Diagnostic Assessment
What is Neuropsychological Testing?
When we are struggling, we may beat ourselves up for not being able to do something that everyone else can do. By providing a setting that is relatively free from every-day stressors and distractions, neuropsycholgoical assessments are designed to help determine whether your brain is neurologically capable of functioning at a level that is considered average for the American population. In our professional experience, comprehensive assessments help our client’s by providing an objective benchmark for their cognitive functional abilities and by offering recommendations about how our clients can overcome typical barriers to achieving their optimal level of cognitive functioning.
At Bodh Center for Wellness, we offer diagnostic assessments for all ages. Please hover on the images below to learn more about each age group.
Too often, children’s developmental, learning, or attentional difficulties go undiagnosed, causing years of emotional distress for both the child and their parents. These difficulties can have a negative impact on your child’s long-term psychological health and sense of well-being. What may seem like a behavioral problem that needs to be “disciplined” may actually be a symptom of a deeper biological issue that, if addressed in a timely fashion, can improve your child’s long term chances of success and improve the family’s overall quality-of-life.
When we start falling short of our own expectations, we risk falling into a trap of believing that we are just not trying hard enough. This line of thinking is terrible for our self-esteem and our sense of well-being.
A neuropsychological or psychological assessment can help you get to the bottom of what’s ailing you and offer recommendations for how to get back to feeling like yourself again.
Growing up, we have seen
our parents as capable individuals. In fact, we may have turned to them to help us pick up the pieces when we were struggling.
So, seeing them as more fallible or fragile shakes us to our core. It is only natural that families respond to changes in an elder’s personality or cognitive abilities by stepping in and taking care of things for them. Sometimes, this approach can be detrimental to their long-term emotional and cognitive health because it reduces opportunities to practice and maintain functional skills.
Why get Neuropsychological Testing?
A neuropsychological assessment can help determine if the changes that you or your loved one is experiencing are a part of the normal developmental/aging process, or if they are a sign of more serious concerns that should be addressed through medical intervention, therapeutic supports (e.g. cognitive rehabilitation, community involvement), or other family systems approaches (e.g. psychoeducation and training for family members). These supports may help increase the individuals’ quality-of-life and will help decrease the build up of caregiver burden among loving family members.
What's involved in
Neuropsychological Assessments?
Neuropsychological assessments start with a 60-90 minute clinical interview. Use this opportunity to help your neuropsychologist understand the full breadth of your concerns so that they may determine the set of assessment tools that would help answer your question(s). Depending on your concerns, your neuropsychologist may suggest a shortened set of assessments that can be completed in 2-3 hours or a comprehensive one that can be completed in 4-6 hours.
The remainder of your time in front of the neuropsychologist will involve a series of activities -- some are like puzzles, others are paper-and-pencil activities (e.g. drawing, questionnaires), and some have a more academic feel to them. We understand that assessments of this length take a lot of time, patience, and stamina. For that reason, we incorporate breaks into the appointment to help minimize the possible impact of mental fatigue. Sometimes, we recommend that testing be spread out over a couple of days.
No needles or medications are involved. That said, we always recommend completing blood work with your physician and sharing the records with us, so that we can integrate the possible impact of any nutritional imbalances on your cognitive and emotional concerns. If you have had reason to complete brain imaging (e.g., CT Scans, PET Scans, MRI, etc.), we will ask you to share those medical records with us so that we may make a more informed determination of the likely reasons why you are experiencing the social, emotional, and/or cognitive concerns that brought you in to see us.
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We aim to complete our neuropsychological report within two weeks of your last testing appointment and will discuss the results with you before sending it your way. The feedback appointment may be over the phone or video chat, depending on your preferences. At your request, we will share the neuropsychological report with other members of your medical team.
