Psychological Evaluations
Careful assessment in English and Korean in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.
You may have questions about attention, learning, memory, emotional difficulties, or relationships that are not fully explained by what you already know. A psychological evaluation brings information together to help make sense of those concerns and identify useful next steps.
I’m Dr. Minsu Kim, a U.S.-licensed clinical psychologist. At PACE Psychology, an evaluation starts with the questions you want answered. The assessment is planned around your history, current needs, and the purpose of the evaluation.
Diagnostic clarification
A psychological evaluation for diagnostic clarification can help when symptoms overlap, an earlier diagnosis does not fully explain your experience, or the next step in care is unclear. We consider possible explanations alongside your history, current circumstances, and everyday functioning.
The assessment may support a diagnosis, identify more than one contributing factor, or show where further information is needed. The goal is a clearer understanding that can guide treatment and support, rather than a predetermined diagnosis.
Developmental and learning evaluations
ADHD evaluation
Assessment considers attention, organization, impulsivity, and follow-through over time and across settings. Your developmental history and the effect on daily life help distinguish ADHD from other or overlapping explanations.
Autism evaluation
An autism evaluation explores social communication, relationships, patterns of behavior and interests, sensory experiences, and developmental history. These experiences are considered alongside your current strengths, difficulties, and support needs.
Specific learning disorder evaluation
Persistent difficulties with reading, written expression, or mathematics can affect learning despite effort and support. Assessment examines academic skills and relevant background to clarify the pattern of difficulty and inform educational recommendations.
Intellectual disability evaluation
This evaluation considers intellectual functioning together with adaptive functioning: the practical, social, and conceptual skills used in everyday life. Developmental history and current support needs help make sense of the findings beyond a single test score.
Cognitive evaluations
Cognitive evaluation for testing accommodations
Cognitive assessment can help explain how attention, memory, processing speed, or other thinking skills affect performance in a testing setting. We discuss the purpose of the request and the testing organization’s documentation requirements before planning the evaluation. Recommendations depend on the findings; accommodation approval rests with the receiving organization.
Comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation
A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation examines a broader pattern of cognitive strengths and difficulties, such as attention, memory, language, executive functioning, and processing speed. The scope is tailored to your concerns and relevant history, with findings considered in relation to daily functioning and practical recommendations.
Emotional, personality, and relationship evaluations
Emotional functioning evaluation
This assessment explores mood, anxiety, stress, and emotional regulation, including how difficulties affect daily life and relationships. It can help clarify concerns that overlap and inform a treatment plan that fits your needs.
Personality assessment
Personality testing can help explore recurring patterns in how you understand yourself, experience emotions, cope with stress, and relate to others. Findings are interpreted in context to support clinical understanding and treatment planning, rather than reducing a person to a label.
Parent–child relationship evaluation
This evaluation focuses on communication, interaction patterns, and the strengths and difficulties within a parent–child relationship. The aim is to better understand each person’s experience and identify useful directions for support. An evaluation requested for custody or another legal matter requires a separate discussion of its purpose and scope.
PTSD evaluation
A PTSD evaluation considers trauma-related symptoms, their course over time, and their effect on everyday functioning. The assessment examines whether PTSD, another condition, or overlapping concerns help explain the difficulties, with findings used to guide appropriate care.
How the evaluation process works
1. Clarify the purpose
We begin by discussing your concerns and how you hope to use the results. If a school, clinician, or other organization has requested an assessment, tell us about its requirements before testing is planned.
2. Plan the scope
The assessment may include clinical interviews, questionnaires, standardized measures, and review of relevant records. Information from parents, teachers, or other people may be helpful when appropriate and with the necessary consent. The scope is tailored to the referral question rather than using the same set of tests for everyone.
3. Complete the assessment
Psychological testing takes place in person at the Pyeongtaek office. We consider test findings alongside your history and everyday experiences. A score or screening result on its own does not provide a complete explanation.
4. Review the findings
Feedback and a written report bring together the findings, relevant diagnostic conclusions, and recommendations. The goal is to help you understand what the results mean and how they may guide treatment, support, or further assessment.
Before your first appointment
It helps to think about the main questions you want answered, when the difficulties began, and where they show up in daily life. You do not need to arrive with a particular diagnosis in mind.
Let us know if you have previous evaluation reports, relevant school or treatment records, or specific documentation requirements. Ask how to provide records securely rather than sending sensitive information through general email or a website inquiry.
Tell us about your preferred language and any practical needs that may affect the assessment. Language, education, culture, and context matter when planning and interpreting an evaluation.
Questions about psychological evaluations
How long does an evaluation take, and what does it cost?
The time and fee depend on the questions being addressed and the agreed scope. After an initial consultation, we confirm the assessment plan, testing time, and fees. Ask about scheduling and report timing for your particular evaluation.
Can I use insurance for an evaluation?
If you plan to use insurance, confirm coverage directly with your insurer for your specific plan, evaluation type, and reason for testing before scheduling. Ask whether prior authorization or a referral is required, which provider rules apply, and what costs you would be responsible for. Coverage for one type of evaluation does not establish coverage for another. Direct billing is not currently confirmed with any insurer.
Will an evaluation always result in a diagnosis?
No particular diagnosis or outcome is guaranteed. An evaluation may support a diagnosis, suggest another explanation, or identify areas that need more information. The purpose is to provide a careful, useful understanding of your concerns.
Can a report support testing, school, or workplace accommodations?
A report may offer recommendations, but each school, employer, testing organization, or other recipient decides what documentation it requires and which accommodations it approves. Confirm those requirements before starting an evaluation.
Is this the same as a forensic evaluation?
Clinical evaluations focus on understanding concerns and guiding care or support. A legal or forensic evaluation addresses a specific legal or third-party decision and requires a separate review of purpose, scope, and potential conflicts. Let us know who requested the assessment and how the report will be used.
Can I start therapy instead?
A comprehensive evaluation is not automatically required before psychotherapy. If your main goal is treatment, we can discuss whether an intake is the more useful starting point.
Start with the question that matters to you
Tell us briefly what you want to understand and whether someone has requested an evaluation or report. We can discuss the appropriate next step before you commit to testing.
Testing is conducted in person in Pyeongtaek. Services are available in English and Korean. We confirm the evaluation scope and fees after consultation; please check any insurance coverage with your insurer before scheduling.