Formal psychological functional capacity assessments can help to identify your strengths and weaknesses and provide a clearer path forward for your healing, recovery, and mental health care. Insight’s trained therapists provide assessments that assist individuals to improve their lives. While assessments can vary from individual to individual, most times they include testing, interviews, observation, and consultation with one of Insight’s trained professionals
What is a psychological functional capacity assessment?
A psychological functional capacity assessment evaluates an individual’s difficulties or impairment in areas that may affect their ability to work, return to work, to learn and/or to function daily.
Why is the assessment used?
Psychological functional capacity assessments are usually used after you’ve suffered an injury or illness, work related trauma, or psychological injury. It is often done in conjunction with a return-to-work assessment but also may be related to independent living issues.
The assessment process
You’ll meet with the therapist so they can meet you, gather your background history and obtain other relevant information.
You will complete some tests – they may be an interview format, written tests or online – or a combination of all 3 methods. A variety of tests and questions are used to explore specific areas. These areas can include:
- Attention
- Memory
- Thought processing
- Planning/organizing
- Problem solving
- Learning
- Impulsivity
- Emotional regulation
- Adaptability
- Ability to tolerate multiple demands.
Your therapist will prepare a report after analyzing the test results that will be sent to your caregiver, employer or whoever ordered the assessment.
There is usually a debrief with the therapist to go over the assessment results.
If required, Insight can work collaboratively with other medical and health care professionals in the assessment process.
Depending on the scope of the assessment, the entire process can range from a few hours up to 20 hours depending on the particular request and issues presenting.
Please contact Insight Psychological if you’re interested in learning more about a psychological functional capacity assessment.
