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Assessment Services

Psychological assessments at the George Mason University Center for Psychological Services (formerly the Psychological Clinic) are primarily conducted by graduate students in the school psychology and clinical psychology programs, under the supervision of a licensed or otherwise credentialed supervisor.  To facilitate training and to ensure that each client receives excellent service, portions of the assessment may be audio taped or video taped with client permission.  Tapes are used only for the supervision of the examiner and are not part of the client record and are not maintained beyond the use for supervision of the assessment.  There are currently two post-doctoral providers of  psychological assessments, Michael Dudis, Ph.D. and Slavomir Zapata, Ph.D.  Drs. Dudis and Zapata have completed their doctorate, but are not yet licensed and therefore provide services under the supervision of a licensed clinical psychologist.

Assessments are offered on a fee for service basis only.  The GMU Center for Psychological Services does not accept insurance reimbursement.  Your examiner, however, can provide you with a receipt if you choose to seek reimbursement with your insurance company or other health savings plan.  Assessment fees are set, but financial assistance is available for clients who demonstrate need and who receive services from graduate students.  The Center does charge a fee for missed appointments and for late cancellations (less than 24 business hours notice).

Several different types of standardized assessments are offered at the Center.   All assessment services include an initial interview, an interpretive conference following completion of the assessment, and a written report of the assessment results with recommendations. All services are confidential unless otherwise required by state or federal law.  Please be aware that there is currently a waiting list for most assessment services (September, 2006).

Comprehensive psycho-educational assessments for children and adults to assess for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Learning Disorders, cognitive and academic strengths and weaknesses, and recommendations to improve academic, vocational, or life success.  The specific measures included in the assessment differ depending upon the individual needs of the client and the preferred assessment strategies of the supervisor.  In general, a comprehensive assessment would include a clinical interview and standardized assessment of cognitive/intellectual ability, assessment of information processing and/or executive functioning, assessment of academic/employment achievement, and assessment of social-emotional functioning.  Depending upon the exact reason for referral, a comprehensive assessment is likely to require 8-10 hours of direct assessment time and an equal number of indirect hours.  The entire process from initial interview to interpretive conference takes approximately 6-8 weeks as all test selection, test administration, scoring, results and conclusions and are reviewed by a supervisor.  The final report is also supervised.

Intellectual assessments with a standardized instrument such as one of the Wechsler scales, the Stanford Binet, or the Cognitive Assessment System.  An intellectual assessment takes approximately 3 hours and can often be completed in one appointment.

Assessment of academic achievement in areas of arithmetic, reading, written language.  The Center is able to administer the Nelson Denny Reading test as required by many adolescent/adult testing services.  An assessment of academic achievement generally requires 1-3 hours and may often be completed in one appointment.

Psychological assessments of concerns other than those directly related to learning or attention typically include assessment of general intellectual ability, personality, and social-emotional functioning.  These assessments generally take 3-5 hours and may be completed in one or two appointments.

To schedule an assessment appointment, or to receive additional information, please call the Intake Desk at (703) 993-1370 and an intake coordinator will be happy to assist you.