"Psychological Evaluation" is a general term
which can have a variety of meanings. If a person is recommended
to have a psychological evaluation, it would be appropriate,
even recommended, to ask what their particular evaluation would
involve.
Psychological evaluations are usually requested when there is
some question about what might be troubling a particular person,
or to gather information about a person's current emotional
well-being, psychological or personality make-up, or academic
and intellectual functioning.
At the minimum, a psychological evaluation typically involves
an individual interview with a psychologist that would last for
at least one hour. An evaluation like this might also be called
an "assessment" or an "initial assessment" for the purpose of
gaining information about a person or their particular problem
or situation.
In the most comprehensive use of the term, a psychological
evaluation would start with an interview, then proceed to
include any number of psychological tests, which can sometimes
take several hours or even several days of separate
appointments. The evaluation may also include interviews with
significant others (such as parents, spouses, or teachers), as
well as a review of past records and relevant documents.
Psychological tests are often an important part of a
psychological evaluation. Psychological tests are used as an
additional way of gathering objective information about a person
for the purpose of making decisions and sorting out questions
about the particular individual. For example, a psychologist may
use a battery of psychological tests to determine whether a
child has an Attention Deficit Disorder or if the child is
instead depressed or has a learning disorder (which can often
look confusingly similar to ADD).
Psychological evaluations, including psychological testing,
are often requested in legal cases, custody decisions,
guardianship and competency decisions, or any time there is
uncertainty about what is troubling an individual, or when
information is required about a person's psychological make-up.
Psychological tests can include assessments of personality
styles, tests of emotional well-being, intellectual (or "IQ")
tests, tests of academic achievement, tests for possible brain
damage, and tests for specific psychological disturbances and
their severity.
The use of psychological tests requires years of training
that involves not only learning how to give the tests, but also
how to integrate all the information from a variety of tests,
background information, interviews, and knowledge of theories,
research, psychological problems, personalities, and human
development. Psychologists are the only mental health
professionals who are fully trained and qualified to use
psychological tests. The gathering and integration of all this
material about a person is the process of a psychological
evaluation.