Hello,

I’m Dr. Mike Shery. Finding a professional to do your pre-adoption screening can be confusing and frustrating…dealing with answering machines, intimidating doctors who look at you like they‘re trying to find something wrong, layers of different people asking the same questions, credentials that look like alphabet soup etc.…

Do not assume that any mental health professional has the right credentials to provide high quality psychological evaluations.

How SHOULD you select a mental health professional to do your-pre-adoption psychological evaluation?

1. My first caveat, is to do your due diligence and specifically find a clinical psychologist, not just an ordinary counselor, social worker or psychiatrist to do your evaluation.

Often, an adoption agency may allow you to select either a clinical psychologist, a psychiatrist, a professional mental health counselor or a clinical social worker to do your pre-adoption evaluation.

However, it‘s NOT that easy: You may doom your chances of adopting from the start, if you, make arrangements to get your pre-adoption screenings without checking first to be sure the professional you are consulting is actually a specialized, trained expert in the psychological evaluation process.

You only have one chance! Having an inexperienced and poorly trained counselor, social worker or psychiatrist do your evaluation exposes you to invalid results, personal bias and serious technical errors which, once an unflattering report is written, can put your desire to adopt in jeopardy-Forever!

Why is a clinical psychologist the most highly qualified?

The expert psychologist holds a doctoral degree in psychology from a highly accredited university or graduate school. Some consider him or her to be the most highly trained of all mental health professionals.

After all, the psychologist has approximately 6 years of concentrated specialized college or university training in the psychological sciences; 2 years of which is in upper division work in college and 3 to 4 years of which is in rigorous scientific training in psychology and psychological assessment in a very demanding graduate school.

Psychologists then must undergo the equivalent of a one to two year internship in clinical psychology- no irrelevant courses in proctology or anatomy, just massive amounts of training in psychological treatment, family therapy, counseling and specialized diagnostic testing.

Because of this, the psychologist is qualified to do counseling, psychotherapy, research and particularly, to administer psychological tests. He/she, therefore is eminently qualified to provide expert pre-adoptive screening tests, counseling for adoptive children and psychological therapy to eliminate the anxiety and depression which sometimes later appears in adoptive families.

The advantages of using a psychologist, specifically, are centered around the fact that he is the most highly trained mental health professional in the psychological sciences and is the only mental health professional, by education, who is an expert in providing your crucial psychological evaluation.

What about the other mental health professionals, you ask?

The clinical social worker and professional counselor provide counseling to eliminate family problems and troubles arising from depression, anxiety, agitation and other emotional disorders. They have from one to two years of post-college level training in counseling and mental health but absolutely NO specialized training, if any, in administering psychological evaluations.

The social worker holds a masters degree in social work while the professional counselor holds one in counseling. However, their education, typically, provides little, if any, training in psychological assessment and testing.

Psychiatrists have most of their training in medicine, chemistry and the biological sciences. Their central training in psychiatry and mental health is usually received in a 3 year residency in psychiatry.

They hold a doctoral degree in medicine or osteopathy and receive almost no specialized training in family therapy, adoptive families or psychological testing. They are mainly used to prescribe medication and administer occasional electroshock treatments.

Do not have your dreams of adoption damned from the start because of an evaluation that is fatally flawed!

As you can see, there is a wide variety of professionals available to treat emotional problems. The one crucial point, however, is that you need an accurate, valid, unbiased and truly scientific pre-adoptive psychological assessment.

You do not want to be disqualified to adopt because of an inept evaluator’s mistakes. Remember, the best way to get an accurate expert evaluation is to choose the one professional most qualified by education and experience to provide it- the clinical psychologist!

Select someone who demonstrates concern for your peace of mind... not only in doing your evaluation…but also in providing any state-of-the-art post-adoption counseling that may be necessary.

2. My next suggestion, is to get your psychological evaluation from a clinical psychologist who doesn’t rush. Some doctors seem to push you out the door before you barely get in!

Your evaluating psychologist should be polite, courteous and treat you as a person. Not just a testing subject!

3. Patience and deep listening are paramount qualities that one wants when trying to find an expert pre-adoptive psychological eval. The good news is that, in our office, clients often remark that they appreciate how thoroughly and patiently we listen to their concerns.

Also, the field of adoption screening and counseling changes faster than the nightly news.

4. The psychologist doing your evaluation must structure it so it is convenient, easy and takes as little of your time as necessary.

Frankly, some practitioners are just concerned about their own time and convenience. That is unacceptable.

You are already drowning in paperwork, phone calls and interviews to make your adoption a reality. You already have too much to worry about.

In most cases, your evaluation will not only be complete and accurate…but it will take you just two 45 minute visits to the office. It doesn’t get much more convenient than that.

5. When trying to find a psychologist to do your evaluation, look for a demonstration of concern and respect for your time.

There is a No Waiting policy in my office. I respect your time. Personally, I don't like arriving at the appointed time to consult with a professional… then being left to wait, feeling ignored either.

Making you wait is rude; so… unlike other offices, clients are not scheduled to come in, in a way that I get backed-up.

You should never wait more than 10 minutes. Also, when you call, you will talk with me personally. No interference from receptionists.

ABSOLUTELY no headaches: In most cases, just two 45 minute office interviews and two state-of-the-art paper-and-pencil tests… and you‘re done!

6. Look for enthusiasm in giving you an appointment. Run from those who have the "take a number and wait in line" mentality. Under-staffed and impersonal commercial practices are not concerned about you.

They will often tell you to wait days or weeks for an appointment...without giving it a second thought! Your dreams of adoption are uppermost in your mind; you want your eval to be completed as quickly and conveniently as possible.

We are concerned and show it: You’ll get an appt with us in just a day or 2. We also provide appointments in the evenings and Saturdays to make it easier on your kids and work schedule.

 

 

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