Psych Evaluation....

I was wondering if anyone had ever had an evaluation over the phone? I was referred to Dr. Victor OBryan, and they mailed me my questionnaire, I filled that out, faxed to them, and they had the option of doing the interview over the phone!! So I set up an appointment for next Friday!~ Has anyone out there ever done this? Even the conventional way - what do I expect?? The questions were very strange.. most of them didnt pertain to me. (drinking,suicide,anger..etc.) Please advise. Thanks bunches

Nope, mine was face to face... I would be a little leary of doing a psychological evaluation over the phone. I'd rather do face to face...but that is just me. Yes the questions are strange and a lot of them probably wouldn't pertain to you as you said...but they do have a method to their madness I suppose. I had to fill out a gob of paper work and take personality tests. My psychologist concluded that I was pretty "normal" and that I was too concerned with medical issues. For $250 it cost me, I could have told you that LOL. I wanted to say ..Of course, I'm concerned with my health.... that is why I'm having gastric bypass. Oh well, what do I know?? Don't stress over it too much april

I had my psych eval with Dr. OBryan but mine was face to face. I know they offer the option of phone evals in case someone would have real difficulty coming in to the office, i.e. distance, transportation, mobility problems, etc. I liked Dr. Vic. He was very easy to talk with and really just wants to make sure you understand the requirements, risks and limitations of the surgery. Oh, and to make sure you aren't alcoholic, bulemic/anorexic, suicidal, mass murderer... I told him "I'm not crazy, just fat!" Try to relax. Susan

Hi Sonya, I have never heard of a phone evaluation either. Maybe if it is not noted that it was through the phone the insurance will not know the difference. I would hate for you to have to have another one but, what do I know. "Nothing" My evaluation was nothing. He hardly ask me anything. He just wanted his money. He did tell be he had done a lot of evaluations for WLS. "I think I was his first" lol But, he approved me so that's all I care. I have been gone all day. Read it quickly and was going to re-read it and reply later. I came in here & it was deleted. not even in my deleted file. I am bad at clear e-mails. I know you are off work now. Didn't hear from my insurance today either. Have a great week-end, Ellen

NO! And as a masters student in a counseling program...I'd be wary of any evals over the phone. Honestly, anyone can manipulate their eval quite easily. I actually knew someone who (probably didn't have their eval over the phone), but did manipulate the system and passed her eval with flying colors. She wasn't ready for surgery or the process of losing weight rapidly. My eval took 3 hours. I met with a psychologist who talked with me about an hour to get my history and to make sure that I had a good support system. They also talked with me about my knowledge and understanding of the procedure and the weight loss process and wanted to know how I would cope without food during emotional times...no more emotional eating, so they want to make sure I had another outlet for handling stress. Also, my eval involved a list of the most worthless questions. I think it was close to 200 multiple choice questions and I had to draw a clock (not sure why, but likely to show I could follow directions). Just my two cents. Hope this helps. -Alyssa