What is Psychological Assessment?

Psychological Assessment provides a variety of benefits for both clinicians and clients. First of all, it validates the client’s diagnosis made by the clinician. For example, a teenager exhibiting symptoms of anxiety can be effectively diagnosed if he/she scores high on the Anxiety Scale in the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). Furthermore, the objective reports from the assessments, the client’s subjective data from the clinical interview combined with the clinician’s observations of the client aid the formulation of an effective treatment plan, which increases the chances of treatment compliance and treatment outcome.
Clients also benefit from the assessment as it helps them to gain insight regarding thoughts and behaviours that were previously unknown, as well as helpful information on known phenomena. Moreover, it can boost the client’s motivation to seek treatment as the assessment validates the client’s current level of functioning. In addition, the insight generated from the assessment can be used to psycho-educate others and increase awareness regarding psychological assessment, resulting in more people being assessed to improve mental wellbeing.

Some limitations of Psychological Assessment include resistance from the client, which is often expressed by not sharing information during the Clinical Interview, or by providing incomplete or inaccurate information or responses during tests. Sometimes, the assessment is not conducted properly due to lack of training or experience of the clinician in the field. In addition, clinicians often use outdated testing instruments, e.g. using the 4th edition of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) instead of the current 5th edition. All these result in the inability for clinicians to diagnose or they diagnosing incorrectly, which hinders the treatment process and aggravates the client’s symptoms.
However, some Psychological Tests, such as the Personality Assessment Inventory, have validity scales to check the accuracy of the client’s responses and whether or not the client is faking good (presenting himself/herself in a positive manner) or faking bad (presenting himself/herself in a negative manner). Moreover, multiple tests during assessment ensure reliability as if one test reveals some information, then that information will also appear in other tests. For example, if a teenager draws a pointed figure and/or teeth on the Human Figure Drawing and scores high on the Beck Youth Anger Inventory (BANI-Y), then it can be said that the client exhibits symptoms of aggression. Yet, it is crucial that clients provide an accurate and holistic picture of their mental health concerns so that they can be properly assessed, diagnosed and treated.

Transformational Wellness Clinics (TWC) is a reputable organization where Psychological Assessment is one of the many services that are available for both children and adults. At TWC, Psychological Assessment is conducted by skilled Clinical Psychologists and then a team of neurologist, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and hypnotherapist critically examine individual cases and design the best treatment plan in order to provide the best services in Pakistan, thanks to the multi-disciplinary setup of the organization. Moreover, TWC’s Electronic Medical Records (EMR) ensures that clients are timely assessed, diagnosed and treated effectively to obtain the best results.