At Core Spring Diagnostics, one psychologist guides your entire bipolar evaluation, working with children, teens, and adults across the Pewaukee area. Each assessment is built around your concerns to clarify complex mood patterns and determine whether they reflect bipolar disorder or another condition. No referral is required, reach out whenever you are ready.
Every evaluation begins with a cognitive and executive function baseline, then builds around mood changes associated with bipolar spectrum conditions, including depressive episodes alongside periods of elevated or irritable mood. We assess symptoms such as changes in sleep, energy shifts, impulsivity, racing thoughts, and grandiosity, and screen for overlapping conditions. We consider family history and how mood fluctuations impact daily functioning. Because mood symptoms rarely appear alone, one psychologist oversees your full evaluation from intake through feedback, with no handoffs and no rigid, locked-in session count along the way.
Children may benefit if parents notice big mood swings, irritability, bursts of high energy, sleep changes, or real difficulty regulating emotions.
Teens may seek evaluation for cycles of depression and elevated mood, impulsive behaviors, changes in sleep, or uneven academic and social functioning.
Adults may pursue evaluation to finally understand mood fluctuations, periods of high energy or productivity followed by low mood, or ongoing challenges with impulsivity and emotional regulation.
Your evaluation begins with a one-hour clinical interview where your psychologist gathers a thorough history of mood patterns, energy levels, and behavioral changes from childhood through your current daily life. This conversation is critical for identifying the cycling patterns that distinguish bipolar disorder from other mood conditions and for selecting the right assessments.
Your psychologist selects a personalized battery of mood and psychological assessments designed to capture the full range of your experiences. Testing involves 2 to 6 hours of in-person evaluation over one to two days. You will also be sent home with self-report questionnaires, and someone close to you can complete their own to provide perspective on mood and behavioral patterns over time. If your psychologist identifies signs of other conditions (such as ADHD, anxiety, or depression), those areas are screened for as well.
All testing data, clinical observations, and questionnaire results are compiled into a detailed diagnostic report. Accurate differential diagnosis is especially important with bipolar disorder, so your psychologist carefully evaluates mood patterns, episode history, and symptom presentation. Any co-occurring conditions are fully documented.
Approximately two to three weeks after testing, you return for a feedback session. Your psychologist walks through the diagnosis and provides individualized recommendations: treatment planning, evidence-based therapy options, medication considerations, lifestyle management strategies, and next steps tailored to your situation.
When learning differences are a concern alongside mood symptoms, a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation is the right tool. It covers cognitive functioning, processing speed, memory, executive skills, and mood all in one process. If you have questions about both bipolar disorder and how you learn or process information, the comprehensive evaluation eliminates the need to undergo separate assessments.
The clinical interview is a structured, in-depth conversation covering your personal mood history, family mental health background, developmental milestones, current functioning, and any previous diagnoses or treatments. The psychologist uses this information to build the context needed to interpret cognitive and psychological testing results accurately. The interview is designed to surface patterns that standardized instruments alone might not capture.
The honest answer is that you cannot know without a formal evaluation. Many conditions, including ADHD, anxiety, depression, and trauma-related disorders, can produce mood variability that resembles bipolar disorder. A thorough evaluation at Core Spring Diagnostics, starting with a cognitive baseline and progressing through structured clinical interviewing and standardized instruments, is the most reliable way to identify what is actually driving the pattern.
Yes. The intake process begins with a consultation call where the team gathers information about your concerns and answers questions about the evaluation process. This conversation helps both the individual and the practice determine whether a focused bipolar assessment or a more comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation is the right fit before any appointments are scheduled.
The report communicates the diagnostic conclusions with supporting clinical evidence, the results of cognitive and executive function testing, findings from standardized mood and personality instruments, comorbidity screening results, and individualized recommendations. It is written to be useful for the individual, for any therapists or counselors they work with, and for any institutions or employers that require clinical documentation.
Contact Core Spring Diagnostics at (414) 387-2100 or through the consultation form on the website. The intake team will gather your concerns and guide you toward the evaluation approach that fits your situation best.
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