A psychological assessment will help identify areas of strength and weakness, and will lead to recommendations for the client’s day-to-day life. Many people choose to seek psychological assessments if they are experiencing social, emotional, behavioural, or academic difficulties. By identifying specific areas of concern, an assessment can assist in identifying appropriate services, supports and accommodations at school/work, or accessing resources in the community.

A psychoeducational assessment looks at a person’s thinking skills, learning abilities, and behaviour. In particular, we test areas like memory, language, problem solving, planning, processing speed, fine motor skills, and visual-spatial skills. We also test academic skills, like reading, writing, and math. Different parts of an assessment may include interviews, questionnaires, observation, and standardized testing. There are a lot of different kinds of standardized testing. These usually involve things like pencil and paper tasks, puzzles, answering questions and games.

As part of a psychoeducational assessment, we may also request information like report cards, previous assessment results, or medical records. All of this information together can help us make a decision about what is best for a person’s situation, which may include giving a diagnosis and providing recommendations for intervention, supports or accommodations.

A psychoeducational assessment usually takes 2 to 4 half day (3 hour) sessions at our clinic. These appointments can be scheduled at times that work for you and our clinician(s). Some people need to have more, shorter appointments based on their ability to participate. A psychoeducational assessment ends with a feedback meeting where we explain the results of the assessment and our recommendations. We provide a written record of all of this information in a psychoeducational assessment report, which can be shared with your school or other service providers.

A psychodiagnostic assessment can be used to identify a specific mental health diagnosis. It may involve looking at some of the same variables as a psychoeducational assessment or may be more focused on behaviour and experiences with emotions. A psychodiagnostic assessment typically includes an interview, including discussion of relevant history and current concerns, and questionnaires. It may also include standardized testing.

Psychodiagnostic assessments can vary in length, often depending on the referral question. We will work with you to determine how many appointments are needed to gather the information we need. This information can be used to make a diagnosis of a psychological disorder and provide recommendations. At the end of the assessment we will have a feedback meeting to share the results and provide a psychological report, which includes a summary of the information collected and our recommendations.

An ASD Screening Assessment is a specific psychodiagnostic assessment looking to determine whether the client has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This assessment typically is completed in one 3 hour appointment including an interview with the client and someone who knows them well, and an observational measure of ASD symptoms with the goal of providing a diagnostic decision at the end of the appointment. A report summarizing the results and recommendations is provided after the assessment. Sometimes we offer to collect more information if we cannot make a decision after this appointment.

If you/your child wears glasses, a hearing aid, or uses another similar assistive device, be sure to bring it to the assessment to ensure that you can complete the different parts of the assessment. Similarly, medication should be taken as usual.

We also ask that you bring copies of report cards, reports from any previous assessments (psychological, psychiatric, speech and language, etc.), and, if applicable, your Indvidual Education Plan (IEP).

The Psychology Clinic at Queen’s University provides clinical training for graduate students in Clinical Psychology. As a result, graduate students provide the majority of the clinical services. These Clinical graduate students are under the direct supervision of a registered psychologist. You will meet the people working with you at your first appointment.

To make a referral please complete our Electronic Referral Form

Our Referral Coordinator will contact you (the client) within a month of receipt of your referral to offer you a time to talk on the phone. This will help us determine the priority of your referral and your wait time. We will also give you suggestions about other services, if applicable.

If you are not able to complete the electronic referral form, you may complete this form (PDF, 325 KB) and submit to;

The Psychology Clinic at Queen’s
Department of Psychology
Queen’s University
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6

Fax: 613 533-3282

Email: qpc.referrals@queensu.ca

Referrals can be made by clients, parents, schools, and health professionals.

Our fees are adjusted on a sliding scale geared to income. Please see the Fees page for more information. If you are on social services or have no income, or would like to discuss the fees, please speak to the Referral Coordinator. With support from donors, The Psychology Clinic at Queen’s provides a limited number of free psychological services to clients in need.

Our wait times vary based on the service required and priority. Our Referral Coordinator will ask questions about your current situation to help determine your priority. We will also recommend other services, if appropriate or needed. The Referral Coordinator will give you an estimated wait time for our services, and can be contacted to provide an update about wait times..