Test - Assessments - Valiant Living Detox and Assessment

Clinical Assessments Program

Led by a team of licensed psychologists, our Clinical Assessments Program delivers thorough evaluations to identify and officially diagnose underlying conditions. These insights empower clinicians to develop the most effective long-term recovery plans tailored to each patient’s needs.

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What doES The assessment check for?

The assessment process evaluates across a wide spectrum, evaluating against a number of potential underlying conditions, including:

Substance Use Disorders

Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) are complex medical conditions characterized by the compulsive use of drugs or alcohol despite harmful consequences. They affect brain function, often leading to physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms when substance use is stopped. Valiant assesses for the entire spectrum of SUDs, from mild caffeine dependence to severe alcoholism, in order to provide a carefully tailored treatment plan. One of the main impetuses for the creation of the Valiant Assessment track was the fact that SUDs are often misdiagnosed. A common example is a patient being treated for alcoholism when the underlying problem is not physiological addiction to alcohol, but rather bipolar disorder that the patient happens to be self-medicating for with a substance. Thus the purpose of a comprehensive psychological assessment is to prevent treating the wrong illness by finding all underlying psychological issues in order to make the proper diagnosis.

Process and Behavioral Addictions

Process addiction, also known as behavioral addiction, refers to a compulsive engagement in certain behaviors that provide a sense of pleasure or relief. These behaviors, such as sexual activity, gambling, shopping, gaming, or excessive internet use, activate the brain’s reward system, leading to a cycle of craving, engagement, and withdrawal. Over time, these behaviors can destroy every aspect of a person’s existence. Due to their isolating nature, process addictions are uniquely dangerous, because if not treated, people with suffering from these illnesses have an extremely high rate of suicide. Instead of being recognized as physiological addictions like substance abuse, process addictions often induce a level of shame that almost invariably leads to suicidal ideation. The Valiant Assessment Track thus has the imperative of identifying and officially diagnosing process addictions so that they can be properly treated, and this requires running a full battery of tests in order to do a comprehensive psychological evaluation. Nothing can be missed, because clinical errors can be fatal if they prevent treatment of underlying illnesses.

Personality Disorders

Personality disorders, at their base, are patterns of thinking that prevent a human being from thriving in society. They come in many forms, and are highly nuanced, and therefore difficult to diagnose.

They are categorized into three clusters:

Cluster A (Odd/Eccentric):
- Paranoid: general mistrust of others and irrational suspicion
- Schizoid: self-isolation and social disinterest induced by paranoia
- Schizotypal: social aversion induced by detachment from reality and mental delusion
Cluster B (Dramatic/Emotional):
- Antisocial: impulsivity, recklessness, and often criminal behavior
- Borderline: emotional instability, dissociation, instability in interpersonal relationships
- Histrionic: impulsive attention-seeking, tendencies of manipulation and seduction
- Narcissistic: self-obsession, excessive need for admiration, diminished empathy
Cluster C (Anxious/Fearful):
- Avoidant: extreme social anxiety, fear of intimacy, intense fear of rejection
- Dependent: compulsive helplessness, severe submission, fear of abandonment
- Obsessive-Compulsive (OCD): intrusive thoughts, need to perform certain routines to the point of inhibiting general function

Due to the sheer breadth of the evaluation done by the Valiant Assessment Track, these disorders are identified and diagnosed with expert precision. It is extremely important that this is done so that patients can undergo psychological treatment in additions therapy, as the two modes of treatment are interdependent.

Mood Disorders