Personality Assessment & Development in New York City
Comprehensive personality assessment for adolescents, emerging adults, adults, and families when symptoms, identity, relationships, emotional regulation, or prior treatment do not fit neatly into a single diagnosis. The goal is a coherent clinical formulation and a practical treatment direction to help with optimizing ongoing personality development for an individual’s flourishing in life.
In-person and clinically appropriate telehealth
What Personality Assessment Evaluates
The question is not only which diagnosis fits. It is what patterns explain the whole picture, and what treatment should follow.
Personality assessment is a structured way of understanding how a person automatically experiences themselves and other people, regulates emotion and self-esteem, manages relationships, responds to stress and conflict, and organizes identity, values, and goals. It looks for a person’s models and patterns that help explain why certain symptoms recur or why previous treatment has produced only partial or temporary change. The Sheppe Group seeks to understand the root causes that drive ongoing difficulties.
A clinical personality assessment is different from an online personality quiz. It is not designed to place someone into a simplistic type. It may combine clinical interviews, developmental and family history, review of prior diagnoses and treatment, standardized measures, psychological testing when indicated, collateral information with permission, and observation of how patterns and symptoms have changed over time.
At The Sheppe Group, personality assessment is formulation first. Current symptoms are considered alongside development, identity, relationships, trauma, family systems, medical and psychiatric factors, strengths, and the patient’s stage of life. A diagnosis may be part of the result, but the larger purpose is to translate the assessment into a treatment plan that is understandable and clinically useful for optimal personality development for a person’s flourishing.
Two providers.One integrated lens.
Led by Alexander H. Sheppe, MD, FAPA, DFAACAP, and Aliza Spruch-Feiner, PhD, The Sheppe Group integrates psychiatry and clinical psychology within a shared model centered on complex evaluation, personality assessment and development, depth-oriented psychotherapy, family systems, and thoughtful treatment planning.
Alexander H. Sheppe, MD, FAPA, DFAACAP
Double board-certified psychiatrist with internationally recognized expertise in complex psychiatric presentations, personality assessment and development, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, failure to launch, family systems, and integrated treatment with care teams.
Aliza Spruch-Feiner, PhD
Clinical psychologist with advanced training in personality assessment and treatment, providing comprehensive evaluation of personality structure, differential diagnosis, psychodynamic formulation, and feedback designed to translate findings into a clear, practical treatment direction.
When Personality Assessment May Be Helpful
Personality assessment may be considered when several concerns overlap, the diagnosis remains uncertain, previous treatment has produced only partial change, or a patient, family, therapist, psychiatrist, school, or treatment program needs a clearer explanation of what is maintaining the difficulty. The topics below describe common referral questions that may lead to a more comprehensive evaluation.
Diagnostic uncertainty
Mood, anxiety, trauma, attention, substance use, developmental concerns, and personality patterns may resemble or intensify one another. Assessment helps organize what is primary, what is secondary, and what remains uncertain.
Treatment has stalled
When therapy, medication, or a higher level of care has helped only partly, assessment may identify an incomplete formulation, a mismatch between treatment and need, or an overlooked developmental, relational, or personality factor.
Identity and self-esteem
Questions about a stable sense of self, values, goals, confidence, shame, sensitivity to criticism, or abrupt shifts in self-image may require a more dimensional understanding than a symptom checklist provides.
Relationships repeat the same pattern
Assessment may help clarify recurring conflict, fear of abandonment, withdrawal, idealization and disappointment, difficulty trusting, unstable boundaries, or patterns that appear across family, romantic, school, work, and treatment relationships.
Emotion and impulse regulation
Rapid emotional shifts, anger, impulsive behavior, self-defeating choices, shutdown, dissociation, or difficulty recovering after stress may be understood in relation to coping style, personality organization, trauma, and current context.
Adolescent or emerging adult development
School avoidance, failure to launch, identity uncertainty, family conflict, changing relationships, college or work difficulties, and delayed autonomy may need to be considered within both development and personality functioning.
Complex risk or level-of-care questions
When safety, self-harm, suicidality, substance use, repeated crises, hospitalization, or treatment intensity are part of the picture, personality assessment may support clearer decisions about root causes, team coordination, and appropriate level of care.
A shared formulation is needed
Families and care teams may have different explanations for the same problem. A structured assessment can provide common language for roles, goals, treatment priorities, and communication, while respecting consent and confidentiality.
What to Expect During a Personality Assessment
The structure is tailored to the referral question. A focused consultation may require a smaller scope, while a comprehensive personality assessment may include several interviews, review of prior records, selected measures or psychological testing, and input from family members or current clinicians when it is useful and appropriate. The purpose is to gather enough relevant information to create a clear formulation without adding steps that do not improve the clinical answer.
Establish what theassessment needsto explain.
The process begins by identifying what the patient, family, referring clinician, school, program, or treatment team needs to understand. The question may involve diagnosis, treatment fit, personality functioning, level of care, repeated crises, stalled treatment, family dynamics, or a second opinion.
Current symptoms are placed within a longer timeline that may include development, family relationships, school and work, medical history, trauma, substance use, prior diagnoses, medication trials, psychotherapy, hospitalizations, major transitions, strengths, and periods of better functioning.
Examine symptoms,patterns, context,and functioning.
Clinical interviews explore both what is happening now and how the person tends to experience themselves and others. Attention may be given to identity, goals, empathy, intimacy, self-esteem, emotional regulation, impulse control, coping, defenses, attachment, interpretation of events, and response to stress.
Standardized measures, structured interviews, psychological testing, personality measures, or selected neuropsychological tasks may be used when they are likely to answer a specific question. Testing is interpreted in context and does not replace clinical judgment, history, or discussion with the patient.
Integrate the informationinto a personal practical planfor optimal personality development.
Information from interviews, measures, records, observations, and collateral sources is organized into a formulation that explains how symptoms, personality, development, relationships, biology, environment, strengths, and stress may interact for this particular person.
Findings are translated into practical language. Feedback may include diagnostic and differential considerations, psychotherapy approach, medication questions, treatment frequency, family involvement, coordination needs, level of care, and the sequence in which different problems should be addressed.
This describes a clinical framework, not a fixed package. The number of meetings, use of testing, involvement of family or outside clinicians, and type of written documentation depend on the question being asked and the scope agreed upon before the evaluation begins.
What a Personality Assessment May Include
A comprehensive assessment draws from multiple sources when they are relevant. The purpose is not to create the longest possible battery. It is to gather enough high-quality information to produce a reliable formulation and useful recommendations.
Individual interviews
Detailed discussion of current symptoms, concerns, goals, relationships, functioning, coping, strengths, and the patient’s own explanation of what is happening.
Developmental and treatment history
Review of childhood and adolescence, family context, school and work, prior therapy, medication, hospital care, diagnoses, response to treatment, and major transitions.
Measures and psychological testing
Selected standardized tools may assess symptoms, personality traits, personality functioning, cognitive questions, risk, or other areas directly connected to the referral question.
Records and prior evaluations
Previous reports, medication histories, discharge summaries, school records, testing, treatment plans, or clinician notes may help identify changes over time and reduce unnecessary repetition.
Family and clinician perspectives
Parents, partners, therapists, psychiatrists, schools, programs, or other care professionals may contribute information when their perspective is useful and appropriate permission is in place.
Feedback and recommendations
The patient receives an explanation of the findings and what they may mean for diagnosis, psychotherapy, medication, family work, treatment structure, coordination, and next steps for ongoing development.
Personality assessment does not automatically mean that a personality disorder will be diagnosed. It may identify strengths, vulnerabilities, developmental issues, relational patterns, or dimensional difficulties in personality functioning without concluding that a categorical personality disorder is present.
You do not need to have every answer before reaching out. When you are ready, we can listen to what has been happening, understand what has already been tried, and help determine whether personality assessment or another form of care is the right next step.
Personality Assessment Across Developmental Stages
Personality develops over time. Assessment should account for age, culture, family context, current stress, and developmental tasks rather than treating every pattern as fixed or permanent.
Adolescents
Assessment considers identity formation, emotion regulation, peer and family relationships, school functioning, safety, autonomy, trauma, behavior, and the difference between developmentally expected change and more persistent difficulties.
Emerging adults
College, work, relationships, independence, self-direction, failure to launch, diagnostic uncertainty, and changing family roles are considered alongside personality functioning and current capacity.
Adults
Assessment may clarify recurring difficulties in relationships, work, self-esteem, emotional regulation, identity, coping, prior treatment, or the interaction between longstanding patterns and current symptoms.
Families and care teams
When appropriate, assessment can help families and clinicians understand different perspectives, define roles, reduce conflicting treatment messages, and organize a coordinated plan around a shared formulation.
From Personality Assessment Findings to Treatment Direction
A useful assessment should do more than describe symptoms or assign a label. It should organize the available information into a clinical explanation and a set of decisions that the patient, family, referring clinician, and treatment team can understand and use for optimizing personality development and individual flourishing.
Clinical formulation
A coherent explanation of how symptoms, personality functioning, development, relationships, family systems, biology, stress, trauma, strengths, and prior treatment may fit together.
Diagnostic considerations
A discussion of diagnoses that appear supported, diagnoses that are less likely, areas that remain uncertain, and the reasons different conditions may have been confused with one another.
Treatment match
Recommendations may include psychodynamic psychotherapy, TFP, other psychotherapy approaches, medication management, family work, or a different level of care.
Sequence and priorities
Some concerns need to be addressed before others. The assessment may clarify immediate safety and stabilization needs, longer-term goals, and which part of the treatment plan should come first.
Coordination
When several clinicians, family members, schools, or programs are involved, recommendations may define responsibilities, communication needs, and how each part of care supports the same formulation.
Related specialties and conditionsfor personality assessment.
Related Personality Assessment Specialties
Transference-Focused PsychotherapyUnderstanding underlying patterns
Complex PatientsWhen others cannot see it
Adolescents & Emerging AdultsDevelopmental expertise
Family WorkThe system matters
Failure to LaunchToward autonomy
Integrated Psychiatry + PsychologyUnified care
Conditions Personality Assessment May Help Clarify
Personality Assessment FAQs in New York City
These answers provide general information. The scope, length, testing, documentation, and recommendations for a specific assessment depend on the referral question and the clinical situation.
What is personality assessment?
Personality assessment examines patterns in identity, self-esteem, emotional regulation, relationships, coping, and response to stress and conflict. It attempts to understand root causes of symptoms. It may use interviews, history, records, standardized measures, psychological testing, and collateral information to create a clinical formulation and guide treatment.
Is personality assessment the same as personality testing?
No. Testing may be one part of an assessment, but a comprehensive evaluation also relies on clinical interviews, developmental and treatment history, current symptoms, functioning, records, context, and experience and clinical judgment. A test score should not be interpreted in isolation.
Does an assessment mean I have a personality disorder?
No. Personality assessment may identify strengths, vulnerabilities, developmental concerns, relational patterns, or dimensional difficulties without concluding that a personality disorder is present. It may also show that another diagnosis or situational factor better explains the concern.
Can assessment help when previous treatment has not worked?
It may help clarify why prior care produced limited, temporary, or inconsistent improvement. Root causes may have been missed. Possible factors include diagnostic uncertainty, an overlooked developmental or personality pattern, treatment intensity, medication questions, family or environmental factors, or a mismatch between the approach and the patient’s needs.
Can adolescents receive a personality assessment?
Yes, when the assessment is developmentally informed. Adolescence is a period of active change, so findings should be interpreted with care and in relation to identity formation, family, peers, school, trauma, culture, and development rather than treated as a fixed description of the young person.
How long does a personality assessment take?
The length varies. A focused consultation may require fewer meetings, while a comprehensive evaluation involving records, testing, family or clinician input, and written recommendations may take longer. The expected scope should be discussed before the assessment begins.
Will psychological testing always be included?
Not necessarily. Testing is used when it is likely to answer a specific clinical question. In some cases, interviews, history, observation, and review of prior records provide the information needed. In other cases, structured measures or psychological testing add important clarity.
Will I receive a diagnosis or written report?
A diagnosis may be discussed when the available information supports one, but assessment can also result in a differential diagnosis or dimensional formulation. The form of written documentation depends on the agreed scope, referral question, and clinical purpose of the evaluation.
Can the assessment include my therapist, psychiatrist, or family?
Yes, when their input is clinically useful and appropriate permission is in place. Outside perspectives may help clarify history, changes over time, treatment response, family dynamics, school or work functioning, and the questions the current care team needs the assessment to answer.
What happens after the feedback session?
Next steps depend on the findings. Recommendations may include psychotherapy, transference-focused psychotherapy, psychiatric care, medication consultation, family work, coordination with current clinicians, or referral to another specialist or level of care.
Personality Assessment in Midtown Manhattan
The Sheppe Group sees patients at 122 East 42nd Street, 32nd Floor in New York, NY 10168, near Grand Central. In-person psychiatry, psychotherapy, personality assessment, and family consultation are available in Midtown Manhattan, with telehealth considered when clinically appropriate and legally permitted.
122 East 42nd Street, 32nd Floor
New York, NY 10168
Grand Central, Midtown Manhattan, Upper East Side, Upper West Side
Psychiatry, psychotherapy, personality assessment and development, family consultation, and telehealth where appropriate.
Telehealth for New York and Other Licensed States
Telehealth may be available for patients located in New York, California, Florida, New Jersey, and Connecticut, depending on clinical need, licensure, privacy, and whether remote care is the right setting.