Assessment

Therapeutic assessment (TA) is a short-term mental health intervention. It expands on the traditional model of assessment and is distinct in that it fuses assessment and psychotherapy techniques. It is unique in that clients and families have the opportunity to benefit from all that a traditional assessment offers (ex. diagnosis, treatment planning and evaluation), while also participating in a short-term therapeutic intervention.

TA was developed by Stephen Finn, PhD and his colleagues at the Therapeutic Assessment Institute. The research supporting TA is significant and shows positive outcomes for teens and their families. Teens participating in TA have been shown to feel less distressed, have less behavioral problems, and feel more hopeful about the future. Parents also benefit feeling more confident and capable of managing their teens behaviors. TA aims to help you and your family gain deeper insight into problematic thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and gain new skills to go forward.

The primary goal of the therapeutic assessment (TA) is to facilitate positive changes in clients and their families through the collaboration and the assessment experience itself. Thus, collaboration is central to a TA. Clients are involved in every step of the process from determining the goals of the assessment, to discussing the possible meanings of the test results, to experimenting with new ways to manage problems.

We will begin by getting to know you and your unique struggle. Together, we will develop specific questions that we will answer through the assessment process. Based on these questions, we will determine which formal tests will be most appropriate. These tests will have gone through rigorous evaluation and are evidence based, and is what makes testing so valuable. They allow us to make a comparison of your performance to what is expected for someone of that same age. We will follow up to this and invite you to discuss reactions and thoughts during the process and try out alternative solutions to managing your problems.

At the end, we will discuss answers to your questions. Typically clients can also expect to receive a letter answering their questions. Along with data from testing, these answers will take into careful consideration life events, interpersonal contexts, and reactions to the testing process. TA works best when you are actively involved in the process. We invite you to join us in the assessment process to facilitate meaningful changes in behaviors, emotions, and relationships in your and your family’s life.

OpenMinds provides assessment services for teens and young adults ages 12-24 that are experiencing social, emotional, and behavioral issues.

Research has shown the TA model to be effective with a variety of presenting issues, including: ADHD, learning disabilities, depression, anxiety, parent-child conflict, complex trauma, self-harm behaviors, substance use, and many more.