Psychological & Personality Testing - Commonwealth Psychology

Psychological testing refers to the use of an array of measures designed to explore an individual's cognitive, personality, and emotional functioning.

The general goal of psychological & personality testing is to gather information about current emotional functioning, personality style, and areas of concern that may be targets for treatment.

Often, diagnosis and treatment planning are key goals for psychological testing.

A type of psychological testing we employ at CPA is Therapeutic Assessment (TA.) Therapeutic Assessment is similar to traditional psychological testing but it differs in its emphasis on collaboration with the client and focusing on how to create positive change for clients. The TA model is not as focused on diagnosis and treatment planning and instead focuses on identifying barriers to positive change and ways to remove those barriers. TA can be helpful for individuals without a specific diagnosis but who want to improve their lives.

At CPA, psychological & personality testing and/or therapeutic assessment are frequently implemented as a “first step” in the therapeutic process and can highlight areas of concern or strength that may warrant further conversation.

Psychological testing and therapeutic assessment can provide important information about an individual’s:

Personality structure
Relationship styles
Life themes
Cognitive or belief frameworks (or schema)
Treatment needs
Response to treatment
Barriers to greater success

Following the psychological evaluation, your psychologist will meet with you to discuss the findings and together you and your clinician will discuss how some of the results can be incorporated into your therapeutic work together.

Assessments are available in our Back Bay and Newton-Watertown offices. To learn more, complete our quick and easy Online Intake Form or call us at (617) 259-1895 today.