Psych Eval Feedback

I am new here and am stressing something and was hoping for some input. I didn't really see a specific place for it, so I hope this is the right place.

I had to have a psych eval done for non mental health reasons. The verbal portion went great and I was whisked off to a room to take two written tests. One was the MMPI and the other was the PPI, I believe. One was very long and the other was not.

Anyway, the results were suppose to be done in a week. It took three weeks with me getting the run around every time I called. Finally, the information went through, but my doctor's office that needed the eval had to get clarification on something or else insurance wasn't going to approve me. Well, they did whatever and it went through. However, I was told that I am required to have 6 months of therapy, but no one could tell me why.

The place I went was awful. I was not impressed with the lack of privacy or with the way people were treated, so I asked for my records so I could find a place I felt comfortable with. No one would tell me why I needed therapy, so it is hard to call and say I need therapy but I don't know why, right? They told me to come fill out a paper and pay a fee and I could get my records. I go in and the supervisor is out, so I was told to just fill out the paper and they'd call be back when she's back in the office. Weeks passed... nothing. I blew it off. No big deal really. I'm doing fine. I need the records to know why I am calling to get an appointment in town, so really it is just a matter of when/if they get back to me.

Today out of the blue they call and say I have to meet with the supervisor to discuss my evaluation. I asked why I need to talk to her to get a copy of my records and the lady was just like this is what I was told. I then asked if it was going to cost me more money and she said no, it is free. So I said that I only needed the money to get the records then and the lady said yes, IF SHE GIVES THEM TO YOU. What?

So my question is what would be in the written evaluation that would warrant 6 months of therapy and a mandatory meeting with the supervisor of the clinic and no copy of my evaluation released to me? Is this typical after an evaluation? I've never had one before. Also, what would cause you to "fail" an evaluation but not due to it being inconclusive? I'm just really worried about what the meeting will be about. She is suppose to be telling me what is in my evaluation, but I have a feeling she is going to be asking me a bunch of questions instead. Plus, what is so bad that they don't want me to know? After all, this is MY evaluation.

Hello and welcome eseb,

I've had those tests done a few times myself, and I haven't ever gotten the records. I hadn't thought of asking for the results, I guess. Hmmmm.... I'll have to think about that for a few and write back to you!

Gentle hugs to you. Welcome to Psych Central ~ take care!

is this for a future medical procedure? if so that is an insurance requirement probably for that procedure. just guessing here.

Something about this doesn't seem right as well as being entirely frustrating and angering. You have every right to know what your files say. And how could you possibly go to therapy when you are mandated but don't know the reason? That just doesn't make any sense at all.

I know a little bit about tests like this. They need to be carefully interpreted with a very close detailed clinical interview. They cannot be used without personal information because they are simply not sensitive enough to tell the difference between something supposedly pathological and something adjusted. You could have produced a "spike" on a certain area just because you didn't fill in the question right or misunderstood its implications. Those all need to be clarified before anything else happens. So like I said it doesn't sound right to me. I would try to get a copy of the report made on the tests so that you know what is going on before you meet with anyone. You have a right to that information. I am not exactly sure about this, but I believe it is the law. At least it is for therapist's files so I would assume that psychological testing would fit under the same laws.

some locations require a person to have a set number of therapy sessions or so many months of therapy to establish a baseline....it doesnt always mean theres something wrong with the psych eval or something major is in the psych eval..

other times when people call for the results of their psych eval the treatment providers may think you are just looking for the "recommendations" section of the psych eval...this is where the testing professional has wrote up what they think you will benefit from..

example you said you had the evaluation done due to non mental health reasons....so that tells me that what ever the non mental health reasons are that you had this evaluation for, has been causing you problems.. since the treatment provider may have wrote in the recommendations section that you need 6 months of therapy that tells me they want you to address this non mental health issue by attending 6 months of therapy...

people dont enter therapy for the heck of it. they enter therapy to address problems... those problems can be mental problems but they can also be non mental problems.... example right now in my therapy sessions my therapist and I are working on my problems associated with my having Multiple Sclerosis which is a non mental health issue.

what ever the reason behind why you had the psych eval is why they think you need 6 months of therapy. thats how psych evals work...a person goes in because of a problem, gets tested and the psych eval says what will help the problem that is the reason why the evaluation was done.

You are asking "Plus, what is so bad that they don't want me to know? After all, this is MY evaluation."

If you were in California, this is what I would say in response:

The problem is that psychiatrists and psychologists, unlike the rest of medical providers, have the right to withhold your records from you. It is unfortunate, but it is what it is.

I have had these tests done and received the results, but I have had MD's evaluations withheld.

The providers cannot, however, withhold the records from your other providers - in other words, if you get another doctor, the record MUST be supplied to that new doctor.

Behind all of that is the belief that people may not be in position to interpret their own records in the realm of mental health. So in California, if you have cancer, you are considered able to deal with the knowledge of your diagnosis, but if you have any kind of a mental health issue, then your doctor gets the discretion to decide whether you are able to deal with the knowledge of your diagnosis.

Back to the testing - the test scores are input for a qualified neuropsychologist to interpret them and write a report. Only neuropsychologists who have been trained and have PhD's can do that. MD's, MFT's, LCSW's, and all the others cannot administer and interpret these tests.

If you are not in California, then you need to look up the law in your state. How records are kept depends on state. Who is qualified to administer and interpret the tests depends on state. Etc.

Your situation sounds pretty horrible to me and the first and immediate step for you to take is to stop all verbal correspondence with the clinic. All the correspondence needs to be in writing. Absolutely no phone calls.

That may be the case, but even in California the law says the client has the "privilege," meaning that the records are yours. It is true that you may get a summary instead of the actual files. It is also true that people in mental health may withhold some information for your best interest. But it is not true that you are not entitled to your records, in whatever form they can be provided. And as I remember the deadline even for a summary is 2 weeks so they can't really delay it.

Summary is a few lines and meaningless. The main point of providing a summary is the protection of the provider from legal liability. It is not informative enough to be of any use for the client.

You remember it exactly right, but the point remains that a summary can be completely useless.

In CA, from the site of the Medical Board that governs p-docs:

"By law, a patient's records are defined as records relating to the health history, diagnosis, or condition of a patient, or relating to treatment provided or proposed to be provided to the patient. Physicians must provide patients with copies within 15 days of receipt of the request.
...

A physician may refuse a patient's request to see or copy his or her mental health records if the physician determines there is a substantial risk of significant adverse or detrimental consequences to the patient if such access were permitted, subject to the following conditions:

-- The physician must make a written record and include it in the patient's file, noting the date of the request and explaining the physician's reason for refusing to permit inspection or provide copies of the records, including a description of the specific adverse or detrimental consequences to the patient that the physician anticipates would occur if inspection or copying were permitted.
-- The physician must permit inspection or copying of the mental health records by a licensed physician, psychologist, marriage and family therapist, or clinical social worker designated by the patient. These health care providers must not then permit inspection or copying by the patient.
-- The physician must inform the patient of the physician's refusal to permit the patient to inspect or obtain copies of the requested records, and inform the patient of the right to require the physician to permit inspection by, or provide copies to, the health care professionals listed in the paragraph above. The physician must indicate in the mental health records of the patient whether the request was made to provide a copy of the records to another health care professional.

MMPI etc. is not an MD-administered test, so the records are not subject to the regulations of the medical board. They are probably subject to the regulations of the board of psychology - that would depend on the state. The general issue would probably be the same, though.

I don't want to argue the details of the law here. I've gotten years and years worth of files summarized adequately though I had to give permission for extra time. So it's not necessarily true that a summary is worthless. In this case, though I did want to see the actual files, and could have if I petitioned for them, the summary was more useful.

In the case of psychological testing there are probably very different rules, but I still believe you are entitled to see the report. I myself have taken the MMPI-2 and also given it to others. It's a slightly outdated test so needs interpretation. For instance, one time I gave the person who appeared to be well-adjusted without any complaints scored high on certain things, but then in follow-up it was clear that because he was an unconventional creative writer his scores on those areas looked pathological when they were actually integrated into his overall personality and useful to society as an artist. So I say again that those tests can't be used without interpretation which depends upon a close interview and a follow-up of critical questions. I know that you do sign a confidentiality agreement when you take these tests, but I don't know the laws governing the results. They are usually handled by a psychologist, not an MD or MFT, so it seems it would be easy to look up what governs these tests and what you are allowed to know about them. I would suspect, but don't know for sure, that similar kinds of laws about client privilege would apply. That may not mean that you get the direct results. Again you may get a summary of some kind, but you are entitled to that. it is affecting your life. They can't just give you tests and tell you to go to therapy without letting you know a single thing about it. That just sounds plain wrong to me.

Sorry everyone, by the time this posted (I didn't realize there was a delay, but I understand why on such a board) I had already went.

I had two bad experiences at the clinic, so I assumed the worst. Plus, I had requested the information quite a while ago. If I didn't know what I needed counseling for, it was impossible to set it up. The first question is always why?

I don't want to say too much and end up adding triggering information, but the eval was for the lap band. I've been hospitalized around 10 years ago, but never had an eval done. Doctors never could agree on what was wrong with me and I have had more diagnoses than I can even remember to list. My last psychiatrists (yes plural) all agreed I was stable and well off of medication. Even my last psychologist thought the reason I was sent to him was ludicrous (work related).

I knew something was bad in the evaluation, but I also felt like the office was jerking me around. It took way longer than they told me it would take for it to be done, then way longer to call me about the records I requested.

The supervisor was nice this time and the evaluation was spot on. Everything they said was true. Unfortunately, I failed one of the tests miserably... it was not able to be scored. The other test was the PAI not whatever I said the first time. The other test, which had 500 or 700 questions was the one they couldn't score because apparently, I tested positive for everything on the test, so the results couldn't be valid. The PAI was accurate though. However, I aced the verbal interview and on the assessment, you can clearly see the verbal and written assessments contradicting each other. I guess I am good at hiding what I am feeling so that others think I'm functioning just fine.