Mental health disorder and Psychological Assement

TRAUMA AND POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDERS

Trauma occurs during or after a significant distressing experience or multiple experiences. Commonly, trauma can leave a person feeling like they are in shambles, needing to be pieced back together and that they are alone in their suffering, often referred to as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, they are not alone because trauma is a common occurrence but individuals may withdraw and not want to talk with others. Each person experiences trauma in their own way and what may be traumatic for one person, may not affect another the same way or at all.

Common Signs and Symptoms of Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD:

Emotional overwhelm

Anxiety, Panic Attacks

Depression/Hopelessness

Irritability

Apathy

Numbing

Dissociation; feeling unreal

Insomnia

Nightmares, flashbacks

Hypervigilance

Concentration difficulties

Self-destructive behavior

Substance use

Eating disorders

broken bowl

During a trauma, a person’s brain and nervous system is affected leaving some people questioning, “why can’t I just get over this?”. There are many kinds of therapies that help trauma survivors learn to heal, cope, and thrive again. Therapy helps survivors process their trauma by accessing parts of their brain that was affected by the trauma and it also helps to regulate their nervous systems.

ASSESSMENTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Assessments for mental health issues are useful in diagnosing mental health disorders and helps you and your therapist to develop a strategy to manage or overcome mental health conditions.

Formal assessments can help to identify your strengths and weaknesses and provide a clearer path forward for your mental health care. Our trained therapists provide assessments that assist individuals of all ages to improve their lives. Assessments are helpful in identifying your levels of symptoms objectively.  While assessments can vary from individual to individual, most times they include testing, interviews, observation, and consultation with one of our trained professionals.  Many of these assessments can be done as part of therapy but some may require a higher level of formality depending on the level of need and purpose of the assessment.

Our therapists assess many mental health issues including:

Anxiety

Depression

Postpartum Depression

Assessments for uniformed personnel and first responders

PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and trauma

The outcome of a psychoeducational assessment is helping people understand their cognitive and learning abilities, as well as their emotional health. Sometimes a diagnosis is given which helps explain the difficulties a person is experiencing. In addition, the psychologist provides a list of recommendations to increase the individual’s strengths and obtain support for the areas they struggle in. These recommendations will help support the individual’s ability to succeed in the various areas of their life (e.g., home, school, work, social). At The Therapy Centre, we provide comprehensive psychoeducational assessments by a qualified practitioner. Our assessment reports are geared towards the school boards to support the development of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

Psychoeducational assessments involve an intake interview with the individual and/or parents, testing sessions (to assess cognitive, academic, and socio-emotional functioning), questionnaires for parents, teachers, and the individual, interpretating data and report writing, and then a feedback session to explain the findings and recommendations.

To learn more about assessments for mental health conditions, please contact Parenting Insight Bureau

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