Psychological Testing and Assessment (Personality Evaluation) explores the client’s current emotional life. This individualized assessment - for children, adolescents, adults, and couples - evaluates emotions, thoughts, attitudes, and behavior. It may be conducted on its own or as a component of a neuropsychological evaluation. Results of the personality assessment shed light on the client’s psychological strengths and weaknesses. A variety of measures, including interviews, tests, tasks, and questionnaires identify and clarify issues, such as:

• Personality traits, resources, and challenges
• Methods of coping
• Anxiety and depression
• Relationship concerns

Neuropsychological Assessment evaluates brain-related assets and problems involving:

• Attention and concentration (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder - ADHD or ADD)
• Learning (dyslexia, learning disabilities, achievement and academic skills)
• Memory (dementias and Alzheimer’s disease)
• Language (aphasia) and verbal and non-verbal problem-solving
• Visual-spatial and sensory-motor processes (perceptual deficits)
• Functional issues related to brain injury (memory, perception, attention, and language limitations)
• Cognitive concerns due to medical illness (memory loss)
• Executive function (planning and organization, prioritizing tasks, completing assignments or jobs, managing time, and decision-making)
• Emotion (anxiety and depression)
• Social interaction and communication (autism and Asperger’s disorder)
• Motivation (persistence)

Therapeutic Assessment is an innovative and interactive method of assessment used to evaluate a person’s personality and neuropsychology. This approach encourages client curiosity, perceptions, and questions throughout the evaluation process. The assessor helps the client develop questions s/he would like answered by the assessment. And since the client has wisdom and self-knowledge to contribute, the assessor also encourages the client to collaborate and co-interpret results. Dr. Engelman comes from the perspective of positive psychology and places significant emphasis on a person’s capabilities.

Therapeutic Assessment strives to keep in mind the client’s unique assets and requirements for attaining his or her goals. A person’s resources and deficits are woven together into a plan designed for optimal growth, development, and change. This shared endeavor brings about deeper and more accurate understanding of results and enables clients to move forward in their lives with a fresh outlook. The focus of therapeutic assessment is to create a practical, educational, and restorative assessment experience for each client.

Dr. Engelman may also collaborate with writer JB Allyn to produce a therapeutic story that translates the client’s evaluation findings into a metaphorical narrative. Individuals – adults, adolescents, children, and couples - are often better able to process and absorb information when it is presented in story form, using metaphor to reflect the person’s own life experience. (See Resources page for an example.)

Treatment Planning encompasses the special needs, strengths, and weaknesses of each client. Based on the results of the evaluation, Dr. Engelman works with the client to develop an individualized therapeutic program for psychological well-being and cognitive rehabilitation.