Bespoke Clinical Psychology Assessment
I offer comprehensive psychological assessments, which involve a range of standardised and non-standardised assessment tools, observation, and detailed interviews with parents and caregivers.
Where indicated, information is also sought from schools through a questionnaire/consultation with your child’s teacher, or a school observation.
This leads to a Psychological report, including recommendations for home, school, and ongoing therapeutic support.
Assessment areas may include:
- Your child’s strengths and interests
- Discussion of their early developmental history, family circumstances, educational history, physical health, and emotional/behavioural difficulties (e.g. anxiety, low mood, emotion regulation issues, and trauma)
- Specific neurodevelopmental differences e.g. memory, attention, organisational skills, social communication
- A review of reports from other professionals, to incorporate their conclusions into the assessment
- Screening for difficulties with reading, writing, numeracy, language, and motor skills
(Note: I do not diagnose specific learning difficulties or motor problems such as Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, or Dyspraxia, which are best assessed by an Educational Psychologist or Occupational Therapist. I am able to signpost towards colleagues who can assist in these areas).
Assessment methods may include:
- Cognitive assessment (using an assessment called the WISC-V)
- Emotional and behavioural functioning
- Educational attainment (e.g. using an assessment such as the WRAT-5)
- Adaptive functioning (using an assessment called the Vineland-3)
- Executive functioning (using an assessment called the BRIEF)
- Parent-child relationships (e.g. using the Marschak Interaction Method, or MIM)
- Paper and pencil tasks to explore your child’s emotions, school, and home life
To arrange a brief 20 minute call to discuss your needs, please contact me by email in the first instance:
Frequently Asked Questions
Cognitive assessment
What is a cognitive assessment?
A cognitive assessment provides an overall assessment of your child’s intellectual skills, and leads to an IQ score. The gold-standard test with children in called the WISC-V. The results of this can be broken down into five main areas:
- Verbal Comprehension
The ability to reason using verbal information.
- Visual-spatial skills
The ability to analyse and synthesise visual information.
- Logical reasoning
The ability to reason and solve problems using novel information
- Working memory
The ability to hold information in short term memory and use this information to produce a result.
- Processing speed
Speed of processing visual information.
Why might a cognitive assessment be helpful?
It can be useful to see your child’s strengths, and whether they may have any specific learning difficulties, which may be contributing to issues at home and school. For example, if your child seems to miss instructions, finds it hard to hold on to information, or completes work more slowly than peers. It can also be used in some cases to determine whether a child has a learning disability (also called intellectual disability), and may form part of an assessment for autism or ADHD.
How long does it take?
It usually takes up to 1.5 hours, including breaks.
What will my child be asked to do?
Your child will be asked to do some activities both on paper and using an iPad, some of which may involve numbers, puzzles, or working with blocks. It is also helpful to collect some background information from parents to inform the results.
Will it lead to recommendations for school?
Yes, if the test shows that your child is below average in certain areas, this could lead to specific recommendations for the classroom and examinations, which will be detailed in a report.
