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Assessment

Child Assessment

Adolescent Assessment

Adult Assessment 

Child, Adolescent and Adult Pre-Treatment Assessment

The Pre-Treatment Emotional Functioning Assessment has a necessary and essential function. It is the basis upon which the clinical interview provisional diagnosis is validated, the treatment and implementation is designed, and treatment effectiveness is ascertained. 

Course and Procedure of Pre-Treatment Assessment

Once a prospective patient has contacted the Center, a psychotherapist conducts an initial telephone interview. The telephone triage interview, lasting thirty minutes to three-quarters of an hour, first determines whether the treatment needs of the prospective patient can be met. If the answer to that question is "no" referrals are then offered. If the Center can provide treatment then the interview is an initial stage of establishing a working alliance-relationship. The telephone interview begins with asking the caller to describe the reasons for seeking services for their child, or her/himself. The initial set of questions is intended to gain an impression of how the patient is functioning in broad terms. The interviewer follows then with questions which seek specific descriptions of the patient's current emotional and behavioral functioning. Basic demographic information and billing information is collected thereafter, if both the caller and the interviewer feel s/he is then comfortable to come to the office to begin the several hours of interviews which will span several appointments.


With an emphasis on one's developmental histories the interviews begin the process of developing a comprehensive understanding of the nature and reasons for the patient's illness. The Adult Attachment Interview is a mainstay in the Center's armamentarium of instruments used to collect histories. Upon completing these interviews, the patient is scheduled for the pre-treatment psycho-diagnostic assessment. The treatment phase begins in earnest at the time of providing the patient with both verbal and documented results of the psycho-diagnostic assessment. Depending upon the nature of the illness, mid-treatment assessments may be conducted to determine treatment progress. 

The Center accepts psychological testing referrals for:

  • Early development assessments
  • Emotional -Personality assessments
  • Achievement-Ability assessments
  • Adaptive behavior assessments
  • Addictions assessments
  • Cognitive assessments

Psychological Assessment-Testing

Psychological testing-assessment services are provided to those not seeking counseling or psychotherapy. Dr. Geoffrey Robinson-Wood provides academic achievement and ability evaluations, cognitive, and emotional functioning assessments. Dr. Robinson-Wood specializes in the assessment of emotional functioning in children ages 12 months through late adolescence.

Course and Procedure of Psychological Assessment-Testing

You, your physician, your psychotherapist, a school, the courts, or an agency has referred you, or your child to undergo a psychological evaluation. The referral is a request for an evaluator to answer one or more questions posed by the referral source. Questions may concern one’s academic achievement, cognitive, or emotional functioning, or motor development. The referral questions may be broadly asked: "Is the psychiatric diagnosis provided by my primary care physician fitting?" Or, the referral question may be specific: "How does my capacity to weather stress compare to others'?" Quite often the referral question is comprised of both general and specific questions. Answering the referral question/s culminates from having conducted interviews, and observations and the collection of administered tests and measures.

The clinical interview is designed to be comprehensive. The evaluator gathers the evaluee’s bio-psychosexual and psychosocial histories. The interview can extend to several hours spanning several appointments depending upon the complexity of the referral question. If found necessary, the evaluator may ask to obtain other sources of information including and academic, employment, medical, and behavioral health records. Signed consents are required permitting such disclosures.

The nature of the referral question guides the selection of tests administered. The numbers of tests administered will determine the time spent testing and gathering data. Testing and gathering test data can take six to twelve hours to complete. Three, sometimes four testing appointments may be necessary.

The Psychological Evaluation document presents a review and interpretive summary of all data collected. The document concludes with a succinct summation of the findings, puts forward answers to the referral question and ends with a section comprised of recommendations designed to assist the evaluee, parents, teachers and guidance counselors, behavioral health service professionals, medical professionals, employers, .

The evaluation concludes when the evaluator meets with the evaluee for approximately one hour to discuss test findings and to answer questions. The evaluee is at liberty to invite other interested parties to the feedback appointment.

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