May sound like a dumb question, but school me on psych evals

No, I'm not looking for a "trick", or a way to "beat the test". I know you have to be honest and whatnot, but what exactly do they ask? Is it all just a written/fill in exam? Do you actually talk to the psychiatrist? if so, what about?

I just scheduled my psych evaluation, and the receptionist told me to schedule a 3 hour window to "take the test". Made it sound like it was all written.

Any info is appreciated.

When you get the question: " Did you play with dolls as a child?"

The difference between a Doll and an action figure is the hair.

For the psyche purposes answer this as "no"! LoL

And do not be the guy who flirts with the sexy shrink.

Think " it's a trap..."

Ah. I guess it's one of those gender role things? I'll keep an eye out for that.

And the receptionist sounded like he was batting for the other team, so I doubt I'll get Dr. SexyPsych.

But one can only hope

Police or fire? Ours for FD was a 1200 question written with an oral interview with a shrink.

Police.

I'm putting myself through the academy, and I need to have the psych and medical evaluation done before it starts.

ETA: Is there a huge difference in what they would ask as a PD vs. FD?

ours was about 8-9 hours total between all the written tests, IQ tests and the interview with the psych. That included an hour for lunch.

Lots of redundant/reworded questions on the tests (about 5000 questions IIRC between the three tests we took). Dont read into the questions. Buddy of mine is an avid hunter and answered all the "do you like to kill animals" type questions "YES." Suffice to say his interview was about 5 times longer than the rest of ours. This was for the dept I have been with for close to 2 decades.

It depends alot on the dept. The first dept I worked for as a PT officer the test was about 50 questions and the doctor at the end asked "think you will have any problems with this job?" NOPE have a good day.

J-

95% about testing your truthfulness and 5% to see if you are nuts.

All I remember from my 1200 question written one was that tons of questions were about whether you got sick alot (False) and if you enjoy working outdoors. (True). Almost forgot the other question that was on it repeatedly, "My mother was a good woman" - True or False. (True, even if she's still alive)
My oral psych with the shrink was only 3 questions so I really can't help you there.

"I do what the voices in my head tell me to" - True or False

"I have been abducted by aliens" - True or False

A couple of the better gems on my test.

It was the questions about bestiality that kind of made me .

I guess they are there for a reason. I guarantee you someone answered in the affirmative to those at some point.

Psychologist here, used to have the contract for several agencies in my area. Will headshrink for ammo.

First off, realize that there are roughly two dozen standardized tests. Some are going to be required by your state agency, some will be chosen by the interviewer.

I used (at the time) a 400 question test with two choices each. There was then an interview that could last anywhere from an hour to three.

I'm not going to tell you about the tests, so don't ask. I will say that it's not a "pass/fail" type of deal. We're not giving a math exam.

BTW: Same test regimen for firefighters. They were not required by law, (I think they are now) though the larger depts usually sent them by policy anyway.

Relax, answer the questions honestly, and you'll be fine.

My wife the headshrinker says that all they are are the same 8 questions asked 13 different ways. Or maybe it's 13 questions and 8 times. Anyway, the only thing they do is weed out the obvious psychos and bad liars. Not a real fine filter, IMHO.

Avoid the female shrink, they have an agenda.
(if the room is a little dim and they put you on the couch, watch your bunghole)

From what I can remember, they're mainly checking to see if you're a normal person that's not going to go loony toons on the department. They'll ask questions like "what do you do for fun" and "how many friends do you have". Telling them that you're a loner gun nut who lives in a basement and plays lots of FPSs is probably a bad idea.

Also, don't be too gung ho; they're not looking for a crusader, they want a regular Joe looking for a regular job.

Thanks guys. I'll be sure to just answer honestly and watch my bunghole. I'm going tomorrow morning; I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Good luck.

If written it will be a long test essentially asking you the same thing about 20 different ways, don't be too good or it will fail you, answer honestly. If this is the first one many of the larger departments use the written test to weed out the nut jobs, then afterward will schedule one where you sit down with the shrink, basically when sitting with the shrink answer honestly and again, don't be too good or you fail.

My friend failed his but that was because every time they asked him something about what he thought of his father, he answered to the effect that he hated him. The shrink asked him later why he answered that way, and he said because he was alcoholic piece of shit that used to beat on his mom, and left when he was 10. The shrink thought that was a good answer and passed him.

Just left. I had to complete half of the MMPI (370 out of 600 questions), and some fill in the blank questionnaires before speaking with the doc.

Bunch of questions about traffic violations (4 total), drug/alcohol problems (don't drink/do drugs), have I spent the night in jail (yes, detained, but no records of arrest, never charged). I told her the experience sucked, and I don't plan on ever going through that again. She laughed, said "good", signed my form, and wished me a long career in law enforcement.

And there you have it.

I'm wondering what she wrote on her notepad. She was furiously scribbling away while she asked about my parents.

my psych eval consisted of 9 hrs of testing, some 2300 questions, followed by 2 essays and an interview.. it was terrible.

Mine was 586 questions.....Got the honor of taking it twice! Must of still failed it cause then I had to go to the big city to visit with the shrink for 3 hrs. He really liked it when I told him I collected assault rifles. When I asked at the conclusion, "how'd I do DOC ???", he did not really seem real friendly. He said that he would provide his findings to my prospective agency only and I was free to leave.

My boss told me later that I was not right ! 6 years later and I'm still here. My thoughts are that if you know you are a little crazy then perhaps you are not crazy at all???

Speaking of, I just remembered this little exchange between me and the receptionist:

He told me at the beginning to let him know if I had any questions about the evaluation, so 50 min later...

Me: I left this one blank ("Do you like to hunt?"); never really done it, so I'm really just indifferent about it.

Him: Well, would that be "false"?

Me: Well... like would imply a feeling, yes? What if I just don't care?

Him: Just leave it blank.

Little did I know the doc was the lady standing next to him

Maybe that's why she kept riding my ass about the relationship with my parents...

Try to remember what you told her about your parents. What she wroth down will be given to the next shrink that evaluates you, in the event that you have to be evaluated again.

When I went through the process, it was 500 questions and 2 shrink sessions, with a third if you fail one of the two. I had to have a third session.
(shrink #2 was a total cunt and I knew I was screwed the minute I got there; the other two were guys and we mostly talked about the Saints and beer )

Two of my official evaluations over the years included:

"Do you have regular bowel movements" asked 450 times in about that many different ways.

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