Understanding your experiences

Psychological Assessments

Therapy sessions begin with an assessment appointment. This helps us understand how past and present factors may be contributing to your current distress before therapy begins.

Psychological assessments can take place routinely, as part of therapy or before therapy starts. They may help you understand yourself more clearly, or help others involved in your care develop a fuller understanding of your experiences and needs.

Clinical psychologists and psychotherapists commonly explore people’s past experiences, often as far back as they can remember. This can help us understand how these experiences have shaped the development of someone’s personality and how their personality influences the ways they think, behave and feel now.

A psychological assessment can often be therapeutic in itself. People may feel empowered and better equipped to make changes in their lives when they have a clearer understanding of what may be underlying their distress.

Following an assessment, your therapist will work collaboratively with you to develop a formulation, or shared understanding of your difficulties. This brings together the factors that may help explain your experiences and provides the foundation for an appropriate treatment plan.