Anxiety, Depression & OCD Evaluations

An evaluation may be helpful if your child experiences persistent worry, fear, or low mood that interferes with their daily functioning at home or school. This includes symptoms of anxiety, depression, or repetitive behaviors that seem to serve as coping mechanisms for underlying stress.

Children often develop anxiety, avoidant behaviors, or social withdrawal when facing frustrations, creating a complex web of interconnected challenges. Our evaluation can help determine whether these mood and anxiety symptoms are primary concerns or secondary responses to learning differences/neurodiversity, providing clarity on the best path forward for support.

We understand that children with anxiety or behavioral challenges may find evaluations stressful, so we take several steps to create a comfortable experience. Our experienced team is skilled at working with children with various challenges and adapts the evaluation approach to each child’s needs. We focus on creating a supportive environment that celebrates your child’s unique strengths while gathering the information needed to provide a balanced, empowering perspective on their functioning.

OCD involves specific patterns of intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that create anxiety, leading to repetitive behaviors or mental rituals (compulsions) aimed at reducing that distress. During our comprehensive evaluation, we carefully assess whether repetitive behaviors stem from obsessive thoughts and anxiety relief, or from other causes such as sensory needs, routine preferences, or general anxiety.

Unlike general anxiety, OCD typically involves specific themes (contamination, harm, symmetry, etc.) and ritualistic responses. Our evaluation distinguishes OCD from autism-related repetitive behaviors, ADHD-related fidgeting or hyperfocus, or anxiety-driven avoidance behaviors by examining the underlying motivations and patterns through direct assessment and detailed behavioral analysis.

Yes, OCD symptoms can sometimes be confused with other conditions because there can be overlapping behaviors. For example, a child with OCD might appear inattentive or distractible when they’re actually preoccupied with obsessive thoughts, which could be mistaken for ADHD. Similarly, repetitive behaviors in OCD might initially appear similar to the repetitive behaviors seen in autism.

However, the underlying mechanisms are different. OCD behaviors are driven by anxiety and the need to prevent feared outcomes, while ADHD involves attention and impulse control challenges, and autism-related behaviors often serve sensory or self-regulation functions. Our evaluation carefully examines the motivations behind behaviors, the presence of intrusive thoughts, and the child’s response to different situations to distinguish between these conditions and identify any co-occurring challenges accurately.

Clinical depression in children goes beyond typical sadness or disappointment. We use the established diagnostic criteria to carefully evaluate whether your child’s symptoms meet the threshold for Major Depressive Disorder.We look for persistent low mood, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities and other symptoms that last for weeks or months. Unlike situational sadness that improves with time or positive events, depression symptoms remain consistent and substantially impact a child’s ability to function at home, school, or with peers.

Our comprehensive evaluation combines standardized assessment tools with clinical interviews to learn about the duration, intensity, and functional impact of these symptoms. Additionally, our evaluations assess other neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD, dyslexia, and learning differences that can contribute to depressive symptoms or emotional struggles. Even when symptoms don’t reach the threshold for clinical depression, we take these concerns seriously and work to understand the underlying causes so we can recommend appropriate support and intervention strategies for your child.

To ensure we can provide thorough evaluations, we have chosen to be an out-of-network provider and do not accept insurance. Unfortunately, insurance companies impose strict limitations on how much time can be allocated to different parts of an evaluation. For complete details about potential reimbursement opportunities, please visit our Fees & Payments web page.