Psychological Assessments
At Snowline Counseling, we offer basic and comprehensive psychological assessments for adolescents and adults (ages 6 and up). Our assessments cover a variety of needs, and we can design tailored packages to answer many diagnostic questions. Common reasons for assessment include:
Suspected Learning Disorders
Giftedness Testing
Behavioral Concerns
Diagnostic Clarity
Screening for Referral to Specialized Testing
Consultation (Review of Academic Learning or School Behavioral Plans and Prior Testing Results)
Cognitive and Achievement Testing
Our general cognitive and achievement testing battery uses some of the most well-researched and validated testing instruments available to identify concerns such as: specific learning disabilities (SLD; including difficulties in math, reading, and/or writing), giftedness, suspected global intellectual disability, and executive functioning concerns (e.g., ADHD). Our battery is appropriate for children ages 6 years and older, as well as adults of any age. We are happy to work with you to identify the best possible testing approach, including identifying the need for referral for more specialized testing. If you or your child have a history of struggles with academic or career success, testing can help to identify areas of strength and struggle that can inform interventions to make your school or work journey easier and more successful. This type of testing is also designed to meet criteria for obtaining academic and behavioral accom0dations at all levels of schooling (pre-school through graduate school programs) and for standardized testing, if the results indicate a need for accommodations. This testing can help support obtaining a formal IEP (individualized education program) or 504 plan.
Testing for Diagnostic Clarity
We also have the ability to use additional diagnostic tests and screeners to help clarify a diagnosis and inform treatment approaches. Sometimes, mental health symptoms can overlap and there can be difficulty in identifying the most accurate diagnosis for an individual. When this happens, the effectiveness of both therapy interventions and medication management may be impacted. For some, getting more data to inform a diagnosis can help to guide more targeted treatments to get you feeling better faster and experience a more in-depth understanding of yourself and your symptoms. If you or your child have received several different diagnoses or have had your diagnosis changed or updated multiple times in your therapy journey, testing may be able to help more clearly identify areas of concern for therapeutic focus.
Our Testing Process
Our process begins with an initial phone consultation in which we discuss your needs and make sure that we can meet them or provide you with referrals for more specialized testing (such as neuropsychological testing or testing for autism spectrum disorder). Next, we will meet for an intake interview in which we thoroughly discuss your history and current concerns to inform the creation of your individual testing battery. We will then review the battery with you and schedule your testing sessions. Depending on your schedule and the type of testing needed, we may be able to complete the battery in one day over several hours, or we may divide it up between a few days of testing. Finally, we will meet for a feedback session in which we will discuss your results and recommendations. At that time, you will receive a copy of your signed, official testing report to distribute as you see fit (e.g., to school personnel, other providers, or your workplace). All fees and anticipated length of testing will be made clear and discussed prior to beginning services so that you can make an informed decision regarding the extensiveness of the testing battery you would like to have done. At the completion of testing, we will work with you to help deliver and review your results with any other involved parties (e.g., teachers, learning specialists, treatment specialists such as occupational therapists) that you want to include, and to help collaborate with them to inform the design of any necessary learning or behavioral plans.
Academic and Developmental Consultation Services
Our testing consultation services are available for anyone who is: (a) unsure if testing is needed or would be beneficial for you, (b) had testing done in the past and are considering having testing repeated for any reason, (c) had testing done in the past but have not had success with your current accommodations, or (d) are experiencing new or worsening academic or behavioral concerns within work or school settings. All new and interested clients will first receive a free initial phone consultation call in which we discuss your concerns and goals. Following that, we offer a free brief overview of any existing psychological testing reports that you may have in which we can answer basic questions like: (a) is full or partial re-testing recommended for any reason (e.g., results are outdated, new concerns are present that are not addressed in prior reports, applicability of prior testing results is unclear), (b) are additional supplementary testing recommended, or (c) is a referral to specialty testing recommended. Beyond this initial overview, paid consultation services are offered for more in-depth testing support. Such services include a full review and explanation of testing results (including a review of existing recommendations and discussion of supplemental recommendations for learning and behavioral support), non-assessment based learning, social, developmental, and behavioral recommendations and guidance (including parenting skills support), and collaborative work with schools to advocate for you or your child and help set goals and manage academic, social, developmental, and behavioral concerns. The nature of these consultation services tend to be flexible and individualized to your needs; we encourage you to reach out with any questions or needs and we will be happy to help you determine if there is a compatible service that we offer!
To get started, click the link below to fill out our contact form or email us at snowlinecounseling@protonmail.com
***Although we can help to screen for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis in the process of completing one of our psychological testing batteries, a formal ASD diagnosis requires comprehensive testing from a clinician with expertise in ASD assessment instruments. We are happy to help refer out anyone with a primary need for ASD testing and to help screen those who are unsure if they might need comprehensive ASD testing.***