Atlanta Pediatric Psychology Associates (APPA) is an independent psychology practice specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of children, adolescents, and families. APPA has been providing services to Georgians since 1979 from its central location in metro Atlanta’s DeKalb County. Over the years, APPA has developed a reputation for providing the highest quality professional care in a warm, supportive manner, and the staff is dedicated to maintaining this approach for all clients and referring professionals.
APPA psychologists work with a broad range of emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and adjustment problems affecting children and their families. These challenges range from a child struggling with a school or family crisis, to the adolescent overwhelmed by the challenges of life and/or engaging in defiant or high-risk behavior. APPA also provides services for children and adolescents who may not be experiencing problems but want to actualize their full potential.
Areas of expertise:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Learning Disabilities
Academic Problems
Behavior Problems
Emotional Problems (anxiety, depression, OCD, phobias, situational stress)
Divorce
Enuresis (bladder accidents) and Encopresis (soiling accidents)
Services offered include:
Diagnostic testing for ADHD, learning disabilities, emotional problems, and vocational interests
Psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and families
Parent consultation and education
School consultation
Psychological Treatment
Extensive experience with a broad range of psychological therapies allows APPA psychologists to meet clients’ needs in the most effective and efficient manner. APPA’s approaches are problem-focused and designed to improve the situation in the shortest possible time. In all cases, clients are an integral part of the planning and implementation of therapy. Examples of therapies employed include:
Behavior Modification
Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
Family/Systems Therapy
Parent-Child Play Therapy
Relationship-based Individual Psychotherapy
Diagnostic Services
APPA uses the latest psychological tests and equipment to assist in arriving at an accurate diagnosis. Our ADHD test battery is one of the most comprehensive, high-tech batteries available. In addition to objective tests, APPA psychologists use parent and teacher ratings, a clinical history and examination, and direct observations to arrive at a final diagnosis.
Few children struggle in school because they want to fail or be “bad.” In the vast majority of cases, behavior and academic problems can be traced to ADHD, learning disabilities, emotional problems, or difficulties relating to others. In these days of managed care, there is pressure to skimp on evaluation and begin treatment based on a superficial assessment (e.g., single interview). However, there are several problems with this approach:
There is risk of incorrect diagnosis, since many disorders (such as ADHD, LD, and adjustment disorder) have overlapping or similar symptoms.
There is frequently more than one problem. This is particularly common with LD and ADHD. A complete diagnostic workup may cost a little more, but the benefits are great.