Testing Services

I have 17 years of experience conducting thorough psychological evaluations for children aged 2-18 and adults.  For each psychological assessment, I personally administer and interpret an individualized battery of testing measures based on my client's treatment needs and referral questions.  Testing results provide important and often essential information needed for therapeutic, medication, and educational treatment planning.  Mental health is complicated, disorders requiring completely different treatment interventions can have overlapping symptoms making them difficult to distinguish solely from background information, and it is common for children and adults to have multiple diagnoses.  Thus, appropriate and effective treatment and support interventions can only be successful if providers have an accurate diagnostic picture and a thorough understanding of the client's current functioning and their personal strengths and weaknesses.  Generally, the psychological testing process will consist of an initial intake session where we will discuss history, previous testing and treatment, referral questions, and testing goals.  We will then schedule one or more testing sessions to complete the in-person portions of the evaluation.  In addition, there are often self, parent, and/or teacher-report measures which ask about various symptoms and tendencies to provide information about how the client is functioning in various setting.  After all of the testing has been administered, I will score and interpret the results and write a comprehensive report providing history, previous testing results, current testing results, detailed current diagnosis, and recommendations for treatment and other support services.  Finally, we will meet for a feedback session where I will explain all of the testing results and recommendations and provide copies of the report for you and other providers.  You can then move forward with the confidence of knowing you and your providers understand your unique mental health needs and how to best approach providing you with the treatment and support you need to thrive in life.

Comprehensive Psychological Evaluations

With this thorough evaluation, I will combine testing measures including intellectual, executive functioning, behavioral, social and emotional, and personality.  These results are used to provide an in-depth analysis of the client's overall current  functioning, clarification of diagnosis(es), and treatment recommendations.

ADHD and Executive Functioning Evaluations

When there are concerns about executive functioning, such as with ADHD or concussions, in addition to a comprehensive psychological evaluation I will conduct additional neuropsychological testing measures.  These provide a more accurate diagnostic picture and the in-depth understanding of executive functioning needed for appropriate treatment planning.  For example, while it is helpful to know that your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, it is much more useful to know that they have a strength in being able to hyper-focus on something visual and a deficit in their ability to focus on verbal content.

Psycho-educational and Learning-Disability Evaluations

In these evaluations, I will assess the client's current intellectual and achievement functioning.  These results are used to diagnose learning disabilities and provide detailed information about strengths and weaknesses in various areas of academic functioning.  These evaluations are often necessary for eligibility for educational supports and interventions such as IEP services and extra time on standardized testing measures including the SAT.  

Developmental Evaluations

I provide developmental evaluations for clients aged two through adulthood.  Generally, in addition to a comprehensive psychological evaluation I will conduct additional testing measures used to diagnose and assess current strengths and treatment needs for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disabilities, and other neurological conditions.  These evaluations are often necessary for eligibility for support and treatment services for children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Cognitive-Admissions Evaluations

Assessment solely of current intellectual functioning to determine if a child meets eligibility for admission to private schools or gifted & talented programs.

Pre-Adoption Evaluations

A short assessment of parents mental health and their understanding of the challenges of raising an adoptive child.  These evaluations are often necessary during the adoption process to provide evidence that the adopters have the capacity to care for the adopted child.

Contact Dr. Jessica Cardwell

Location

Availability

Primary

Monday:

8:30 am-4:00 pm

Tuesday:

8:30 am-6:00 pm

Wednesday:

8:30 am-4:00 pm

Thursday:

8:30 am-6:00 pm

Friday:

8:30 am-4:00 pm

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed