NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
A neuropsychological evaluation involves administering various tests of cognitive, motor, and perceptual skills that are sensitive to problems in brain functioning. The assessment allows us to create an overview of brain function, charting strengths and also challenges, and to develop a plan for navigating treatment and intervention.
Unlike CT or MRI brain imaging, which show what the structure of the brain looks like, neuropsychological testing examines how well the brain is working when it performs certain functions (for example, remembering or speaking).
The types of tests you will take depend upon the questions you and your physician have. A neuropsychological evaluation often measures:
- Attention and concentration
- Learning and memory
- Reasoning and problem-solving
- Visual-spatial functions
- Language and speaking ability
- Sensory-perceptual and motor functions
- Academic skills
- Emotional functioning
NEUROREHABILITATION
(Intervention and Therapy)
Rehabilitation intervention or psychotherapy is aimed at managing stressors associated with illness and injury, maximizing one’s abilities and promoting optimal function and quality of life. It combines expertise in neuropsychology and rehabilitation psychology.
Rehabilitation psychologists provide services with the goals of increasing function and quality of life for persons living with disability, activity limitations, and societal participation restrictions. Because disability impacts multiple areas of a person’s life, rehabilitation psychologists provide services within the network of biological, psychological, social, environmental, and political environments to assist the persons served in achieving optimal rehabilitation goals via intervention, therapeutic support, education, consultation and interdisciplinary collaboration, and advocacy. This necessarily includes the provision of training, educational, and support services to families and primary caregivers, as well as other significant people in the individual’s social/community circle (e.g. teachers, employers, co-workers, clergy, friends).
In addition to working directly with the persons served and their support systems, rehabilitation psychologists play a key role in providing consultations regarding disability and health issues to attorneys, courts, governmental agencies, educational institutions, employers, and insurance companies.
MEDICOLEGAL AND CONSULTATION SERVICES
Neuropsychological evaluation sometimes intersects with issues of legal concern, whether one is weighing return to work, or consultation is needed for determining fitness for duty or expert opinion. The goal remains to provide support, advocacy, and independent examinations.
Medicolegal and forensic neuropsychology services may provide assistance with case conceptualization, diagnosis, and treatment planning within the following contexts:
- Return to work, fitness for duty
- Capacity evaluation
- Independent medical (psychological) evaluation
- Legal consultation