Psychodiagnostic Assessment
What is a Psychodiagnostic Assessment?
Psychodiagnostic assessments are sometimes referred to as “Diagnostic Assessments” or “Clinical Assessments.” Usually, the goals are the same even if the specific terminology is different. This type of assessment can be done with children, adolescents, and adults.
All types of psychological services begin with some type of “assessment.” In therapy, this can be naturally incorporated in an informal manner at the beginning or in an ongoing way during your treatment.
A psychodiagnostic assessment is different from informal assessment done as part of therapy. A psychodiagnostic assessment is a comprehensive, stand-alone assessment, and can be done even if you do not plan to pursue therapy. It takes an in-depth look at your life and circumstances, including your history, and your present symptoms. The goal of the assessment is usually to determine if there is a specific mental health diagnosis (or diagnoses) that applies to you. A psychodiagnostic assessment also offers a broad understanding of your circumstances, beyond the diagnosis, and provides information that helps you gain insight into your attachment history, temperament, personality patterns, relationship patterns, and so forth. It also provides information that can guide treatment planning and other recommendations.
Psychodiagnostic assessments can be done for multiple reasons, including self-understanding, to plan a course of therapy, to guide medication decisions, or for obtaining accommodations in work and education settings.
To give you a few examples, this type of assessment can be requested to determine if there is a diagnosis of a range of conditions, including:
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Gender Dysphoria
Anxiety Disorders
Trauma
ADHD
Personality Disorder
Depression
The Assessment Process
The process of assessment is highly tailored to your needs and is comprehensive. Across all ages, these assessments usually include: interviews with you, scoring and interpretation of tests, case formulation, a feedback session to provide the results of the assessment, and a written summary or a detailed report.
For children and adolescents, these assessments usually include interviews with parents/caregivers, other health care professionals that may be already involved, and teachers.
For adults, these assessments can sometimes include interviews with a spouse or partner, or a parent/caregiver.
Ultimately, the assessment approach and written report are tailored to your needs.
Payment and Fees
Psychodiagnostic assessments are billed at $225 for 50-minute interviews or meetings, and $225 per hour for all other work (e.g., report writing).
The final cost of the assessment depends on the time taken to complete it. Assessments are highly individualized and can range in complexity. For this reason, the overall fee for this service is variable and a specific price cannot be provided ahead of time. At the beginning of and during the assessment, we will review the process and costs with you so that pricing can be estimated and anticipated as the assessment unfolds.
As a guide, fees for these assessments can range from $1350 to $3375 for adults. It can range from $2250 to $4500 for assessment of children and adolescents.
Payments can be made by e-transfer.
Psychological services are covered to varying amounts by most educational and workplace health benefits. These costs may also be included with your medical expenses when you file income taxes. Unfortunately, psychological services are not covered by OHIP. We will provide you with a receipt that you can submit to your insurance provider or claim as a medical expense on your income tax.
Request an Appointment
Request an appointment at Lambeth Psychology or reach out to us to learn more about how we can help you.
If you are unsure which service is right for you, please contact us and we will assist you with that. You can also arrange a one-off consultation appointment to discuss your needs in more depth so that we can identify the services that would be best suited to you.