What Can I Learn from Testing?

People of all ages can participate in testing, although certain types of assessment are not recommended for children under age 6. Psychologists offer many different types of assessment, including psychological, educational, neuropsychological, forensic, and vocational. This blog will focus on psychological and educational testing, since these are offered at Four Corners Psychological Services.

Psychological Testing – As discussed in previous blogs, psychological testing consists of interviews and test measures designed to identify mental health symptoms and personality traits. Here are some of the benefits of psychological testing:

• Clarifying Diagnosis: Making sense of the symptoms present
• Understanding Personality: Gaining a better understanding of yourself or your child, and why you think, feel, and behave the way you do
• Giving Direction for Treatment: Knowing more about yourself or your child can help with creating an individualized treatment plan that is tailored to the unique needs and personality style present

Educational Testing – As discussed in previous blogs, educational or “psychoeducational” testing consists of interviews, test measures, and rating scales to determine the cause of academic challenges. The benefits include:

• Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses: Learn your or your child’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses to help better understand their learning style and how to support them
• Clarifying Diagnosis: Making sense of the symptoms present
• Providing Validation: Confirming the reasons behind academic struggles can be validating in knowing that they are out of your control and not simply a poor reflection of you/your child
• Providing Evidence for Services: Documenting a diagnosis and quantitative test results can demonstrate the need for accommodations that schools require
• Helping with Educational Decision-Making: Knowing more about your child’s learning needs helps with planning which schools or colleges to attend to best suite those needs

Any time is the right time for testing. Ideally, testing would occur when issues are first emerging and before they reach a “crisis” point; however, getting answers is helpful at any time!

By Dr. Stephanie M. Fox|2020-07-29T15:19:25+00:00July 29th, 2020|

About the Author: Dr. Stephanie M. Fox

Dr. Fox’s professional training took her throughout the Four Corners area, which inspired her practice name. In 2009, she earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of New Mexico, graduating summa cum laude. She earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Argosy University, Denver in 2012, and her Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Arizona School of Professional Psychology in 2016. Throughout her training, Dr. Fox has had an extensive assessment background, including conducting diagnostic, forensic, and educational/achievement evaluations with adolescents and adults. She completed a predoctoral internship at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan, and completed her postdoctoral work in private practice in personality and psychoeducational evaluations. Collectively, Dr. Fox has completed hundreds of evaluations covering a diverse range of issues. Dr. Fox is licensed as a Psychologist in the state of Colorado (#4709), and is also nationally certified as a Health Service Psychologist by the National Register (#55849). She is a member of the American Psychological Association, Colorado Psychological Association, and Colorado Assessment Society.