Treatment starts with working out what is actually going on. Assessment and psychiatric evaluation are how we do that with you, before anything is decided.
Nothing is prescribed, planned, or promised on a first impression. You will be asked a lot of questions, and the answers shape everything that follows.
The comprehensive assessment
A comprehensive behavioral health assessment looks at the whole picture rather than the single thing that brought you in:
- Current symptoms and the concerns you want help with
- Functional limitations — what this is stopping you from doing
- Your strengths and what is already working
- Risks and safety concerns
- Treatment history, including what has helped before and what has not
- Substance use history
- Medical concerns
- Family and social supports
The assessment is what lets the treating provider reach an appropriate diagnosis, identify what you individually need, judge whether outpatient treatment is the right level of care, and recommend what should happen next.
Psychiatric evaluation
A psychiatric evaluation is carried out by a qualified psychiatric provider and assesses emotional, behavioral, and psychiatric symptoms. Depending on what is relevant to you, it may cover:
- Presenting symptoms and concerns
- Mental health history, previous diagnoses, and previous treatment
- Current and previous psychiatric medications
- Substance use history
- Medical history and family psychiatric history
- Trauma history, where that is clinically appropriate
- Social and environmental factors
- A mental status examination
- Safety and suicide-risk concerns
- Functional impairment
- Your own strengths, needs, abilities, and preferences
Trauma history is asked about only where it is clinically relevant, and you set the pace. You do not have to tell the whole story in the first appointment to get treatment.
How a diagnosis is reached
A diagnosis is based on your clinical presentation, the findings of the assessment, the applicable diagnostic criteria, and the professional judgment of the treating provider. It is not produced by a questionnaire, and it is not fixed forever — a diagnosis can change as more becomes clear or as you respond to treatment.
Screening questionnaires
Standardized screening questionnaires are used where clinically appropriate, both to identify symptoms and to track whether treatment is working. They may cover depression, anxiety, trauma-related symptoms, suicide and self-harm risk, substance use, alcohol use, functional impairment, and other behavioral health concerns.
A score is not a diagnosis. Screening results are read alongside the clinical assessment and the provider’s judgment, and are never the sole basis for diagnosing anything.
Your treatment plan
Treatment plans are individualized, built around your diagnoses, needs, strengths, abilities, preferences, risks, and the goals you want to work toward. Wherever possible the plan is written collaboratively — with you, not for you.
A plan sets out measurable goals and objectives and the services needed to meet them. It is reviewed and updated as clinically appropriate, to reflect your progress, your changing needs, how you have responded to treatment, and whether you still need a given service.
Safety assessment
Where clinically indicated, you will be assessed for safety concerns: suicidal thoughts, self-harm, thoughts of harming others, acute psychiatric deterioration, psychosis, or being unable to care for yourself.
Being honest about these does not get you turned away. It changes what we do next. If you need a level of care beyond what an outpatient clinic can provide, we will arrange it — emergency services, an emergency department, crisis stabilization, or another appropriate level of care.
Kiyla Mental Clinic is an outpatient provider and does not replace emergency medical or psychiatric services. If you are in danger now, call 911. For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988, any time. See crisis resources.
Booking an assessment
Call (859) 303-5794 during office hours, walk in Monday to Friday between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm, or request a callback. You do not need a referral. See New Patients for what to bring.