MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATION in Denver, colorado

General Mental Health Evaluations

Immigration evaluations, psychiatric evaluations, disability evaluations, adoption evaluations, pre-employment evaluations, and court-ordered mental health evaluations for Denver and Colorado residents.

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Types of Mental Health Evaluations at Birch Psychology

Immigration Evaluations

Individuals and families immigrating to the US or seeking asylum are sometimes required to undergo an immigration evaluation, or your immigration attorney may recommend an immigration evaluation to strengthen your case. These evaluations help evaluate how psychological factors, trauma, or hardships relate to your case.

Adoption Evaluations

As part of the pre-placement assessment, many adoption organizations require an evaluation. These are intended to determine an applicant’s capabilities to meet the needs of an adopted child. There are also post-placement evaluations, which are used to assess a child’s wellbeing as they adjust to their new home.

Court-ordered Evaluations

As part of your court case in Denver, you may be required to undergo a mental health evaluation. While our practice can offer these for legal or court ordered cases on occasion, a forensic psychologist may be the better fit for these services. Note that our practice does not offer testimony, and thus may not be an ideal fit for a legally-mandated psychological evaluation.

Pre-employment Evaluations

Often administered for first responders, air traffic controllers, and high-security personnel, pre-employment evaluations help your employer feel confident that you can safely and effectively perform a mentally taxing job.

What’s Included In Mental Health Evaluations

Although what’s included in a mental health evaluation in Denver and anywhere in the US varies based on the assessment and circumstances, evaluations typically involve the following components.

  • Clinical interview: An in-depth, 1-4 hour interview with you.

  • Mental health assessment: A diagnostic evaluation for disorders like PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder.

  • Standard psychological screening: Administration of industry-standard mental health screeners like the PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, and PCL-5 for PTSD.

  • Documentation review: An analysis of supporting records, such as police reports and therapy notes, which vary widely based on the type of evaluation you are receiving.

  • Behavioral and Mental Status Examination (MSE): Your psychologist’s observations regarding your cognitive functioning, emotional state, memory, speech, and overall presentation during the clinical interview and other sessions.

  • Assessment-specific components: Your evaluation could include things like an assessment of your support network if you want to adopt or an administration of the TOMM or SIMS tests to detect exaggeration of a mental illness.

  • Final written report: A 10-15 page legal-grade document detailing your background and history, symptoms and testing results, clinical recommendations, and other evaluation-specific sections (e.g., a trauma analysis for immigration cases).

Our Mental Health Evaluators in Denver

Mental Health Evaluations FAQs

  • Although evaluators should be aware of cultural differences in behavior and language, that discretion doesn’t always happen. That’s why at Birch Psychology, we employ bilingual and bicultural psychologists who can bridge that gap with their education and lived experience.

  • Yes. If new evidence or circumstances arise, an updated evaluation may be in your best interest.

  • A fitness-for-duty evaluation assesses a current employee whose decline in performance warrants an evaluation. Pre-employment evaluations are for potential employees and are conducted during the hiring process.

  • In evaluations, we use multiple data points. We would never rely on one piece of data to make a conclusion, and this is why we use multiple assessments and sometimes talk with or send questionnaires to people in your orbit. Openness, honestly, and vulnerability in the testing process is important.