Comprehensive Psychological Evaluation
Virtual testing services available!
What Is A Comprehensive Evaluation?
A comprehensive evaluation is the most thorough evaluation we offer at Relucent Psychology Group. Whereas other types of evaluations focus on a particular diagnosis, comprehensive evaluations explore your own personal list of questions with multiple diagnostic or non-diagnostic explanations. These questions may be about life-long traits, explanations for experiences you’ve had, curiosity about potential diagnoses, or clarity about steps you can take to improve your life. The comprehensive evaluation is an in-depth look into what makes you who you are. Behavioral, social, emotional, and cognitive factors are all considered.
We explore your questions through quantitative testing and qualitative interviews. That means that you can expect to have many conversations with the assessor about your life experiences while also having a few in-person or virtual sessions where you will complete a series of tests. Some of the testing is independent, allowing you to self-report about your emotions, thoughts, and habits. Other parts of testing is interactive, which means your assessor will be using standardized measures to score your responses compared to others of a similar age and background. Regardless of what tests are included in your evaluation, the assessor’s job is to make sure everything is explained clearly and that you feel comfortable since testing can be a stressful experience for many people.
Most people have between 2-4 specific questions they wanted answered when seeking out a comprehensive evaluation. This is different than an evaluation where we focus on one specific diagnosis (such as just looking at ADHD or autism). Below you will find our list of commonly asked questions – the list below is general, and you are welcome to share more specific questions or concerns with your assessor.
Do You Have Questions About Comprehensive Evaluations? Contact Us
Relevant Blog Posts
How to Prepare for a Psych Assessment
Some of the most common questions people ask when starting an assessment are: How do I prepare for a psych assessment? Do I need to bring anything with me? Should I change anything about day-to-day life before doing testing? For kids: what if my child has school? Or...
Exploring Treatment Options
by Dr. Bridget Wieckowski It’s a new year and many people are entering 2022 wondering, what’s next? From a psychological perspective, we’re entering the second year of a global pandemic which naturally brings up anxiety, stress, and apprehension. For some folks, the...
Why Does My Child Have Difficulties Focusing?
Does your child have difficulties focusing? Learn about the possible reasons why, along with how seeking professional counseling can help below. As a parent, you are naturally keenly invested in the growth and development of your child. We all want to see our...
Your assessor will also work with you during your intake to be sure the questions you’re asking can be fully answered through testing – if it can’t, we’ll help you think about other ways your question can be asked.
A comprehensive evaluation is also highly recommended for individuals who do not exactly what they want to be tested for yet are finding they face difficulties in certain areas. It may be that you’ve wondered about why you struggle with attention and focusing but aren’t sure if there are multiple explanations for why. Or maybe people in your life have told you about certain behaviors or traits they’ve observed you to do or have, and you want to better understand what they mean. Feeling confused about yourself or your brain may make you hesitant to try treatment such as medication or therapy, and a comprehensive evaluation can provide clarity about highly recommended treatment options based on who you are and how you think.
What are commonly asked questions for adults and children?
- Why is it so hard to focus at work / school?
- What are my psychological strengths?
- Do I forget things more than most people?
- Why am I struggling to express emotions?
- Am I gifted?
- What’s my personality style?
- What’s my learning style?
- Why do I struggle socially?
- What may be some good career options (or school settings) for me?
- What type of therapy may be a good fit for me?
- How can I cope with my stressors better?
- Are my symptoms better explained by one disorder versus another (such as anxiety versus depression)?
- How is my child doing developmentally compared to their peers?
- Why does my mood feel “all over the place”?
- Could I benefit from accommodations at work / school?
- I’ve received several diagnoses in the past, can I get clarity about what they all mean or if they are still causing problems?
Things we cannot test for at Relucent
but would be happy to point you in the direction of someone who can:
- Fitness for duty
- Emotional support animals
- Psychosis or thought-related disorders
- Visual or auditory concerns
- Medical concerns or physical health-related evaluations
- Court-mandated or court-recommended evaluations
- Custody-related issues such as parental fitness or divorce
- Post-hospitalization discharge planning
The Logistics Of A Comprehensive Evaluation
- The process includes a 1.5-hour video intake, between 6-8 hours of testing (either in person at our office, virtually on Zoom, or a hybrid), and a 1-hour video feedback session about 2-3 weeks after testing is completed. Testing sessions are typically broken up into between 1-3 hour slots, depending on the client’s age and attention abilities.
- Communication with professionals or loved ones in your life is also included as part of the process. A Release of Information form would be completed by you for each individual and your assessor would explain how the person(s) would be contacted.
- Review of medical records is included up to 10 full pages. Anything beyond 10 full pages should be discussed with your assessor who will quote you the additional amount for the time needed to fully review the information. You will never be surprise charged for time spent without being informed about it previously and agreeing to the charges.
- For children and teens, an age-appropriate summary letter or story is provided to describe the findings. We value informing clients of all ages about their mental health and believe that framing the assessment as a positive learning experience makes children and adolescents more likely to seek out help in the future.
- The day prior to your feedback session you would receive an electronic PDF copy of your report that includes interpretations, findings, diagnoses (if found), and recommendations for next steps. Since one day does not allow most people the chance to fully digest the information in the report, we use the feedback session to discuss the general report contents and findings. Then we offer a briefer follow-up check-in one month later to answer any remaining questions you have about the results or recommendations; this briefer follow-up is optional but included.
- All paperwork, intakes, and feedback sessions are electronic.
- You must be physically located in the state of California for all appointments, including virtual ones. If you arrive in a location outside of California, your appointment will be cancelled and rescheduled – additional fees may apply for late cancellations/reschedules.
Out-Of-Network Information
Clinicians at Relucent Psychology Group are fully out-of-network providers, meaning we do not take or bill insurance.
We offer a superbill – that is a document you can submit to your insurance company to use your out-of-network benefits. A superbill is provided after testing is fully completed and does not guarantee reimbursement. All services must be paid in full out of pocket before your testing report is provided. There are no refunds for services even if your insurance denies the superbill. If you are going to check your out-of-network benefits, they may ask for CPT codes. CPT codes used for assessment billing include: 90791, 96130, 96131, 96136, and 96137.
At this time, we cannot estimate how much an insurance company will reimburse. Relucent Psychology Group does not complete single-case agreements or pre-authorizations for insurance since this can significantly delay your testing process.
We do not offer payment plans seeing as we are able to delay scheduling your intake to a later time so that you have an extra few weeks or months to feel financially more ready for the cost of the evaluation. If you are in need of a more urgent evaluation and unable to financially afford the cost of the evaluation, it is recommended to contact your medical or insurance provider directly for them to provide options.
If you do not wish to receive a superbill to attempt independent insurance reimbursement, you will receive a Good Faith Estimate for your treatment within either one or three business days, depending on when your intake is scheduled. In line with the federal No Surprises Act, the Good Faith Estimate is a document that summarizes your anticipated total charges for the service that will be provided – this is to be sure that you fully understand how much you will pay and to protect you from being billed for amounts unexpectedly. At Relucent Psychology Group, our intake paperwork outlines add-on fees and charges (such as attending a child’s IEP meeting, late cancellations or late reschedules, additional hours of testing requested by you, etc.) however we will never provide any add-on service without first notifying you about the exact plan and receiving your agreement.
We accept all major credit cards and HAS/FSA cards. No referral is needed to receive our services.