A Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment is a type of brief therapy or intervention that uses psychological testing. It involves using empirically validated psychological tests and is focused on helping someone understand themselves more deeply—going beyond obtaining a diagnosis. A collaborative assessment emphasizes curiosity, compassion, humility, openness, respect, and (of course) collaboration between the client and the psychologist throughout the process. The goal of a C/TA is to help you develop a more accurate and compassionate narrative about yourself and to feel more prepared to make positive changes in your life.

At the beginning, we will spend some time coming up with your assessment questions. These are questions about yourself that can be about any aspect of your life where you are feeling stuck or stressed, such as your relationships, emotional difficulties, school or work, family, sexuality, spirituality, etc. Your questions help me to tailor the assessment and choose the most appropriate tests for you. Some examples of questions are:

• Why do I struggle to trust others?

• Where does my anxiety come from and how do I overcome it?

• What is going on that I keep ending up in relationships where I am mistreated?

The types of tests we do together will vary based on your assessment questions, but generally we will spend lots of time talking over your questions, use some pencil-paper questionnaires, and work on tests involving more open-ended tasks. As we go, we will also discuss your reactions and thoughts about each test. We may also experiment along the way with the things we learn in the assessment to see if they help you to see yourself or your problems in a different way.

Though the structure and pace of a Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment are highly flexible and individualized, we will typically meet for several 1-2 hour sessions over the course of 2-4 weeks. At the end of the testing, we will discuss together the test results as they relate to your assessment questions and your life experiences. If you would like, your therapist or anyone else can attend this feedback session. You will also receive a written summary of our discussion and the assessment findings.

A Collaborative/Therapeutic assessment can be useful in many different situations, but some common circumstances are when someone:

• is considering whether to begin therapy

• is beginning therapy or treatment and would like to create a ‘roadmap’ for what to work on and how

• is already in therapy and they and their therapist would like to understand something better

• feels curious or interested to learn something about themselves

• is feeling indecisive or stuck in some area of life

I would be glad to talk with you in a free phone consultation to help you determine if a Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment would meet your needs.

I will be glad to provide you an estimate of the cost over the phone after briefly discussing the kinds of questions you have. The cost of an assessment varies widely based on how many questions you have, as well as the types and number of tests needed to answer your questions.The cost of the assessment includes time we spend in session, time spent obtaining collateral information from your therapist and/or others (if applicable), as well as the time needed to score, interpret, and write up the test results. I will also provide you a superbill you can submit to your insurance company for any out-of-network reimbursement they may provide.

Please call 832-931-4540 for a free 10-15 minute phone consultation so we can discuss the possibility of working together. I typically return messages within one business day.

Yes, I would love to work with you. Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessments can be used as a type of consultation for you and the patient not only to clarify a diagnosis, but also to help develop deeper understanding, create a roadmap for treatment, address impasses or conundrums, or identify what would be most helpful in the therapeutic relationship.

A Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment is, of course, very collaborative. I typically communicate frequently throughout the assessment process so that we can all be on the same page. I will ask what questions about your patient you are hoping we can answer through the assessment, and I am interested in your perspective and experience with the person because it helps inform the test findings. In the end, we will discuss the findings together (with the patient if they prefer) and I will provide a written summary to both you and your patient.

Please call (832) 931-4540 to discuss referrals.