Psychological testing/assessment is a way to quickly determine the nature and extent of problems, help clarify diagnoses, determine abilities and limitations, and help make decisions about coping abilities. A thorough psychological assessment can also provide information needed to help develop an effective therapeutic treatment program or intervention plan for a client. It helps in the processes of both conducting therapy and evaluating therapy as discussed below.

Psychological assessment for conducting therapy

Therapy is the process of treatment of psychological or mental disorders by psychological means. Psychological assessment plays a dual role in conducting therapy:

1. Objective of treatment: A new client will receive a formal psychological assessment to provide the psychologist a condition in which to begin his work. This assessment will guide the psychologist into determining the required path and provide a starting ground for continuous assessments.
2. Challenges in treatment: The process of psychological treatment is not always smooth. Often various factors affect the psychological characteristics of the patient in a manner that they in turn negatively impact the efficacy of the therapy. This could be something like interpersonal aversiveness slowing down the impact of therapy. Psychological assessment can help identify such challenges early and thus help the therapist.

Psychological assessment for evaluating therapy

One of the common uses of assessments is to determine an individual’s progress in regards to the therapy that he’s been receiving. It is important to assess the objective of the treatment and challenges in the beginning of therapy. Similarly, it is also important to assess the impact of the therapy, that is, to evaluate the therapy’s success.