I know that one cannot simply “register” for most psychological tests the way one can register for standardized academic exams such as the SAT, GRE, MCAT, etc. Psychological testing, to be considered valid, often needs to be administered individually by a licensed and qualified clinician such as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Medical Doctor, or LCSW.
To what extent is it possible to register for, take, and confidentially receive the results of, an arbitrary psychological test for a non-clinically necessary reason? E.g. to enhance self-knowledge/self-actualization outside of any clinical treatment regime, for one’s own research (e.g. so you can write about the experience), for bragging rights, dick size comparisons (e.g. the doctor says that my interpersonal dynamics are 30% more progressive than yours), or just for shits and giggles?
I would expect that psychological testing that is not clinically or medically necessary would not be covered by insurance and that I would have to pay out of pocket. Is that it? Can I call up a local shrink and ask to pay his regular hourly rate to have the Hare Psychopathy Checklist done for me, get a Parent-Child Interaction Assessment-II, then round it out with a Remote Associates Test for dessert?
If this can’t be done, why? Do psychological tests have some sort of “controlled substance” status that require a prescription for them to be done legally? Is it not a problem with legality per se but a matter of professional ethics? Is it a social thing among clinicians and a psychologist who takes cash for test results is likely to be ostracized, not invited to conventions, etc.?
Some randomly selected psychiatrist or psychologist is not necessarily going to have the necessary test materials for your chosen test, and in some cases it might be expensive or inconvenient for them to get such materials. Also, probably some tests require training in order to be properly administered and/or assessed, and your chosen shrink might not have such training.
Apart from that, however, I do not see why there should be any difficulty beyond the need for you to make it worth the the tester’s while. It is probably going to depend on how much cash you are willing to offer.
It’s not at all a question of “how much cash you are willing to offer.” There are reasonably standard fees in any area. It’s not like selling strawberries out of a pickup.
Really? Are you saying that all or most psychological tests are routinely available to anyone who walks in off the street (walks in to where? I don’t know, but perhaps you do) and asks to be tested? Anyone can routinely do this, and will be tested without question? And there is a standard schedule of fees for tests given in such circumstances? I have never heard of such a thing, and I do not believe it.
There may be standard fees, set by psychiatrists/clinical psychologists and/or medical insurance systems, for certain tests when they are administered to psychiatric patients as part of the diagnostic process, but that circumstance was rather explicitly not what the OP was asking about.
If a psychiatrist or other competent person were asked by some random person, not a patient, to administer a test to them, I should imagine they would either refuse point-blank (perhaps out of concern for their professional reputation), or would feel free to set their own fee, sufficient to compensate them for their inconvenience, and very likely bumped up in the light of the weirdness and dubious ethics of the situation, and the fact that the person asking appears to be a sucker with money to burn. That was the situation I was talking about.
Those tests would not be legitimate because they were not given for legitimate reasons. The people in question would have no one to report the results to. They could never become official or be considered valid.
You can’t get valid results while trying to grease someone’s hand under the table. Validity by definition requires doing everything above board.
What the OP can do is become a patient of the psychologist and pay the standard testing appointment fee. He is not required to actually have a mental disorder.
Of course those are the types of tests given to the mentally ill. If he’s talking about the tests given, say, to job applicants, that’s a whole other story. But still you will have to pay above board, which will likely involve a standard pricing structure.
What has “official” “validity” got to do with the OP’s question? He was explicitly talking about taking tests just to satisfy his own curiosity, about a situation that is not (in your rather weird terms) “legitimate”. (Though I see no reason why such “illegitimacy” would render any results scientifically invalid.)
Again, this is not what the OP asked, and I would expect that most psychologists or psychiatrists who normally administer tests for psychiatric diagnostic reasons would be leery of administering them, in their professional capacity, to someone who was upfront about doing the whole thing just out of curiosity, and certainly of taking someone on as a “patient” for such reasons. Some might do it if you greased their palms enough (which need not at all affect the validity of the test, except maybe in some special cases).
Furthermore, there are all sorts of psychological tests, many of which are designed merely for research use, have nothing to do with psychiatric diagnosis, and are not used for job interviews. Some you could easily administer to yourself, for free, or get a friend to administer (here, for instance, is the VVIQ test, much used in research). Others might require some training, experience, or special materials to administer, in which case you would probably have to pay someone who has those things sufficient to make it worth their while (or find a researcher already on the lookout for willing subjects).
You may be able to go to a university or hospital based psychology department and ask to be tested for autism and learning disabilities. That should cover a lot of territory.
A university or hospital setting would be better than a private clinic that also sells treatment for autism or learning disabilities.
Testing could be covered under your health insurance behavioral health benefits.
No, just as you can’t walk into most medical offices and ask to pay for a CAT scan for no reason and with no professional relationship with that office or facility. It’s not like walking into a pay clinic and asking for a strep test.
“Psychiatric patients” are people who already have a relationship with a psychologist, psychiatrist, or facility, and presumably have a reason to be tested.
If you’d like a full psych battery, or a full neuro battery, you can try contacting people who administer these and asking if you can have one. However, the US standard is that a thorough (up to several-hour) clinical interview is part of an assessment battery. It’s also standard to be working from a referral question. “I’m interested to know if I meet criteria for a diagnosis” or “I’m wondering if I have early Alzheimer’s” or “I think I have a learning disability” is enough for some clinicians.
Will your insurance cover this in the absence of a referral question from someone providing medical or psych services? Doubtful.
Can you just say, “I"m curious about these tests so I want to take them?” Probably not. But neither can you get an NG tube inserted just to see what it’s like.
Or, rather more honestly: contact the psychology department of a nearby university and ask if they ever run tests like those you’re interested in. If they have their students practice them they may well be looking for volunteers.
As I said in my OP, nobody’s hand is being greased. We are talking about someone discussing upfront what they want.
It’s interesting to consider the “validity” of a psychological test administered outside normal treatment and diagnostic systems. In the academic world, it’s possible to a large extent to “bank” standardized test results and use them later. E.g. you can take the GRE now and apply to grad school two years later with your 2014 scores.
In what ways could it be meaningful to “bank” psychological test results, and would they actually let you use the banked results (e.g. as opposed to having to take the test again, or take a different test that the shrink du jour prefers, etc.)?
I thought of the following possibilities:
Forensic psychology. E.g. if someone’s sanity, stability, etc. ends up in court, there’s often an emphasis on “winning” or “losing” the case or argument rather than getting the best mental health outcome. E.g. if I am being forensically assessed for whether or not I should be required to live in a mental hospital, I might be able to submit “banked” test results that show my stability.
Job applications. E.g. you could take psychological assessments that a specific hiring manager or company does not always use and submit your scores anyway, hoping for an advantage.
E.g.
“Why should you hire me as the new primary school teacher? Not only do I have the right degrees and academic test results, I also scored ‘Ultra Low’ on McWharfle’s Sexual Offense Risk Analysis Battery (Second Ed.), was rated ‘Angelic’ on Johnson’s Moral Inventory Matrices, and scored ‘Teacher’ on the Career Identification System Revised Edition.”