Neuropsychological and Psychological Testing
I provide comprehensive testing evaluations that can include exploring cognitive, neuropsychological, educational, and social-emotional factors to understand each individual in their own context:
- Attention
- Memory
- Organization and planning
- Motivation
- Emotional regulation
- Academic skills
- Visual-spatial processing
- Verbal reasoning and comprehension
- Social functioning
- Personality characteristics
A comprehensive assessment can clarify the barriers you or your loved one experiences leading to struggles in the academic or work place. It can help them understand their social and emotional experiences. It can also identify core strengths that can be harnessed to improve functioning and reduce procrastination, underachievement, stress and anxiety. Evaluations can help answer questions about how your brain works and how to understand your unique way of being in the world. The evaluation may lead to specific recommendations to help build skills, compensate for challenges in certain areas, provide recommendations for resources, and identify appropriate accommodations and support.
Psychodiagnostic or psychological testing is often completed in conjunction with the cognitive evaluation or on its own. It serves to clarify diagnostic questions and inform treatment planning. During this type of testing I evaluate:
- Symptoms of various conditions to understand the presence of struggles with depression, anxiety, psychosis, mania, anger problems, substance abuse, relational problems.
- Identify personality styles and characteristics that provide insight into psychological functioning and personal assets.
- Learn about an individual’s interpersonal life, their insight and judgment, risk-taking behavior, organizational style, and sensory processing experiences.
The evaluation process is completed over several appointments. You will begin by filling out forms and an initial intake questionnaire. During the first appointment we will meet for a 60 to 90 minutes. We will discuss the issues that have led you to seek an evaluation for yourself or a family member. I will obtain a clinical history and forms will be completed by the individual being evaluated and possibly by family members or teachers. The second and third appointments are the testing sessions. These sessions are usually 2-4 hours long with breaks as needed. The last session is the feedback session and it is during this time that I will review the results of the testing, provide recommendations, which may include specific academic or workplace accommodations, referrals and resources, as well as a plan for how to move forward. I will also give you a report with all the information discussed in the feedback session. This session usually lasts 60-90 minutes. You can give the report to other clinicians or educational settings to get the support you need.