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Assessments

As psychologists, we are trained to assess and diagnose psychological disorders when they are present. We also make recommendations to support a child at home and at school, based on a child's needs. We cater our assessments to meet your child's and family's needs. We gather information from a range of sources (e.g., psychological tests, questionnaires, interviews, collateral reports), which we then summarise in a formal psychological report. We then share the report, the assessment results, and our recommendations with you during a feedback session a few weeks after the assessment is completed.

Psychological Assessments

Psychological assessments can be helpful to understand the many factors that contribute to a child's difficulty managing his or her emotions and behaviour. A clinical diagnosis does not always emerge from a psychological assessment.

Psychological assessments are conducted to:

Understand a young person's socio-emotional functioning
Determine if a child's difficulties are consistent with a psychological diagnosis (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
Provide recommendations for supports or treatment, as needed

Psycho-Educational Assessments

Psycho-educational assessments are usually done when a Learning Disorder or an Intellectual Disability is queried. It is recommended to assess a child's academic achievement in the language in which the child is being taught in school.

Psycho-educational assessments are conducted to:

Understand a youth's cognitive profile
Understand a child's learning strengths and needs
Offer an up-to-date understanding of a young person's profile and required academic supports (e.g., re-assessment for university)
Provide recommendations for school and community supports, services, and placements

Giftedness Assessments

Giftedness assessments are usually done when a child is suspected to have a high intellect. It is important to note that "giftedness" is not a psychological term. Rather, every school board has its own set of criteria used to determine if a student is eligible for participation in curriculum enrichment or in a gifted program. These criteria are usually based on cognitive test results.

Giftedness assessments are conducted to:

Understand a youth's cognitive profile
Understand a child's learning strengths
Provide recommendations for academic enrichment and programming, when warranted

We do not offer:

Assessments for adults (21+)
Child custody and access assessments
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) assessments