Psychiatric evaluations are meetings between a mental health professional (e.g., psychiatrist, psychologist) and a child, adolescent or adult  in which the professional tries to glean information necessary to diagnose an emotional, behavioral or developmental disorder.

The major feature of a psychiatric evaluation is one or more face-to-face interviews in which the mental health professional asks the patient open-ended and diagnosis-specific questions to elicit answers that may be relevant in diagnosing a mental health condition. The goal is to learn more about the patient’s current problems and symptoms as well as their personal and family psychiatric and medical histories.

In addition to the interview, a physical examination may be performed and other tests (e.g., blood tests, x-rays) and evaluations may be ordered.

There are three major types of psychiatric evaluations: a general psychiatric evaluation, an emergency evaluation and a clinical consultation. A general evaluation is intended to collect enough data about the patient to develop an initial psychiatric diagnosis and an initial treatment plan. An emergency evaluation is performed when the patient has thoughts or feelings that are intolerable, or when the patient displays harmful behavior that requires a prompt response. A mental health consultation is an assessment requested by another health professional, the patient, a family member or others as a means of helping diagnose, treat or manage a patient with a suspected mental disorder or behavioral problem.

Psychiatric evaluations may be performed in either an inpatient (hospital) or an outpatient setting. Once information from the evaluation has been gathered and analyzed, a diagnosis of the condition and treatment plan may be formulated.