A guide to mental health assessments for pediatric healthcare providers

This post is authored by Jacqueline Nguyen, PsyD, DipACLM, Senior Director of Behavioral Health at Clarity Pediatrics.

As a licensed clinical psychologist, I have seen firsthand the frustration families experience every day while trying to navigate our behavioral health care system. It can be difficult to know what treatment options are available, and a persistent shortage of pediatric providers and services adds to the confusion. Families depend on their trusted health care providers to guide them through the maze of available treatment options. If you are a pediatric health care provider wondering, “What kind of mental health assessment does my patient need,” read on for my tip sheet.

For children with mood or anxiety concerns

If you are alerted to a mood (e.g., depression) or anxiety concern and you are wondering if your pediatric patient needs mental health treatment, refer your patient to a licensed mental health provider.

This provider may be a master’s level therapist or a psychologist who can conduct an assessment of the child to determine if they meet diagnostic criteria for a DSM-5 psychiatric disorder. If so, the provider will make a treatment recommendation.

This type of assessment may be conducted in one session, but more often the provider conducts an ongoing assessment over multiple sessions. This type of assessment may include validated screening measures or other assessment tools.

Evaluating for neurodevelopmental concerns

If you are alerted to a concern about the way your patient processes and understands information, and you’re wondering if your patient has ADHD, Specific Learning Disorder, and/or another neurodevelopmental disorder, refer your patient for a neuropsychological evaluation.

A neuropsychological evaluation can help a patient understand how their brain works. The patient will be asked to complete a battery of assessments/tests to learn about their cognitive and intellectual functioning, attention/concentration, memory, reasoning, executive functions, fine motor skills, language skills, academics, and/or mood. The battery of tests can be individualized for each patient, to help answer their specific questions.

Some neuropsychological evaluations can also include assessment tools to diagnose (or rule out) Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Diagnosing ADHD in school-age children

If you have a patient who needs an ADHD screening, you can refer your patient to Clarity Pediatrics. Visit our website to learn more, and submit an online referral for your patient. Please note that we are currently serving families of children ages 5 through 12 years old in California.

An ADHD screening is a process by which a patient is assessed specifically for ADHD. A virtual ADHD screening at Clarity Pediatrics includes:

• A clinical interview with parent(s)/caregiver(s)
• Review of relevant medical history
• Questionnaires and rating scales to obtain essential information about the child’s behavior at home and at school
• A clinical interview (and behavioral observation) with the child

An ADHD screening is appropriate for patients who are primarily experiencing concerns related to inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. If your patient has many complex presenting concerns (e.g., mood, anxiety, Autism Spectrum Disorder, intellectual disability, speech/language delays), they likely require a different type of assessment to diagnose (or rule out) ADHD. See above for information about neuropsychological evaluations.

Other things to know

Licensed mental health providers typically specialize in specific areas of assessment and treatment. Not all therapists are trained to treat the same mental health conditions. To make sure you are referring to a provider who can most likely help your patient, be sure to check out their APA profile and/or their professional website which often details their areas of specialty.

Be clear with your patients that you are referring them for an assessment which will then determine treatment recommendations. It’s confusing for patients when they believe they are being referred for a specific treatment (e.g., CBT), and based on assessment results, a different treatment recommendation is given by the licensed mental health provider.

Individual therapy is not the recommended treatment for all mental health disorders. There are many different types of therapies available to patients and families. Just like how medication is prescribed for specific symptoms and conditions, therapy is also recommended based on the patient’s diagnoses and presenting problems. For those who want to know more, the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology is a great resource.