Assessment
An important part of treatment before we begin sessions is to get a thorough understanding of the concerns that bring you into counseling. The assessment will involve the completion of standardized questionnaires before the clinical interview, interpreting the questionnaires, and a clinical interview that is followed up with recommendations.
Standardized Questionnaires
Before your initial assessment, you will be sent intake consent and four standardized questionnaires. These questionnaires include the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA), Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD). It is ideal to have these completed 24 hours before your initial assessment so that they can be scored and interpreted. This data, in addition to the Clinical Interview, is vital to understanding the concerns you are facing and being able to provide a proper recommendation.
Clinical Interview
The Clinical Interview, or Initial Assessment, is a one and one-half hour-long interview to get to know you and what brings you into therapy. This is also a time for you to answer any additional questions you may have about the process of therapy.
Recommendations
At the end of your initial assessment, I will take the information from the Standardized Questionnaires and Clinical Interview to identify a recommendation for treatment. This may involve discussing a specific type of treatment, the goals we'll address, and the length of treatment.
In some circumstances, the recommendations may involve a referral to a different type of treatment. Circumstances, where a referral may be made, may include demonstrating symptoms that may warrant a higher level of care or displaying symptoms that require specialized care.