Available for children, adolescents, and adults, this evaluation looks beyond symptoms and behavior to provide a clearer understanding of emotional functioning, relationships, self-regulation, personality, and support needs.
Who Is This Evaluation For?
A social-emotional and behavioral evaluation may be appropriate for someone who:
- Experiences persistent anxiety, sadness, irritability, or emotional distress
- Has difficulty managing frustration, anger, or strong reactions
- Withdraws from others or avoids school, work, responsibilities, or social situations
- Demonstrates impulsive, disruptive, oppositional, or aggressive behavior
- Has difficulty developing or maintaining positive relationships
- Struggles to adjust to changes, expectations, or stress
- Functions very differently across settings
- Has experienced a decline in academic, occupational, or everyday functioning
- Has not responded adequately to previous treatment or intervention
- Needs diagnostic clarification or updated information for planning
An evaluation may also be helpful when it is unclear whether concerns are related to anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, personality characteristics, developmental differences, environmental stress, or another condition.
What Does the Evaluation Involve?
Each evaluation is designed around the client’s age, history, current concerns, and referral questions. The process typically begins with a detailed clinical interview and review of developmental, family, social, educational, occupational, medical, and mental-health history.
For children and adolescents, information may be gathered from the student, parents, teachers, school records, previous evaluations, observations, and intervention data. For adults, the evaluation may consider relationships, employment, education, daily responsibilities, previous treatment, and patterns across different stages of life. When helpful and available, input may also be obtained from someone who knows the client well.
Standardized rating scales and individualized measures may examine emotions, behavior, personality, attention, self-regulation, relationships, coping skills, and adaptive functioning. Measures are selected according to the referral concerns rather than from a one-size-fits-all testing package.
The evaluation considers when concerns began, where they occur, what may trigger or maintain them, and how they affect everyday life. Strengths, protective factors, successful coping strategies, and situations in which the client functions well are also identified.
What Will Clients and Families Receive?
Clients and families receive a comprehensive written report that explains the findings in understandable language. The report describes social-emotional and behavioral functioning, identifies meaningful strengths and needs, and addresses whether the findings support a clinical diagnosis or another explanation.
Individualized recommendations may include:
- Counseling or other mental-health services
- Emotional-regulation and coping strategies
- Behavioral interventions and positive supports
- Strategies for relationships and communication
- Classroom, college, or workplace accommodations
- Consultation with a physician or other provider
- Supports for functioning across settings
- Guidance for an IEP, Section 504 Plan, or behavioral support plan, if appropriate
A feedback conference is included so clients and families can review the results, ask questions, and understand the next steps. When appropriate, the report may be shared with educators, therapists, physicians, colleges, employers, or other providers.
The result is more than a list of symptoms. It is a clearer understanding of the concerns and a practical roadmap for improving emotional well-being, relationships, self-management, and everyday functioning.