Assessment & Therapy

Psychological assessments can be performed for many reasons. Although it is not necessary to undergo formal psychological assessment before beginning some therapies, others do rely on a comprehensive understanding of how past and present factors contribute to people's problems before therapy can be started. Clinical psychologists commonly investigate people's past experiences, often as far back as they can remember, in order to understand how they have affected the development of someone's personality and how their personality affects the ways that they think, behave and feel on a daily basis. Often it can be therapeutic in itself to have a psychological assessment. People often feel empowered and better equipped to make changes in their lives if they can understand what "makes them tick". Other therapies rely on the gradual uncovering of important events as part of the therapy process rather than right at the start. We can perform psychological assessments -

Routinely, as part of or as a precursor to therapy
To help people better understand themselves
To help others involved in a person's care to better understand them
For medical and legal reasons