Clinical assessments are comprehensive psychological evaluations that combine scientific methods, specialized testing tools, and clinical expertise to understand an individual's mental health, cognitive functioning, or neurodevelopmental profile. Unlike brief screening tools or questionnaires, a full clinical assessment provides an in-depth analysis that can identify specific conditions, clarify diagnoses, and inform treatment planning.
A clinical assessment typically involves several components working together to create a complete picture. These include structured clinical interviews where a psychologist gathers detailed information about your history, symptoms, and current functioning. Standardized psychological tests measure specific abilities or traits using instruments validated through rigorous research. Behavioural observations during testing sessions provide additional insights into how you approach tasks and manage challenges. Where relevant, psychologists may also review medical records, school reports, or previous assessments to understand patterns over time.
The process is highly individualized. Your assessing psychologist selects specific tools and methods based on your presenting concerns, age, and the questions that need answering. For example, someone seeking an ADHD assessment will complete different tests than someone pursuing cognitive testing for giftedness or educational planning. This tailored approach ensures that the assessment addresses your unique situation rather than applying a one-size-fits-all protocol.
The data gathered during a clinical assessment serves multiple purposes. It can confirm or rule out suspected diagnoses such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, or anxiety disorders. The results identify your cognitive strengths and areas of difficulty, providing a foundation for personalized treatment recommendations. For students, assessment results often inform educational accommodations like extra time for exams or specialized learning support. In legal contexts, clinical assessments may be required for family court matters, disability claims, or pre-sentence reports.
Beyond diagnosis, clinical assessments offer valuable insights that help you understand yourself better. Many people report that having language to describe their experiences and knowing that their struggles have a recognized cause brings relief and validation. The comprehensive report produced at the end of the assessment process becomes a reference document that you can share with other healthcare providers, educators, or employers to ensure you receive appropriate support.
Clinical assessments are conducted by registered psychologists with specialized training in psychological testing and assessment. The psychologists at Mindstate Psychology hold endorsements in clinical or forensic psychology, indicating additional qualifications and supervised experience beyond general registration. This expertise ensures accurate interpretation of test results within the broader context of your life circumstances.
Deciding whether to pursue a clinical assessment is an important step toward understanding yourself or your child better. Recognising the signs that indicate an assessment could be beneficial helps you determine if now is the right time to seek professional evaluation.
Suspected Mental Health or Neurodevelopmental Concerns
If you're noticing symptoms that suggest a mental health disorder or neurodevelopmental condition, a clinical assessment can provide diagnostic clarity. Perhaps you're experiencing persistent low mood, excessive worry, or attention difficulties that interfere with daily life. You might recognise traits of ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, or other conditions, but need formal confirmation. Many people live for years with undiagnosed conditions, attributing their struggles to personal failings rather than recognisable psychological differences. Assessment validates your experiences, confirms whether a diagnosable condition is present, and opens pathways to evidence-based treatment and support.
Persistent Difficulties in Daily Functioning
When you're experiencing ongoing struggles at work, school, or in relationships despite your best efforts, an assessment can identify what's getting in the way. You might consistently underperform relative to your abilities, find organisation and time management overwhelming, or experience relationship difficulties that seem inexplicable. These persistent challenges often have underlying causes that aren't immediately obvious: learning disabilities, executive functioning difficulties, processing speed issues, or social cognition differences. Understanding the root cause allows you to develop targeted strategies and access appropriate accommodations rather than continuing to struggle without knowing why.
Unexplained Changes in Behaviour or Mood
Significant changes in how you think, feel, or behave warrant attention, particularly when they persist or interfere with your quality of life. Increased irritability, emotional volatility, sleep disturbances, energy depletion, or concentration difficulties all signal that something may have shifted. Sometimes these changes follow identifiable stressors; other times, they appear without clear triggers. Assessment helps determine whether changes reflect an emerging mental health condition, a response to life circumstances that would benefit from therapeutic support, or cognitive changes requiring medical investigation. Early identification often leads to better outcomes.
Need for Educational or Workplace Accommodations
Formal clinical assessment provides the documentation required to access accommodations and support services in educational or work settings. Students may benefit from extended exam time, alternative assessment formats, assistive technology, or specialised tutoring. Workplace accommodations might include flexible scheduling, task modifications, or sensory adjustments. Most institutions require comprehensive psychological assessment reports that document a diagnosed condition and specify recommended accommodations. Our assessments provide this documentation, explaining not just what condition you have but how it specifically impacts your functioning and what accommodations would meaningfully help.
Accessing NDIS or Disability Support
Psychological assessment reports often form a crucial part of NDIS and disability support applications. These programs require evidence that a diagnosed condition substantially impacts daily functioning and creates support needs. Thorough clinical assessment documents your diagnosis, describes functional impacts across life domains, and outlines support requirements—all essential for successful applications. Our psychologists understand NDIS requirements and provide appropriately formatted reports.
Legal and Forensic Requirements
Courts and legal authorities sometimes require psychological assessments for family court proceedings, pre-sentence reports, workers' compensation claims, or disability pension applications. These forensic assessments require specialised expertise in legal matters and report-writing for legal audiences. Mindstate Psychology's forensic psychologists have extensive experience conducting court-ordered assessments, writing expert reports, and understanding the specific standards required across different legal contexts.
Clarifying Complex or Multiple Concerns
When you experience overlapping symptoms that could fit several diagnoses, a comprehensive assessment can disentangle complex presentations. Attention difficulties could reflect ADHD, anxiety, depression, trauma, or other conditions. Social difficulties may be related to autism, social anxiety, or situational factors. Diagnostic clarity is essential for treatment planning—different conditions respond to different interventions, so knowing precisely what you're dealing with allows for targeted, effective treatment.
Personal Understanding and Self-Awareness
Sometimes people seek assessment simply to understand themselves better. If you've always felt different but couldn't articulate how or why, assessment provides language and frameworks for understanding your cognitive style and patterns of functioning. This self-awareness enables you to make informed decisions about careers, relationships, and lifestyle choices that align with your strengths and needs.
Clinical assessments are valuable for both children and adults. For children, assessments frequently relate to school difficulties, developmental concerns, or behavioural issues. Early identification enables early intervention, which generally produces better outcomes. For adults, assessment often occurs after years of unexplained difficulties, sometimes prompted by recognising similar patterns to their own child's diagnosis. Adult assessment is equally valid and valuable - it's never too late to gain understanding and access appropriate support.
While there's no perfect time for assessment, seeking evaluation when concerns first become significant tends to produce better outcomes. Early assessment allows for early intervention, preventing secondary difficulties like low self-esteem, anxiety, or relationship problems that often accompany unidentified conditions. That said, assessment at any stage is worthwhile if you have concerns.
If you're uncertain whether an assessment would be beneficial for your specific situation, contact our team to discuss your concerns. We can help you determine whether proceeding with a full assessment is the right next step.
Our team brings over 100 years of combined psychological experience to every assessment. This depth of knowledge is particularly valuable when interpreting complex test results or working with clients who present with multiple concerns. Dr Phil Watts, our director and a clinical and forensic psychologist with over 30 years of experience, has conducted thousands of assessments and provides clinical oversight to ensure the highest quality standards across all our work.
Our psychologists don't just administer tests - they are experts in psychometric assessment who regularly train other psychologists in best practices. Dr Watts conducts yearly workshops on psychological assessment, and our team serves as a training resource for the broader professional community. When you choose Mindstate Psychology, you benefit from this exceptional level of expertise and our commitment to staying at the forefront of assessment practices.
Mindstate Psychology maintains one of Perth's most extensive psychometric testing libraries. This means we have access to the latest, validated assessment tools across all areas of psychological functioning. Whether you need specialized tests for ADHD, autism, cognitive abilities, educational difficulties, or forensic purposes, we have the resources to conduct a thorough, evidence-based assessment tailored to your specific needs.Having access to multiple assessment tools within each domain allows our psychologists to select the most appropriate instruments for your situation rather than being limited to a narrow range of options. This flexibility ensures more accurate results and deeper insights.
All our psychologists are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and maintain active membership in the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and other relevant professional organisations. We commit to ongoing professional development, ensuring that our assessment practices reflect the latest research and clinical guidelines. Our reports reference current diagnostic criteria (DSM-5-TR) and use validated, contemporary assessment instruments.
This commitment to evidence-based practice ensures that you receive an assessment grounded in scientific research rather than outdated methods or unvalidated approaches. Our psychologists stay current with developments in assessment technology and interpret your results using the most recent normative data available.
Unlike practices that only offer assessment services, Mindstate Psychology provides a complete continuum of care. Following your assessment, we can offer therapeutic support, neurofeedback therapy, or streamlined referral pathways, such as to psychiatrists for ADHD medication, specific to your diagnosis. This integrated approach means you don't need to start from scratch with a new provider or wonder what the next step is after receiving your results - your assessing psychologist already understands your profile and can coordinate your ongoing care seamlessly.
Our practice also includes forensic psychologists, enabling us to handle complex legal assessments such as family court evaluations, pre-sentence reports, and fitness-for-duty assessments that many general psychology practices cannot provide.
Assessment reports from Mindstate Psychology are comprehensive documents that clearly explain your results, their implications, and practical recommendations. We write reports with multiple audiences in mind—they're detailed enough for healthcare professionals yet accessible for clients and families. Our reports include clear diagnostic conclusions, functional impact statements, and specific recommendations that you can use to access support services, accommodations, or treatment.
We recognise that delays in obtaining an assessment can significantly impact your access to support and treatment. Mindstate Psychology prioritises timely service delivery, with the capacity to offer appointments for urgent cases. While wait times vary depending on assessment type and practitioner availability, we work efficiently to minimise delays between your initial contact and assessment completion.
The duration of a clinical assessment varies depending on the type of assessment and your individual circumstances. Most assessments involve multiple components spread across several appointments. Typically, you can expect:
From your first appointment to receiving your comprehensive written report, the process usually takes 3-6 weeks, accounting for testing, scoring, interpretation, report writing, and scheduling. For urgent cases, we may be able to expedite the process—contact our reception team to discuss options.
Testing sessions are structured appointments where you'll complete various psychological tests and questionnaires. These might include tasks on a computer or tablet, paper-and-pencil activities, verbal questions, and problem-solving exercises. The specific tests depend on your assessment type—for example, ADHD assessments include attention tests and symptom questionnaires, while cognitive assessments involve reasoning and memory tasks.
Your psychologist will create a comfortable environment and provide clear instructions for each task. There are no "pass or fail" results—these assessments are designed to understand how you think and function, not to judge you. You'll have opportunities for breaks during longer testing sessions, and you're welcome to ask questions at any time throughout the process.
Neurofeedback has been shown to be effective in treating a variety of conditions such as anxiety, ADHD and attention span, depression, PTSD, sleep disorders, and even some types of chronic pain and migraines. You can discover more about the conditions neurofeedback can help with, and the evidence for its use, here.
Assessment costs vary depending on the type and complexity of the evaluation. Factors influencing cost include the number of tests administered, the time required for testing and interpretation, and the comprehensiveness of the report. Our reception team can provide specific fee information when you book your assessment, or you can visit the relevant service page for more information.
You don't need a referral to book a clinical assessment at Mindstate Psychology—you can self-refer directly by contacting our clinic. However, obtaining a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP or a referral from a psychiatrist or paediatrician is beneficial because it makes you eligible for Medicare rebates toward your session costs.
If you're seeking an assessment for specific purposes such as educational accommodations, disability support, or legal matters, check whether the requesting organisation has specific requirements about referral sources. Our reception team can advise you on what documentation you might need.
When attending your assessment, please bring:
If you wear glasses or hearing aids, please bring them. You're also welcome to bring water and snacks, particularly for longer testing sessions. For child assessments, parents typically stay in the waiting area during testing to allow for independent performance, though specific arrangements vary by age and assessment type.
Unless otherwise instructed, please continue taking your prescribed medications as directed by your doctor. If you are on any prescription medication, please let your assessing psychologist know before the assessment sessions.
Most comprehensive assessment reports are completed within 2-3 weeks after your final testing session. The report preparation process involves scoring all tests, interpreting results, formulating diagnostic conclusions, and developing recommendations—this detailed work takes time to ensure accuracy and quality.
Before your report can be released, you'll attend a feedback session where your psychologist discusses the findings with you. This session provides an opportunity to ask questions, clarify any aspects of the results, and discuss the recommendations in detail. Following this session, you'll receive the formal written report, which you can then share with other professionals as needed.
If you need your report by a specific deadline (for example, for an upcoming court date or school planning meeting), please inform our reception team when booking so we can discuss whether this timeline is feasible.
Most clinical assessments at Mindstate Psychology are conducted in person at our South Perth clinic. Face-to-face assessment allows for optimal observation, test administration, and rapport building, which contributes to more accurate results.
Some components of certain assessments may be suitable for telehealth delivery, such as initial consultations or questionnaire completion. However, the core testing components typically require in-person attendance. If you have concerns about attending in person due to distance, health issues, or other barriers, please discuss this with our reception team when booking. We'll advise you on what's possible for your specific assessment type.
After receiving your assessment results and report, several pathways are available depending on your goals. Many clients use their assessment report to:
If treatment is recommended, Mindstate Psychology offers ongoing therapeutic support, neurofeedback therapy, and other interventions. Your assessing psychologist can continue working with you or can refer you to another team member with specific expertise in treating your diagnosed condition. Alternatively, you're welcome to take your report to any healthcare provider of your choosing - just because you received your assessment with us, does not mean you need to receive treatment with us.
Absolutely—Mindstate Psychology conducts clinical assessments for both children and adults across all our assessment types. Many adults seek assessment for ADHD or autism after recognizing symptoms in themselves, often following their own child's diagnosis or after years of unexplained difficulties in work, relationships, or daily functioning.
Adult assessment follows a similar process to child assessment but uses age-appropriate tests and considers your adult life circumstances, work functioning, and developmental history. Our psychologists have extensive experience assessing adults and understand the unique presentation of neurodevelopmental conditions across the lifespan.
Receiving a diagnosis as an adult can be validating and transformative, providing an explanation for lifelong challenges and opening doors to appropriate support and accommodations. It's never too late to seek assessment if you have concerns about ADHD, autism, or other psychological conditions.
Psychological assessment is a comprehensive process designed to provide accurate results based on standardised testing, clinical expertise, and multiple sources of information. However, we understand that assessment outcomes can sometimes be unexpected or difficult to accept.
If you have concerns about your results, we encourage you to discuss them with your assessing psychologist. Sometimes, additional context or explanation helps clarify why certain conclusions were reached. Your psychologist can review the specific test data with you and explain how the diagnostic decision was made.
In some cases, assessment results may not support the diagnosis you expected, but may identify other factors contributing to your difficulties. This information remains valuable for guiding the provision of appropriate support and treatment. You always have the right to seek a second opinion from another qualified psychologist if you feel this is necessary.
Please be aware, however, that psychologists have an ethical and professional obligation to report their findings accurately, and that we are unable to change or alter reports because they do not align with your expectations.
Mindstate Psychology adheres to strict confidentiality and privacy requirements as mandated by AHPRA registration and professional psychology ethics guidelines. Your assessment information is stored securely and is only released with your explicit written consent or in the limited circumstances required by law (such as when there's a risk of serious harm).
You control who receives your assessment report. We won't share your results with doctors, schools, employers, or anyone else without your permission. However, providing your report to relevant professionals - such as your GP or treating psychologist - is often beneficial for coordinating your care and accessing appropriate support.
All our psychologists are bound by professional confidentiality standards, and our administrative systems are designed to protect your privacy. You can feel confident that your personal information and assessment results are handled with the utmost discretion and respect.
