The first step in mind healing, as with any other type of healing, is to seek a diagnosis. A mind healer may often be called in as a specialist after a first attempt at diagnosis has failed, or the patient may present directly to the mind healer. In either case, it is important to be thorough. It is possible to miss important warning signs, or allow a surface condition to mask a deeper problem.

The current recommendation for a basic suite of diagnostic spells in mind healing is as follows.

• Finite: in the event that the patient is under a spell that a General Counter-Spell can disperse, this will remove it. This also prevents spells such as glamours from interfering with the remainder of the examination.
• Aura Incantem: shows the presence of any magic not previously dispelled on the patient as colored light. Different types of magic will appear in different colors. The colors and shades that represent different types of magic and spells will vary depending on the person who casts the spell, so a degree of experience is important in order for this spell to be useful.
  
• Vides Cerebra: forms a three-dimensional image of the patient's brain. This allows the mind healer to look for structural abnormalities, injuries, lesions, or tumors. The image should be examined both as a whole and in slices, to ensure that anything below surface level is located. If possible, a photograph should be taken of the result of this spell for future reference.
  
• Humora Mensurum: detects and measures the amounts of various neurotransmitters in action in the brain of the patient. This is an active process, and the caster will not be able to detect any neurotransmitter unknown to them. After casting the spell on the patient, the wand should be aimed at parchment so that the information can be recorded.

Other spells may be used depending on the results of these tests and the suspicions of the mind healer. For example, in general, a poison or curse strong enough to affect the mind directly will not be affected by a General Counter-Spell, but will appear in some form when studying the magic on the patient, indicating closer examination of symptoms or blood testing in order to counter the magic involved. Alternately, a strange result in the balance of neurotransmitters might prompt other kinds of physical testing, especially that of the thyroid gland.

It should be noted that not everyone's brain or neurotransmitter balance is the same even when they are in a completely healthy state. Caution should be taken here. Some variance between individuals is normal. Additionally, many magical individuals have non-human ancestry that may cause abnormalities in all tests here. For all of these reasons, a medical history including well visits is extremely valuable.