WELCOME TO PSYCH TESTING SOLUTIONS
Psychological Testing and Assessments Toronto
Dr. O'Connor, a Toronto psychologist, provides in depth, comprehensive Psychological Testing and Assessments to children, adolescents and young adults. She holds a Diplomate in School Neuropsychology. She provides comprehensive school neuropsychological assessments to assist with the psychological concerns in a young person that worry you. She situates her psychological assessments within the larger context of a school neuropsychological evaluation. Her post doctoral training in School Neuropsychology leads to a comprehensive, in depth psychological assessment based on brain-behavior principles. School neuropsychological assessments integrate neuropsychological and educational principles within the assessment process and the interventions that follow.The school neuropsychological assessment is part of the solution and leads to evidence based interventions to assist young people, their families, the school and others who work with them, to address the psychological challenges they face.
Dr. O'Connor takes referrals from educational personnel, physicians, pediatricians, personal injury and family lawyers, mental health professionals and organizations. She also supports young adults who require psychological testing and assessment services to explore learning issues, such as a learning disability in order to pursue appropriate support at the college or university level. Or when writing post graduate admission exams. Or to assist young adults who are looking for help around college admission tests, and/or other issues such as behavioral and emotional concerns?
Get "beneath the surface" and learn more about what is contributing to and maintaining the psychological concerns in a young person that worry you. What are the young person's strengths and particular talents? What are his needs and what interventions are most likely to help?
Dr. O'Connor's psychological testing and assessments explore a range of psychological concerns that may present in a child, an adolescent or young adult.
These include:
- learning and academic problems (e.g., learning disabilities & developmental delays)
- social, emotional and behavioral concerns (e.g.,anxiety and/or depression)
- traumatic brain injury/concussion
- trauma based issues (acute and/or ongoing chronic stressors)
The above concerns frequently interconnect. A young person, for example, who is showing learning problems may also show symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, or trauma symptoms and/or suffer from a brain injury.
What Concerns in a Young Person Worry You?
Dr. O'Connor's psychological testing and assessment services can help you get "to the root" of the psychological concerns in a young person that worry you. You will learn what is contributing to and maintaining these concerns and how to address them. You will learn where the young person's strengths lie, what his needs are and what interventions might help.
Dr. O'Connor's Psychological Assessments Can Help
Dr. O'Connor's Testing and Assessments Services can help you, help the children, adolescents and young adults you care about and work with.
Psychological Assessments
Children, adolescents and young adults can suffer from a range of psychological concerns, from the relatively benign to the more serious. Their families, and the professionals who work with them are searching for help to support them.
Dr. O'Connor's Psychological Assessments increase understanding of adolescent and child problems and how to help.
- Find out what is contributing to and maintaining the adolescent and child problems that worry you.
- Find out how a young person is doing in specific areas of child development - the social, emotional, behavioral and cognitive/academic.
- Find out about a young person's needs and how to help.
- Discover a child's strengths and build on where "things are working" and going well.
- Learn how a child is coping with specific challenges or concerns (e.g. divorce, parental addiction, social concerns, trauma related issues,) and what you can do to help.
- Find out where you need to
intervene to reduce stress in a child, build positive coping strategies
and enhance the young person's competence, psychological well being and
resilience.
Following the assessment, Dr. O'Connor may refer you to community resources or relevant books and other resources to address the young person's needs. If applicable, Dr. O'Connor will provide a diagnosis or diagnoses, as well as recommendations to help the young person cope with specific problems and concerns.
School Neuropsychological Assessments
School neuropsychological assessments are comprehensive, in depth assessments that increase understanding of the brain-behaviour relationships that underlie the psychological and learning challenges that present in young people. This applies specifically to the underlying neuropsychological processing concerns that young people with learning and other psycholological problems often exhibit. The comprehensive, in depth analysis the school neuropsychological assessment offers leads to the development of evidence based, targeted interventions tailored to the individual needs of the young person.
The young people Dr. O'Connor works with typically require comprehensive, in depth school-neuropsychological assessments to get to the root of the psychological/learning issues that plague them. The traditional psychoeducational assessment does not provide the in depth, comprehensive assessment and analysis that her young clients frequently require.
What About Psycheducational Assessments?
Dr. O'Connor includes the components of a psychoeducational assessment within the school neuropsychological assessments she provides. These include measures of cognitive abilities, academic achievement and screeners to explore social and emotional functions. Dr. O'Connor includes these measures during the initial assessment session, and then proceeds to the more fulsome school neuropsychological assessment if required.
From the School Neuropsychology Institute:
In a recent posting "Under Strength
Based School Neuropsychology Report Writing" it states the following:
"A school neuropsychological evaluation conducted by a clinical or school
psychologist with advanced training in school neuropsychology is typically a
time-intensive, complex assessment with a student who is suspected of having
significant challenges that would benefit from a more comprehensive assessment
than a traditional psychoeducational evaluation (Martin, 2021). "
Trauma Based Assessments
School neuropsychological assessments help explore trauma symptoms in a young people, determine their level of severity and whether or not the young person's symptomology meets the criteria for a post traumatic stress disorder. Trauma symptoms may result from a single acute trauma, like a motor vehicle accident, or more chronic, ongoing forms of trauma. These might include psychological, physical, and/or sexual abuse, and/or emotional or physical neglect, living with a family member with mental health or substance use disorders and/or witnessing domestic abuse. Poverty may also be a factor, as well as bullying, racism, discrimination and community violence. Post traumatic stress symptoms can interfere with a young person's ability to learn and succeed academically and contribute to social, emotional and behavioural concerns.