I am a licensed clinical psychologist who uses standardized testing almost every day in my practice at a large hospital based clinic so I value this practice very much. I think standardized testing is extremely helpful in formulating diagnostic impressions for complex cases but I do not believe it is required for every single patient and certainly not for therapy patients. Standardized testing is required to help make some diagnoses such as Specific Learning Disability and Intellectual Disability for example. Interestingly, one of the tests I use to diagnose Autistic Spectrum Disorder, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition, is considered the gold standard for diagnosing Autistic Spectrum Disorder and it doesn't even use standardized scores. It uses an algorithm and cut off scores. It is an extremely useful test and is very well respected. However, it is just a tool that adds to the essential clinical interview and information gathering about symptoms from multiple sources such as schools. 

People see licensed clinical psychologists for a myriad of presenting problems that often don't require standardized testing. In therapy,  psychologists typically conduct assessments of patients'  psychological functioning through diagnostic interviewing which is one of our most powerful tools. We work with patients to develop treatment goals which are clearly defined and easily measured without the need for standardized testing. I also agree with several of the other comments made that insurance companies often require preathorization for testing and I think there would be many denials if testing was requested for every single therapy patient. It is not the current standard of practice for psychologists to conduct standardized testing for every single patient so I request that this petition be denied. 

Respectfully,

Gregory L. Robinson, PhD.