Disorders Treated
Psychological services we provide include Adjustment/Divorce, ADHD, Anxiety/Phobia/Panic, Conduct Disorder, Child Abuse/Neglect, Depression, Disruptive Behavior, Grief/Loss, Learning Disorders, Oppositional Defiant, Personality Disorders, Relationship Conflicts, Memory Problems, Autism Disorder, and Asperger’s Disorder.

Psychological Evaluations
Psychological evaluations occur in multiple settings and categorized into the following domains:

Diagnostic Evaluations focus on assessing the normal versus abnormal nature of a person’s overall functioning. The specific nature of these evaluations vary depending on the issues to be addressed, but they involve at least the following components: a clinical interview, a mental status examination, and one or more psychological tests. These evaluations can be brief with the psychological testing limited to one or two instruments which focus on specific concerns, or they can be long, comprehensive evaluations consisting of lengthy objective and projective measures of personality.

Forensic Evaluations are often very limited in scope, with the specific nature of the evaluation varying on the clinical and legal issues at hand. As with diagnostic evaluations, these include a clinical interview, but may or may not involve a mental status or psychological testing. When psychological testing is included, psychologists often take measures to evaluate the accuracy of the testing in order to account for possible deception. Because of their limited scope, these evaluations are often short and quick. However, custody evaluations can often prove to be the exception. Courts and/or private attorneys often require detailed information regarding almost everyone involved in a custody dispute to come to equitable arrangements. These evaluations may involve testing near and distant third-parties or relatives that may only be minimally involved. Thus, these evaluations can be lengthy and very detailed, involving interviews, testing, and periods of family observation.

Neuropsychological Evaluations are often the most focused, but lengthiest of evaluations. Designed to assess the neuropsychological functioning of an individual, these evaluations consist of batteries of tests that can require up to 8 hours to complete. Comprehensive in depth and breadth, they focus on the process of neurological functioning and should not be confused with neurological tests, often performed with MRI’s and/or CAT scans, which focus on structure. Neuropsychological evaluations are performed by trained neuropsychologists are require extensive training for appropriate administration and interpretation. There are cases where a complete battery is not necessary and brief screenings suffice; however, in such cases the screening is part of a more comprehensive evaluation focusing on another issue.

Psychoeducational Evaluations are often the most limited in scope, focusing only on the intellectual and academic functioning of individuals, with limited examination into areas that may impact the educational requirements of the person. These evaluations are generally performed for use in schools and universities and are often done to determine the services a student may need, the type of class in which he or she should be placed, and/or to determine the type of guidance he or she may need in the future.

Vocational Evaluations focus on helping individuals make career choices whether as adolescents and young adults trying to determine a possible career path or adults considering a change. Such testing may occur in college counseling centers or in employment settings.

Employment Prescreening and Fitness for Duty examine how suitable a particular candidate is for a position. These usually involve screening out undesireable qualities that may hinder job performance. Likewise, in Fitness evaluations, similar issues are assessed but this may follow a problematic work behavior or personal issue that interfered with job performance.