Suggestions for ongoing treatment (e.g., therapy or psychiatric medication) are also presented. If requested, the final report can be forwarded to an individual’s therapist or psychiatrist to facilitate treatment.

No referrals are required for emotional and personality evaluations, though they often result from the recommendation of a health or mental health provider, teacher, educator, or family member. Individuals may also self-refer.

Emotional and personality assessments are often done alongside neuropsychological testing to rule out possible alternative diagnoses, such as depression.

I am not in network with any insurance companies. However, I can provide you with a superbill, which you can submit to your insurance provider for potential out-of-network coverage. Should your insurance policy include such benefits, you might be eligible for partial reimbursement of the evaluation expenses. You are encouraged to check with your insurance before scheduling and inquire about benefits and rates of reimbursement.