FAQs for Providers
Are you doing testing during COVID? If so, are you meeting virtually or in person?
Yes, I am doing virtual testing during COVID and use procedures such as screen sharing, mailing testing materials to relevant parties, and virtual face-to-face meetings with clients, referring parties and family members when appropriate. Depending on your client’s questions and the current circumstances of COVID rates, I may also do a limited number of in-person testing sessions for assessments that are best gathered in person. This is determined case-by-case and with current infections rates in mind.
What types of referral questions do you take?
Clients come to see me hoping for answers to a broad range of questions including what diagnosis makes sense for them (e.g., ADHD, Depression, PTSD), to questions about personality or relationship difficulties, to questions about what is making them feel stuck in their forward progress in life, in therapy, or in their career or schooling.
What type of clients do you see?
I see people aged 6+, including couples and families.
Do you take insurance?
I do not take insurance. I do provide clients with a superbill as an out-of-network provider. The superbill includes all the CPT codes they will need and a detailed list of hours spent for each type of testing process. The client would then submit the superbill to their insurance company and get any reimbursement from the insurance company directly.
Why don’t you take insurance?
After having worked for several years doing testing and taking insurance, I found that working with insurance made my client care less optimal, sometimes significantly less optimal. The time I spent advocating for my clients with their insurance companies often resulted in spending less time on their actual testing process and report. It also usually significantly limited the number and types of tests that I could do because they were not all always approved by insurance companies. The tests that tended to be rejected were projective tests, which provide a lot of very useful information about what a client is experiencing and may not be able, or willing to share. Gaining this information can be invaluable in helping clients build insight and make progress. Furthermore, I was only able to answer questions that the insurance company deemed “medically necessary,” which meant that some client questions were not able to be addressed without incurring additional fees anyway. I decided to stop taking insurance because it allows me to use my professional judgment to help you and your client in the best way I can, devoting as much time as feels right for their case. It also allows me to spend more time collaborating with you, doing joint sessions to process testing results with you and your client if that is something you both are willing to do, and overall to work with you more effectively.
How is this method different from other types of psychological testing?
Collaborative/therapeutic assessment is a specific modality within the broader category of psychological assessments. Psychological testing can be broken roughly into four different categories and are differentiated based on what types of questions are being asked.
Neuropsychological assessments are generally used to answer questions about what a person’s brain can do at the time of testing, often because there is suspicion that their brain is not working in a neurotypical manner. This type of assessment is usually sought when there is a suspected developmental disorder (Autism, ADHD, etc.) or when brain damage of some type is a suspected. It is used to determine precisely what a person can still do well and what they specifically struggle with in terms of cognitive skills.
Psychoeducational assessments are generally sought when there are questions about how a person does in school, compared to their grade level and there are also questions about if the person has any difficulties with cognitive skills compared to others their age (e.g., a LD or cognitive barrier to learning).
Forensic assessments are used when there are significant legal implications or questions being asked (e.g., parenting evaluation for custody decisions, competency to stand trial, claims of insanity are being evaluated, or psychosexual evaluations are being requested to inform legal decisions).
Psychological assessments, which include collaborative/therapeutic assessments, are used when there are broader questions about overall functioning that includes social-emotional functioning or systemic context for the client’s other struggles (e.g., anxiety and ADHD, personality difficulties, developmental trauma, relationship difficulties, etc.). While all psychological testing is becoming more client-centered, collaborative/therapeutic assessment is much more so, and weaves a client-centered focus into all aspects of the assessment. Many of the same types of questions are answered as in a standard psychological assessment, but the method is more like an intensive therapeutic intervention than a lab test with minimal explanations of results. This is also one of the only forms of assessment that regularly tests more than one family member to see how their individual differences contribute to difficulties they are experiencing. Furthermore, collaborative/therapeutic assessment is one of the only remaining forms of psychological testing that uses projective assessment methods to learn what a client may not fully be able to articulate about themselves. While that information is treated with care, it is often invaluable for clients and clinicians like you. If you would like more information about collaborative/therapeutic assessment click here.
Would this type of assessment be inappropriate for any clients?
Yes, there are some clients for whom this assessment is less likely to be appropriate. Clients who need more specialized assessment because of a suspected brain injury or developmental disorder (e.g., autism) would be usually be best served with a neuropsychological assessment. Additionally, clients who need an evaluation as part of a court proceeding (e.g., custody evaluation, parent evaluation, insanity plea, capacity to stand trial, or psychosexual evaluation) are usually best served by a forensic psychologist.
How do I refer a client?
Click here to learn more information about what to expect if you refer a client. If you prefer to talk to me first to see if it would be a good fit, please contact me and we can arrange a time to talk.
I have more questions; how can I learn more about this type of assessment?
I am more than happy to meet virtually or on a phone call to talk more about this type of assessment one-on-one. I am happy to give general information to help you determine if this type of assessment might be appropriate for your clients if you have any in mind. I also am happy to do a lunch-and-learn for your organization to talk more about this type of assessment, I do not charge for such meetings. Please contact me if you would like to arrange this.