Health and Psychology

I did a presentation for a local networking group on neuropsychological testing.  Here's a recap:

Neuropsychological testing looks for problems and deficits in functioning localizable to the cortex.  Much of the purpose of neuropsychological testing has been replaced by neuroimaging.  MRI's or CT Scans.  But there are still several purposes for neuropsychological testing.

1.  Likely etiology for neurological impairment.

If you...

                                                                                           

It's a new doctor.  They...

I do a lot of psychological and neuropsychological testing.  I'm often asked to do screenings instead of psychological evaluation.  In many cases that's adequate.  But in other cases it leads to an inadequate and incorrect diagnosis.  

Schools, psychiatrists, general medical doctors, and pediatricians do a lot of screening measures.  These are often checklists, questionnaires, and other self-report measures that people complete themselves or on behal...

"Can you test me?"  I get this question often.  It comes in a variety of forms.  "Can you test me for _____?"  and "Can you test my child for _____?"

The short answer is yes probably.  The longer answer is "Then what?"  And it's the answer to that question that tells me what to do.

I literally have hundreds of tests, measurements, screening items, and questionnaires.  Literally.  I bought new file cabinets to hold them all and w...

DSM 5 the Psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is out and updates are available online.  The problem is that it's moving away from research based epidemiological discussions about diagnoses and moving more into checklist based diagnoses, based on rating scales and observations of "people who know the individual, or the individual themselves."  

So what's the problem?

Here are case examples from just the last couple of ...

So I was on a social networking site for mental health professionals and a colleague mentioned he just got iPads for testing and wondered what was available.  So here goes.

Let me start with simple things that don't require an iPad and can work on an iPhone.  They may be on Google or Android as well but I don't have those.

1.  PAR Toolkit.  This includes the Normal Curve, a Conversion Chart, an Age Calculator, a Stop Watch, a Compliancy Calculator, ...

Attention Deficit Disorder is a frequently misdiagnosed condition.  Psychiatrists seem to think it can be adequately diagnosed by a parent and teacher questionnaire and a mental status examination and history. But then it doesn't adequately respond to medication so they start changing medications rather than reviewing the diagnosis.  

It's not how psychologists make an ADD diagnosis.

Parent and Teacher questionnaires are nice information, but do n...

Objective, personal, historical--This issue came up in a discussion with a colleague about an issue regarding time and task management.  Here are two people, unrelated.  Jane Doe has an issue with time management.  Jill Doe has an issue with task management.

Jane can't get things done because her ideas about time are related to her personal experience and beliefs about time, and her history of how time works.  It has nothing to do with the objective...

I evaluate all ages from preterm infants in neonatal units of hospitals to the old old.  A parent brought in their one year old for an SSDI evaluation because they believe their infant has bipolar disorder.  

Bipolar disorder previously was known as Manic Depressive illness.  The diagnosis generally starts in someone's 20's and lasts throughout their life.  It is characterized by a manic phase in which someone has difficulty managing their internal state ...

I have three offices but the primary place where I do psychological and neuropsychological testing, (unless I'm working on contract for another company at their location), is in my Glendale office.  I have access to well over 300 psychological tests, rating scales and measurements.  Some of these are online.  Some of these are portable.  Some of these require a lot of equipment and special testing condiions.

In my Santa Clarita office I use a single room ...