Graham Husick, PsyD • January 14, 2025
Testing Worth Your Time and Money
Much of the time, psychological testing falls short of its true potential; time restrictions from insurance companies, “one-size-fits-all” tests, and inadequate psychologist training can make testing not worth the energy or money invested.
This is why we use the T.A.R.G.E.T. testing method: with skills gained through extensive training, we tailor our time with each patient to construct the right questions and implement the right tests, leading to the most accurate and effective answers.
What is T.A.R.G.E.T. Testing?
T.A.R.G.E.T. is a testing method that is based on the protocol developed at the famous Menninger Clinic, one of the top-ranked psychiatric hospitals in the country. Dr. Graham Husick, Assessment Lead, was extensively trained by a psychologist who helped to develop this approach.
Simply put, T.A.R.G.E.T. testing is the most detailed, in-depth outpatient psychological assessment that money can buy. This method is directed at accomplishing two main objectives:
1. Establishing realistic goals for the patient in treatment.
2. Supercharging treatment so that the patient gets better and stays better!
T.A.R.G.E.T. accomplishes these objectives by utilizing foundational tests to their full potential, as well as incorporating cutting-edge tests to stay up-to-date with modern diagnostic techniques. Is it backed by over 100 years of test development, clinical research, and accumulated industry knowledge.
What can T.A.R.G.E.T. diagnose?
T.A.R.G.E.T. is psychological testing, which is different from neuropsychological testing or psychoeducational testing. This means that it can diagnose almost anything psychological with a high degree of accuracy. The following list contains examples of diagnoses that T.A.R.G.E.T. can diagnose, but is not exhaustive:
· Intellectual Disability
· Autism Spectrum Disorder
· ADHD
· Tourette’s Disorder
· Personality Disorders
· Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
· Bipolar disorder
· Major Depressive Disorder
· Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
· Dysthymia
· Anxiety/Panic disorders
· Agoraphobia
· Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
· PTSD and Other Trauma Disorders
· Dissociative Disorders
· Somatic Symptom Disorders
· Eating Disorders
· Sexual Dysfunctions
· Gender Dysphoria
· Paraphilic Disorders
· Substance Use Disorders
Why is T.A.R.G.E.T. better than regular psychological testing?
T.A.R.G.E.T. goes beyond just getting a diagnosis, which is where most other testing stops. Part of our comprehensive, tailored approach involves getting to know the patient’s psychology: how their mind really works!
T.A.R.G.E.T. is able to evaluate such complex areas as Reality Testing, Reasoning, Relatedness and Attachment, Emotional Experience and Regulation, Vulnerability to Shame, Empirically Validated Personality Types, Views of Self, Views of Others, and much more. Knowing these aspects of a patient will help their therapist treat them more effectively than if they had completed a less comprehensive assessment.
T.A.R.G.E.T. also helps tailor our recommendations for the patient in a much more detailed and comprehensive way than normal testing. For example, we are able to help patients towards: stabilization, building on strengths, compensating for weaknesses, repairing capacities, reprocessing and integrating trauma, breaking self-defeating patterns, improving relationships, achieving school and career goals, and more!