All assessments include a clinical interview, assessments, scoring, a comprehensive report with numerous recommendations for various contexts, and feedback session. The number and type of assessments differ depending on what you need assessed. 

If you are only concerned about ADHD, then you likely want to pick ADHD Assessment. However, if you feel you may qualify for multiple diagnoses and wish to discover which you actually meet diagnostic criteria for, then you are seeking an ADHD Comprehensive Assessment.

Depending on your needs, this comprehensive assessment can assess for any of the following domains, in addition to ADHD specifically:

• • • General Intellectual Functioning, including IQ broken down into the following categories: verbal reasoning, visual spatial, fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed
    • Personality Disorders
    • Anxiety
    • Depression
    • Anger issues
    • Trauma (PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder)
    • Mania (Bipolar I or II disorders)
    • Academic skills (reading, writing, math
    • Learning Disorders in general or specifically (e.g.: dyslexia)
    • Cognitive and neuropsychological difficulties, including learning and memory
    • Language skills
    • Social functioning (day-to-day function in addition to assessing for social anxiety)

I know how hard it can be to take the first step and reach out for psychological assessment, so I pride myself on beginning with new clients as soon as possible. This helps capitalize on the momentum and motivation you are experiencing, and allows us to start working towards finding answers and identifying ways to alleviate your symptoms at the earliest possible date.

I devote Mondays and Tuesdays to therapy and Wednesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays to assessment. I offer a premium rate for weekend testing (Saturdays and Sundays). The first step is providing your availabilities for upcoming Thursdays and Fridays. Feel free to let me know your order of preference of upcoming dates, and I will do my best to accommodate.

We can work together entirely/primarily virtually, with in-person options if you prefer or require this. I ensure that all my virtual assessments have been proven to be fully reliable and valid when administered virtually, so that you receive the same caliber assessment regardless of whether you chose virtual or in-person. Some assessments require an in-person component, but this will be discussed ahead of time. I begin with a virtual interview, required to determine which assessments will be required. However, you must be in California at the time of testing to work with me, as all psychologists can only work with patients located in the state they are licensed to practice in, per the American Psychological Association’s ethics code. 

We can work together entirely/primarily virtually, with in-person options if you prefer or require this. I ensure that all my virtual assessments have been proven to be fully reliable and valid when administered virtually, so that you receive the same caliber assessment regardless of whether you chose virtual or in-person. Some assessments require an in-person component, but this will be discussed ahead of time. I begin with a virtual interview, required to determine which assessments will be required. However, you must be in California at the time of testing to work with me, as all psychologists can only work with patients located in the state they are legally approved to practice in, per the American Psychological Association’s ethics code. 

Depending on your needs, psychodiagnostic assessment can range from $2,500 – $7,500. This will be determined by how many diagnoses you are seeking diagnostic clarification for and the nature of these diagnoses (personality versus neuropsychological, etc.), which determines how many assessment measures I will need to administer, score, write your psychodiagnostic report about, and utilize to inform your numerous personalized recommendations to help alleviate your symptoms.

I don’t accept insurance but I do provide superbills for you to submit to your insurance for reimbursement. If you’re curious what that means, click here for an example of a Superbill: https://support.simplepractice.com/hc/article_attachments/360091826332/superbill.simplepractice.superbill.png. I’ve had great success with patients getting reimbursed (many insurances, such as PPO’s, cover all or a significant portion of therapy and assessment post-deductible), but can never 100% guarantee this as insurance policies are ever-changing and each insurance company has different policies. If you’d like your insurance to cover your sessions, ask them if they reimburse/offer a co-pay for “out-of-network providers” (OON). Your OON benefits may be the same/close to your in-network (INN) benefits.

Great question! This is a topic I am passionate about, so if you are interested in learning the in’s and out’s of insurance within the world of psychology in the United States, please feel free to read on. Pursuing an in-network provider often entails many months of waiting to be matched with a therapist with openings for a particular insurance. In contrast, when I am accepting new clients, I offer sessions the very next week. It can be hard to motivate yourself to take the first step in pursuing therapy, so having months go by while you wait to be assigned a therapist who may or may not match your needs (let alone having extensive experience or expertise in them) can truly stall your progress.  Unfortunately, these issues are nothing new. In an academic article from 1999, Glosoff et al. explain: “Typical complaints expressed by mental health clinicians related to managed care arrangements include time limits or caps placed on the number of sessions approved, increased paperwork, decreased flexibility in treatment planning, dealing with the gatekeeper system, and the lack of qualified personnel acting as gatekeepers” (Newman & Bricklin, 1991).

When a therapist is on an insurance panel, the insurance company decides what your therapy will look like. They dictate how long your appointments will be, how often you can receive treatment, how long you can work with me for, and when they will simply cease paying for therapy (e.g.: after 10-15 sessions). I wholeheartedly disagree with a third-party determining this. I believe in empowering my clients to collaborate with me to determine what therapy will look like for them. I provide therapy for the duration of time needed to accomplish the treatment goals you set. Sometimes, this is a few weeks for acute issues. Sometimes, it’s much longer for more chronic, prominent, and intense issues or diagnoses. Insurance companies also insist upon certain types of psychological diagnoses to justify “medical necessity” for treatment. There are many types of issues that they do not deem worthy of therapy, so a patient can have had numerous therapy sessions before learning that their situation does not merit reimbursement from their insurance’s new policies. 

I also care deeply about protecting your confidentiality, as is my ethical duty as a psychologist. If we go directly through your insurance, then your insurance company can request all your private therapy notes, which means I can no longer ensure your privacy. Instead, I provide a safe, welcoming, space in which my patients can explore any topic, knowing that their records are held confidential with no exceptions other than what is required of me by law (a court order or the safety concerns we will review during your first session). Taking insurance presents ethical dilemmas as psychologists attempt to balance their obligations to their clients as well as to insurance companies.

Providing you with superbills that your insurance can reimburse you for removes these issues. If your insurance does not cover out-of-network therapy, I am happy to provide you with other options including unaffiliated third-party companies that can resolve your reimbursement by completing your out-of-network billing for you. Not taking insurance saves me an immense amount of time, which I devote to my focus: taking care of you, rather than filing paperwork and chasing down money from a claim.

I pride myself on a rapid turnaround, so once we complete the clinical interview and assessment, I typically can provide your feedback appointment and present you your report within two weeks. There is an expedited fee for reports needed sooner.