10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Psychologist for Testing

By Dr. Tyler Gerdin, PsyD, ABPP | Gerdin Psychological Services

You have been thinking about this for a while. Maybe it started with a teacher’s comment, a performance review that stung, or a late night search that ended with Wait, is this me? Now you have a short list of names, a few websites that all sound the same, and a quiet worry about choosing wrong.

That worry is worth listening to. A psychological assessment can shape how you understand yourself (or your child) for years, which accommodations you receive, which treatments you try, which story you tell about why things have been hard. It deserves the same scrutiny you would give a surgeon or a financial advisor.

Here is something that often gets lost in the noise: most people do not know they are allowed to interview their evaluator. You are. And a good evaluator will welcome it.

But not all assessments are created equal. The research on assessment practice points to three areas worth asking about: the evaluator’s qualifications, the quality of the tests, and whether the process is an ethical, practical fit for you. Below are the questions in each area, what a strong answer sounds like, and why it matters.

Questions About the Evaluator’s Qualifications and Training

A degree on the wall is a starting point, not a guarantee. Assessment competence grows out of education, training, and supervised experience together, not from a degree title alone (Peterson et al., 2014). Two clinicians with the same letters after their names may have very different depth in testing.

1. What training and supervised experience do you have in psychological testing?

Listen for specifics: graduate or doctoral coursework in assessment, supervised testing during training, and years of hands on practice. Doctoral programs in clinical psychology typically build in formal assessment training (Mihura et al., 2017), but it is still fair to ask how much of their current work is assessment versus therapy or something else.

2. Are you trained and qualified for the specific tests you plan to use with me?

This one surprises people. Many advanced instruments (cognitive batteries, autism observation measures, personality inventories) require specialized training beyond general assessment coursework (Peterson et al., 2014). A strong answer names the measures and how they learned them.

3. Does your practice follow professional guidelines for assessment?

The field has published practice guidelines covering qualifications, ethics, and procedures (Krishnamurthy et al., 2021). You do not need to know the guidelines yourself. You simply want an evaluator who does, and who can say so without hesitating.

The bottom line: you are not checking a box. You are asking whether this person has the depth to see you clearly.

Questions About the Tests and Assessment Methods

Think of a psychological test as a measuring tape. It only helps if it is marked accurately, measures the same way each time, and was built for the thing you are trying to measure. The research language for this is standardization, norms, reliability, and validity, and those are exactly the qualities experts weigh when choosing a test for a given person and purpose (Cicchetti, 1994).

4. Are your tests standardized and norm referenced for someone like me?

Norms (the comparison group a score is measured against) matter enormously. A score only means something when you are compared to people of a similar age and relevant background (Cicchetti, 1994). An adult compared against adolescent norms, or vice versa, may get a misleading picture.

5. How do you know these measures are reliable and valid for my question?

Reliability means a test gives consistent results. Validity means it actually measures what it claims to measure, for your referral question, not just in general (Cicchetti, 1994). A thoughtful evaluator can explain in plain language why they chose each tool.

6. Do you use more than one kind of information, or mostly questionnaires?

This may be the most important question on the list. A multimethod approach combines interviews, direct testing, observation, history, and input from people who know you well. Many doctoral programs endorse multimethod assessment, though research suggests some training still leans heavily on self report questionnaires alone (Mihura et al., 2017).

Why does that matter? Questionnaires capture how you see yourself, valuable, but incomplete. Many adults with ADHD or autism have spent years compensating, and their self ratings may not reflect what is happening underneath. Sometimes the most important finding lives in the gap between how someone describes themselves and how they actually perform.

No single test is diagnostic on its own. The answer emerges from how the pieces fit together.

Questions About Ethics, Context, and Whether the Evaluation Fits You

A technically excellent evaluation can still miss if it ignores who you are and why you came. Best practice guidance names diversity considerations, ethical conduct, and appropriate use of assessment as core parts of competent practice (Krishnamurthy et al., 2021).

7. How do you account for culture, language, and background when choosing and interpreting tests?

Tests are built on assumptions, about language, schooling, cultural norms, even what counts as “typical” eye contact or conversation. A strong evaluator considers these factors both when selecting measures and when making sense of the results (Krishnamurthy et al., 2021). Listen for curiosity here, not a canned reassurance.

8. Do your credentials meet state and test publisher requirements for these measures?

Rules about who may use which tests vary by profession and by state, and test publishers set their own qualification levels (Peterson et al., 2014). This matters most when results will be used for something consequential, school accommodations, workplace decisions, disability claims, or legal matters.

9. What is this assessment for, and how will the results be used?

Guidelines emphasize matching the assessment to its purpose rather than running the same battery for everyone (Krishnamurthy et al., 2021; Cicchetti, 1994). An evaluation for college accommodations looks different from one exploring a lifelong question about autism. Ask who will see the report, too.

10. What will I walk away with?

This last question is not drawn from a single study. It comes from years of sitting across from people after their results. Ask whether you will have a feedback session, receive a written report, and leave with specific recommendations. A diagnosis without a plan can feel like being handed a map with no roads on it.

Ask Us These Questions Too

Please ask them of us, too. At Gerdin Psychological Services in Spokane, evaluations are conducted by Dr. Tyler Gerdin, PsyD, ABPP, a board certified clinical psychologist licensed in Washington and Oregon. We evaluate children (ages 8 and up), adolescents, and adults for ADHD, autism, learning differences, and complex diagnostic questions.

Every evaluation draws on multiple sources, interview, direct testing, observation, history, and collateral input, chosen for your specific question rather than pulled from a one size fits all battery. And every evaluation ends the same way: a feedback session where we walk through what we found together, in plain language, with recommendations you can actually use.

If you are weighing whether an assessment is right for you or your child, we are glad to talk it through. Schedule a consultation, and bring your list.

A good assessment tells you what is true. A great assessment also tells you what to do next.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it rude to ask an evaluator about their qualifications?

Not at all. Good evaluators expect it and often appreciate it. Asking about training and methods signals that you are taking the process seriously, which usually makes for a better evaluation.

What is the difference between a psychological assessment and a screening?

A screening is a brief check (often a short questionnaire) that flags whether further evaluation may be useful. A full psychological assessment combines multiple methods, interviews, standardized testing, observation, and history, to answer a specific question in depth.

What does "norm referenced" mean?

It means your scores are compared against a large, representative group of people similar to you, typically in age. Appropriate norms are what make a score interpretable (Cicchetti, 1994).

Can any licensed mental health professional give psychological tests?

It depends on the test, the profession, and the state. Rules for test use vary by jurisdiction, and many publishers restrict advanced measures to users with specific training (Peterson et al., 2014). It is always fair to ask.

Why does a multimethod assessment matter for ADHD or autism?

Self report questionnaires capture only one perspective. Many people, especially adults who have learned to compensate, may under or over report their experience. Combining several sources of information gives a more complete and accurate picture (Mihura et al., 2017).

What should I receive at the end of an evaluation?

At minimum, ask about a feedback session and a written report with specific, practical recommendations. A diagnosis alone tells you what. Recommendations help you know what next.

References

• Cicchetti, D. V. (1994). Guidelines, criteria, and rules of thumb for evaluating normed and standardized assessment instruments in psychology. Psychological Assessment, 6(4), 284–290.

• Krishnamurthy, R., Hass, G. A., Natoli, A. P., Smith, B. L., Arbisi, P. A., & Gottfried, E. D. (2021). Professional practice guidelines for personality assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment.

• Mihura, J. L., Roy, M., & Graceffo, R. A. (2017). Psychological assessment training in clinical psychology doctoral programs. Journal of Personality Assessment, 99(2), 153–164.

• Peterson, C. H., Lomas, G. I., Neukrug, E. S., & Bonner, M. W. (2014). Assessment use by counselors in the United States: Implications for policy and practice. Journal of Counseling & Development, 92(1), 90–98.

• Dr. Tyler Gerdin, PsyD, ABPP is a board certified clinical psychologist in Spokane, Washington, specializing in psychological and neuropsychological assessment for neurodivergent teens and adults.