About Northwest Psychometric
Our mission
To turn advances in psychometrics and mental-health research into tests that reflect current science, and the adolescents they serve.
Our story
From a 1990s questionnaire to a multi-informant system.
Northwest Psychometric was founded by Dr. Robert Basham, a clinical psychologist with decades of experience in clinical and forensic assessment. Through his research and practice he saw the shortcomings of commonly used assessment tools, and the need for measures that reflect contemporary clinical settings and everyday functioning.
- Early 1990sRobert Basham develops the Adolescent Behavior Questionnaire (ABQ), validated on 970 clinical subjects across nine referral groups.
- 2021Northwest Psychometric begins as a research institute.
- 2022Development of MICAA-A begins, expanding the ABQ with parent and teacher questionnaires and contemporary content.
- 2024Northwest Psychometric is founded to develop and maintain the MICAA instruments.
- 2025–26MICAA-A norms are collected from 704 parent–youth pairs and 250 teachers.
- 2026MICAA-A is distributed by Schoolhouse Educational Services.
- NextMICAA-MC and MICAA-EC, for middle and early childhood, in development.
Our approach
We apply contemporary psychometric methods to develop practical assessment tools that support informed decision-making in everyday clinical settings.
- 01
Contemporary content
Social media, gaming, cyberbullying and vaping are part of adolescent referrals now. MICAA-A measures them directly, in scales of their own and in item content, instead of leaving them to the interview.
- 02
Norms updated annually
Adolescent mental-health prevalence has moved, and norms for this age group go stale faster than cognitive norms do. MICAA-A norms were collected in 2025–26 and weighted to current national prevalence.
- 03
Multiple perspectives
Youth, parent and teacher each see something the others cannot. Combining their reports produces stronger findings and brings blind spots into view.
- 04
Assessing resiliency
We also measure resiliency factors such as family support, self-esteem, social support and school belonging, because they act as buffers against personal problems and point to what a treatment plan can build on.
- 05
Thirty years of clinical groundwork
The youth form grew out of the Adolescent Behavior Questionnaire, used in clinical practice for thirty years.
Meet our team
Dr. Robert Basham Founder & Clinical Director
Robert is a former clinical psychologist with extensive experience in child welfare, specializing in psychological evaluations of children, adolescents and parents. MICAA builds on his earlier work developing the Adolescent Behavior Questionnaire in the early 1990s, expanding its scope to address important areas of behavior not captured by existing assessments. He has led the development of MICAA since its inception in 2022 and founded Northwest Psychometric in 2024.
Katharine St. Jules Lead Test Developer
Katharine is a licensed occupational therapist with extensive experience in psychology research. She joined Northwest Psychometric in 2021, when it was still a research institute, and played a key role in the research that led to MICAA-A. Her current focus is the child editions, MICAA-MC and MICAA-EC, which bring the same multi-informant approach to younger ages.
Harry Borgerhoff Director of Marketing & Customer Support
Harry leads marketing, design and customer support. With a background in nonprofit support and customer service, she works to make MICAA approachable for the clinicians, parents and young people who use it, and to connect it with the people it can help. Outside of work she is a committed advocate for animal welfare.
We believe psychological assessment should evolve as our understanding of human behavior and culture does.
Distribution
Distributed by Schoolhouse.
Northwest Psychometric develops and maintains the MICAA instruments. Schoolhouse Educational Services distributes MICAA-A; purchasing, licensing and sales questions go to Schoolhouse.