Psychological Assessment

Collaborative, depth-oriented evaluation in Evergreen & Golden, CO

Are You Still Looking for Answers That Actually Fit?

Maybe you've tried therapy. Maybe medication. Maybe your child has had an IEP for years, or you've been told you have anxiety, or depression, or ADHD — but something about the explanation never quite landed. The treatment helps, but only partially. The diagnosis points in a direction, but doesn't explain what's actually driving the symptoms or difficulties.

When symptoms overlap, standard approaches miss things. ADHD can look like anxiety. Trauma can look like a mood disorder. A learning difference can be written off as laziness or attitude. And eating disorders are often treated repeatedly without anyone looking carefully at what's underneath.

Without a clear, accurate understanding of what's actually happening, the path forward stays murky — and the risk of treatment that doesn't fit or is ineffective is real.

“The diagnosis feels like a piece of the picture, not the whole thing.”

The Cost of Not Knowing

Years of partial explanations leave a mark. Interventions that don't match. Money and time spent on approaches that offer only temporary relief. And perhaps most damaging: the internalized belief that you or your child simply isn't trying hard enough.

A psychological evaluation, done carefully and collaboratively, can change all of that. It offers clarity, direction, and a foundation for care that genuinely fits.

You're Not the Only One Who Has Been Here

Overlapping and hard-to-read symptom presentations are common — and genuinely difficult to sort out without thorough evaluation. ADHD is frequently missed in adults, particularly in women and high-functioning individuals who developed coping strategies early. Eating disorders are often assessed for the first time only after years of cycling through treatment without resolution. Trauma can present as attention problems, mood instability, or personality concerns — and without a trauma-specialist lens, the real picture stays hidden.

Many people arrive at psychological testing after years of partial explanations, conflicting diagnoses, or treatments that worked for a while but haven’t led to sustained improvement in symptoms or true healing. If this is where you are, you are not difficult or treatment-resistant. You may simply not have had a complete picture yet.

A psychological evaluation isn't just about finding a label. Done well, it's a process of finally being seen — and that experience itself can be part of healing.

A psychological evaluation isn't just about finding a label.
Done well, it's a process of finally being seen.

Psychological Assessment That Sees the Whole Person

My approach is grounded in the Collaborative Therapeutic Assessment (CTA) model — a research-supported, relational framework developed by psychologist Stephen Finn that treats the psychological evaluation itself as an opportunity for growth, not just diagnosis.

What that means in practice: I work with you, not on you. From the first conversation through the final feedback session, every psychological assessment I offer is collaborative, paced, and genuinely oriented toward your goals — not just producing a report.

What I Specialize In

I offer individualized psychological testing for children (ages 8 and up), teens, and adults in Evergreen, Golden, and the surrounding Colorado foothills.

  • Something isn't working the way it should — and it probably hasn't been for a long time. Maybe it's attention, follow-through, reading, or processing. Maybe you've compensated well enough that no one noticed, including you. This evaluation is for adults and children ages 8 and up who need a clear, thorough picture of how their mind works — not a quick checklist, but a real cognitive and functional profile that can actually guide what comes next. A diagnosis is a tool, not the destination.

    These evaluations also include screening for other forms of neurodivergence. If the data suggests autism spectrum concerns, I'll discuss that with you directly and provide referrals for a full diagnostic evaluation — including the ADOS — with a specialist.

  • Sometimes the question is bigger than one diagnosis. Treatment hasn't worked the way it was supposed to. Multiple things seem to be going on at once. A previous diagnosis never quite fit. This evaluation is designed for complexity — when you or a referral source needs a fuller picture of personality structure, diagnostic clarity, and what's actually driving the presentation. The goal isn't just an answer. It's an understanding layered enough to actually change something.

  • Eating disorders are rarely just about food or body image. They develop at the intersection of neurobiology, identity, emotion regulation, and often trauma — and often involve experiences the nervous system had no other way to manage.

    Because eating disorders frequently overlap with trauma, neurodivergence, OCD, ADHD, and mood concerns, a thorough evaluation goes beyond the eating disorder itself. I assess for the co-occurring factors that standard approaches often miss — sensory sensitivities, trauma history, personality traits like perfectionism or chronic over-accommodation, and emotional processing patterns that may be maintaining the eating disorder. The goal is to clarify the why beneath the symptoms, not just confirm the diagnosis that everyone already suspected.

    This evaluation is particularly suited for two groups: people who have already been through treatment — sometimes repeatedly — and are still stuck; and young people in the earlier stages of an eating disorder, where a clear picture early can prevent years of treatment that misses the mark. The research is consistent — the sooner an effective, individualized approach is in place, the better the odds of full recovery.

    A comprehensive picture can identify co-occurring diagnoses, clarify the most appropriate level of care, and give you, your family, and your care team a clear understanding of what's actually happening and what will truly support recovery.

    The approach throughout is compassionate and non-shaming. You are more than your symptoms. The evaluation is designed to reflect that.

  • All evaluations here are collaborative, depth-oriented, and organized around the questions you bring. Therapeutic Assessment goes further structurally. Based on the model developed by Stephen Finn, it involves more sessions, more touchpoints, and a process designed for the assessment itself to function as an intervention — not just a prelude to one. Preliminary findings are shared mid-process, and your response to them becomes part of the data. Feedback isn't delivered as a clinical summary at the end. It arrives as a narrative — developed with you, over time — meant to be the beginning of something rather than a conclusion.

    This is the option when you want the evaluation to matter in itself, not just for what it produces.

What the Process Looks Like

Every psychological assessment begins with a free 20-minute consultation so we can discuss what you're looking for and whether this is the right fit for you or your loved one.
From there:

  1. In-depth intake — A thorough conversation about your history, concerns, strengths, and questions for the assessment. For children, this consists of a parent interview.

  2. Testing sessions — A tailored combination of standardized measures, cognitive and behavioral assessments, and structured interviews. I offer flexible testing locations — including in-home visits and school-based options for younger clients — so the setting feels familiar rather than clinical.

  3. Analysis — I review all findings carefully, considering how different dimensions of your experience intersect — not just what the scores say.

  4. Feedback session — Results are shared in warm, clear language — no jargon. We talk through what was found, what it means, and what makes sense next.

  5. Written report and recommendations — A thorough report, a summary letter for sharing with providers or schools, and personalized recommendations grounded in your real life.

Most evaluations are completed within four to six weeks.

Investment

Psychological evaluations from $2,100 to $4,800, depending on the type of assessment, the complexity of the referral question, and the battery of measures indicated. A straightforward ADHD evaluation and a full Therapeutic Assessment are genuinely different engagements — and the fee should reflect that rather than flatten it.

Rather than quoting a single flat fee upfront, I gather information during the initial intake session first. From there I'll send you an exact fee estimate based on what your specific evaluation will actually involve. No surprises after the fact.

I don't bill insurance directly, but I can provide documentation for out-of-network reimbursement upon request.

Schedule a Free Consultation

You May Still Have Questions

  • The fee depends on what the evaluation actually involves — and I won't know that precisely until after the intake. The intake is a 90-minute session where we go through your history and referral questions in depth, and from there I determine the testing battery and send you a specific fee estimate before we proceed. No surprises after the fact.

    The intake session is $350. For general planning purposes, full evaluations at Blue Lotus range from $2,100 to $4,800.

  • Often, yes — especially in that situation. Therapy and medication work best when they're matched to an accurate clinical picture. If previous treatments haven't held the way you hoped, a thorough evaluation can reveal why — and what approaches might fit better. Many of the people I work with come after years of partial relief, not failure. Assessment doesn't erase that history; it helps make sense of it.

  • Structured screening tools are useful starting points, but they capture a narrow slice of a complex picture. A full psychological evaluation draws on multiple data sources — standardized testing, clinical interview, behavioral observations, and history — and considers how everything interacts. The result is a level of nuance that a checklist simply can't provide, along with recommendations that are specific to you, not to a category.

  • Most psychological evaluations follow a traditional model: the psychologist administers tests, analyzes the data, and delivers findings — often in a report the client receives weeks later. The process can feel like something being done to you rather than with you.

    Therapeutic Assessment, developed by psychologist Stephen Finn, turns that model inside out. Rather than treating the evaluation as purely diagnostic, it treats the process itself as an opportunity for insight and change. Questions are developed collaboratively. Findings are explored together in the feedback session rather than handed down. And the experience is designed to leave you with not just a diagnosis, but a genuinely new understanding of yourself.

    Research supports what many clients feel intuitively: the collaborative, relational process of Therapeutic Assessment produces better outcomes than traditional testing alone — including greater insight, reduced distress, and stronger engagement with follow-up treatment. For complex presentations or anyone who has felt reduced or dismissed by previous evaluations, this approach can be meaningfully different.

  • I don't conduct full ASD diagnostic evaluations, which require a specific battery — including the ADOS — and a specialist trained in that assessment. What I do offer is screening within the context of an ADHD or comprehensive evaluation. If the data suggests autism spectrum concerns, I'll name that clearly, walk through what I'm seeing, and provide referrals to the right specialist for a full diagnostic workup.

    If you're coming in specifically for an autism evaluation, I'm happy to help you find the right fit.

  • Most kids (and a lot of adults) approach psychological testing with some resistance or worry. I pace the process carefully, lead with curiosity rather than evaluation, and use a strengths-focused approach throughout. Children are met where they are — with patience, not pressure. For many kids, the experience turns out to be far less intimidating than they expected.

Ready to Find Some Clarity?

If you're in the Evergreen, Golden, or surrounding Colorado foothills area and looking for psychological assessment that's thorough, relational, and genuinely oriented toward understanding — I'd love to connect.

I offer a free 20-minute consultation to talk through your questions and help you figure out whether this is the right fit. Reach out at hello@drsarahlong.com or use the contact form below.

Schedule a Free Consultation