The hunt for a psychologist

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So my life’s in turbulence right now. Money is tight and stress levels are high since this is the week mom comes home from Houston. The house is in good shape on the surface but underneath there is a lot of junk thrown in places you don’t see immediately. I’m recovering from a cold I think and last night I only got four hours of sleep between coughing and feeling stress to get the house ready to receive mom.

On top of that, it seems like my ability to focus has shrunk to nearly non-existent as of late. Examples being getting lost driving routes I know. Between the time I click to open Firefox and the time it opens, I forget what I was going to look at. I walk from one room to another and forget what I was doing. It’s just so aggravating, I need to find some solution.

I began calling local psychologists and trying to find one who can test me and that I can afford, so far I haven’t had any luck. The rates are pretty standard, one told me ~$400 for the series of tests he would put me through (which would take about three hours.) He seemed to know his stuff and he has a PhD, so he’s probably who I’ll go with.

This isn’t a plea for money, I can get the money together, I just don’t have it on hand. What I want to know is if there is other stuff I should be looking for? Aside from a degree and a plush couch (rimshot) what should I be asking?

– A very tired IG

2

What kind of tests are you expecting to have done? Seems like you just need someone to talk to – no tests necessary for standard therapy.

3

If you go with testing, clarify beforehand that you’ll receive a report and that the psychologist will go over it with you. A good report should be written in language that you understand, or should be explained to you, to your satisfaction. Ideally it concludes with both a diagnostic impression and recommendations. There have been some changes in raw data reporting, but the raw data is not especially helpful except to another psychologist. The report should indicate how the examiner’s conclusions were reached, which should be a combination of diagnostic interviewing and standardized testing.

4

I’m a bit curious as to what you want to have tested? Do you have a particular suspicion in mind? Any engagement in therapy should come with an evaluation at the beginning, which should generate some idea of a diagnosis. However, this could involve a clinical interview only, and not a standardized measurement, which should be significantly less costly. When you say testing, however, you may be cuing the psychologist into a more rigorous assessment to include a measure of intelligence and other similar tests.

I wouldn’t be particularly interested in paying someone to do a host of projectives with me (e.g. the Rorshak inkblot test).

A neuropsych battery is usually more focused on the investigation of specific concerns involving some specific impairment in cognitive functioning.

If I might, what type of testing did you discuss with the psychologist that you mentioned in the OP?

5

Yeah, I forgot to include that in the original post. What I am looking for is to be tested for ADHD or some other attention deficit disorder. Maybe it’s just me looking for something to blame, but I don’t know.

In answer to your questions about the procedure: When I initially spoke with the Doc he laid out what I could expect, he said that to start off there would be a bit of chatting so that he can get to know me first. Then they would run several tests, the first being a general IQ test which, as he put it, has lots of mini tests inside it which might be used to make a diagnosis. And then there would be another test, which escapes me, but would be more focused on ADHD.

From there he would take the results and generate a report for me to take. From the way he phrased it, it sounded like it would be a written explanation of his findings.

– IG

6

[QUOTE=Improv Geek]
Yeah, I forgot to include that in the original post. What I am looking for is to be tested for ADHD or some other attention deficit disorder. Maybe it’s just me looking for something to blame, but I don’t know.
… And then there would be another test, which escapes me, but would be more focused on ADHD.

From there he would take the results and generate a report for me to take. From the way he phrased it, it sounded like it would be a written explanation of his findings.

– IG
[/QUOTE]

My daughter, Moon Unit, underwent some testing a few months back and they did an assortment of tests that sound like what you describe. The outcome from our standpoint was a report describing how she performed in some of the various intellectual functioning areas (IIRC, inconsistencies can point to specific or general learning disabilities). My husband and I, and my daughter’s teacher, filled out questionnaires about her that asked all sort of things to which the answers were “never, sometimes, or often”. Things like “complains of phantom pain”, “says would rather be dead”, “has trouble maintaining relationships”. They also did a computerized TOVA (Test of Variables of Attention) which is specifically targeted at diagnosing ADHD.

I don’t have the report at hand (it’s downstairs) but it discussed her intellectual testing results (despite her sometimes inability to see objects that are RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER, she’s extremely bright… gets that from me :D) and some specific areas where she does not perform as well (she’s “only” at grade level in math). It also discussed the compilation of responses from the questionnairs and that this showed her as being stressed, somewhat depressed, very anxious, etc.

Ultimately it’s going to serve as a basis for accommodations at school, and medication as appropriate. What was interesting to us was that she does NOT seem to have many of the criteria of ADHD, per the TOVA testing and the fact that she is not hampered academically. This, while upon reading the DSM, she very much looks and acts like it’s ADHD.

In your case - I like the fact that the psych you spoke to plans to have a few visits to get to know you before administering testing. That’ll help target any tests that are done. Also - it sounds like a bunch of things are combining to stress you out / cause sleep loss - and poor quality sleep can certainly affect your functioning and mimic ADHD. I’d bet that stress / depression can as well - no cite though.

Oh - and 400 dollars sounds like a bargain (we’re paying off a fee of about 4 times that much).

7

When I started the thread I was a bit on edge, the stress and exhausting weighed on me and I was getting emotional and frustrated, so I think that read a bit into the OP. I’m calmer now, I still want to get tested and find out what’s going on - if anything, but it isn’t the dire circumstances it was earlier.

– IG

8

Well, if the money isn’t an issue, and you feel it would be worthwhile to obtain the results of the assessment that was described to you, it can’t really hurt. On the other hand, you might get a sufficient assessment for your purposes from a more general, and less costly and extensive evaluation.

9

When does the season start?