Tory Tomassetti

Assessments

TESTING & Assessment

with Dr. Madison estrada

 

All psychological assessments begin with an initial clinical interview. During this appointment, Dr. Estrada gathers key information about your concerns and reasons for requesting an evaluation. This session includes a review of your personal history and current functioning to better understand how your symptoms/concerns may be impacting your quality of life. At the conclusion of this appointment, Dr. Estrada carefully selects components for an individualized assessment battery to be administered in subsequent meetings.

Upon completion of the battery, Dr. Estrada scores and interprets all data, integrating it into a detailed report with a thorough list of recommendations. A feedback session is then scheduled so that Dr. Estrada can share the findings from testing and answer any questions you may have.

Following comprehensive assessment and feedback, clients find that they not only have greater self-understanding, but also a clear path for moving forward. 

Psychoeducational and executive functioning evaluations include assessments for AD/HD, learning disorders, and Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Psychoeducational evaluations include assessment of academic skills (reading, writing, and math abilities), language comprehension, executive functioning, and other psychological factors that may impact one’s ability to perform at their full academic or professional potential. This includes testing for accommodations for neurodivergence and those who are seeking accommodations for mental health symptoms that may be interfering with their ability to excel academically or occupationally (e.g., test or performance anxiety).

Navigating through life with attention and concentration difficulties can negatively impact all areas of functioning. If you’re seeking to understand why you struggle with attention and concentration, organizational skills, time management, memory, and task prioritization (collectively referred to as “executive dysfunction”), Dr. Estrada is well-equipped to assess and provide the answers/diagnostic clarity you are seeking. When an evaluation results in a diagnosis of AD/HD, Dr. Estrada will have an in-depth conversation with you about recommended next steps pertaining to psychotherapy, psychopharmacological treatment, and/or school or workplace accommodations. 

Difficulties with reading, writing, and/or math can pose occupational, social, and educational challenges. Individuals with impairments in learning often experience additional challenges in executive functioning, impeding task initiation and achievement. Furthermore, adults with one or more learning disorders are more prone to issues with self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and interpersonal functioning. If you struggle with reading, written expression, or math-specific skills, Dr. Estrada can assess if these difficulties could be due to a clinically significant learning disorder. Following testing, Dr. Estrada will assist you in identifying solutions and ways to accommodate your specific needs to limit the negative impact on important areas of functioning.

As diagnostic sensitivity and awareness have improved in recent years, many adults have wondered if some of their social and executive functioning difficulties may be related to undiagnosed ASD. When one has not been diagnosed and received that clarity for themselves, the difficulties they face in daily functioning can be exacerbated by the distress of not knowing, feeling othered, and consequently experiencing immense loneliness. Undiagnosed ASD can contribute to further mental health difficulties which could have been avoided, had one received proper evaluation and diagnosis. For this reason, Dr. Estrada has sought out training opportunities specifically related to the assessment and diagnosis of Autism in adults.

In addition to psychoeducational assessments, Dr. Estrada routinely conducts psychological testing to answer questions about interpersonal functioning, health, relationships, career, and other areas of functioning.  Frequently, Dr. Estrada is tasked with providing diagnostic clarity to inform prescribing physicians about medical management of symptoms.  

From difficult family dynamics to traumatic events that one experiences throughout life, past experiences impact our approach to relationships – for better or worse. Dr. Estrada offers evaluations that focus on your interpersonal functioning in order to promote better quality relationships. These evaluations may include discovering more about your conflict resolution habits, attachment style, degree of assertiveness, relationship values, unmet needs, or personality features which may impact how others relate to you in relationships. Marital or relational satisfaction assessments are also offered, which allow for partners to get on the same page about their concerns in their relationship, while also identifying their relationship strengths and how to best use those to address their concerns. 

Living with a chronic illness or pain disorder can take a significant toll on one’s overall quality of life. Dr. Estrada provides evaluations to help you learn more about the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral factors that may act as barriers for optimal management of your condition. Through this evaluation, we will identify the factors that have prevented you from reaching your highest level of functioning so that you can feel more empowered to cope with and manage your condition. Dr. Estrada also specializes in the treatment of sleep-related disorders. Treatment of sleep-related concerns often begins with a thorough evaluation to optimize treatment targets. Thus, Dr. Estrada offers psychological testing to target various health concerns, including dissatisfaction with sleep, stress management, and physical tension.

Making career-related decisions can be stressful and overwhelming. Dr. Estrada has been trained in vocational counseling and assessment and offers career-related evaluations to identify your specific interests, skills, and abilities. This allows one to find the best-suited career options and assists with career decision-making and planning. Whether you’re trying to decide on a college major, about to enter the workforce, or ready for a career pivot, career assessment can be enlightening and save you a lot of costly trial and error.

Have you ever wondered about what your unique strengths are and how you can better tap into those to increase your resiliency and success in life? If so, a strengths-based evaluation may be for you! With this form of testing, your strengths will be fully explored and identified. You will gain insight into how your specific strengths can benefit your functioning in all domains of life. 

Desiring to increase your own self-understanding? Assessment is the perfect avenue for this. Perhaps you have some specific concerns, and you just keep asking yourself, “Why am I like this? Why do I do x, y, z?” Psychological testing can help you discover more about you by asking questions that you have not thought to ask on your own. Dr. Estrada will help you uncover and understand your defense mechanisms, go-to coping strategies (some of which may be ineffective or maladaptive), personality traits, and approach to relationships to help you better understand yourself. This information often increases self-compassion, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, allowing one to either better accept themselves or construct a plan for how they may want to change.

A different type of assessment for maximizing personal development and growth: therapeutic assessment

 

 Therapeutic Assessment (TA) is an efficient and empowering assessment approach offered by Dr. Estrada. While traditional psychological assessment is often employed to determine diagnoses, treatment plans, and to facilitate referrals, TA can accomplish all of these goals and more. TA not only equips clients with information, but also provides them with the opportunity to practice, in-vivo, the skills needed to make positive changes in their lives.

TA is a unique approach whereby an assessment battery, or specific instruments, are used as the therapeutic intervention. In other words, this service combines both assessment and therapy into one. When employing TA, Dr. Estrada creates an individualized assessment battery to answer the questions you have about yourself. After undergoing standardized assessment procedures, she then designs an Assessment Intervention Session (AIS), during which your area/s of concern is/are brought into the therapy room. Working collaboratively, Dr. Estrada helps you become an observer of this experience, exploring your typical ways of responding to your concerns. She then guides you in developing alternative, more adaptive ways of responding. Through the AIS, you are provided with an avenue to rewrite the aspects of your narrative that you are less than pleased with. 

TA can be completed in as few as four sessions. In fact, one of its strengths is how efficient of a treatment it is! In the first appointment, Dr. Estrada takes the time to get to know you and to learn about your concerns. During this appointment, you are assisted in creating your TA questions. The second appointment is used to complete psychological testing. The third session is the AIS, as described above. In the final session, you will be provided feedback and Dr. Estrada will answer your assessment questions. While this final session is structured as a collaborative discussion in which verbal feedback is provided, you will also receive a Therapeutic Assessment Letter (TAL). A TAL is your written feedback, without the jargon and lengthy formatting of a traditional psychological report. In other words, it is written with a client centered approach, as opposed to being written for a clinical audience. As with a traditional report, your TAL will leave you with a plethora of recommendations so that you can continue self-enhancement through re-writing your narrative post-treatment. Though many clients find the four-sessions of TA sufficient in answering their questions and creating positive changes, some clients opt to continue working with Dr. Estrada in individual therapy for further assistance with ongoing change. When this is the case, the TAL is then a useful resource in developing a treatment plan. Clients who have continued into individual therapy regularly refer back to the information they learned about themselves through TA and report the belief that the TA expedited their therapy progress.

Using state-of-the-art methods, Dr. Estrada has been conducting psychological evaluations for nearly 10 years. Having served as a psychometrist and a coordinator of assessment services, Dr. Estrada takes great care to select the most appropriate tools in her comprehensive assessment practice. It is her priority that all assessment questions are thoroughly addressed and presented in a clear format for both clients and referring providers.

Dr. Estrada is pleased to provide these assessment services to adult clients in Florida and New York State.

Book Now
tt2