assessment

In therapy, assessment is the structured process of gathering information about a person’s history, symptoms, and strengths to understand what is happening and what care may help. It can include a clinical interview alongside a questionnaire, screening test, or brief quiz.

Methods may involve standardized measures, self-report scales, observations, and collateral information. Results guide case formulation, diagnosis, and treatment planning, and set a baseline to track progress. In trauma and family-of-origin work, assessment often looks at safety, triggers, dissociation, attachment patterns, and family roles; online tools like a “toxic family test” are informal screeners rather than formal evaluations.