COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION

New clients are offered a complimentary consultation prior to committing to services. The consultation is one hour in duration and gives the client the opportunity to tell an experienced clinician why they need help. It also gives the client the opportunity to see the center, meet the staff, and assess the expertise of the staff.

The consultant will make recommendations to the client about which services they would benefit from. Our integrated treatment approach is described and individual service and discounted package service fees are discussed.

TESTING SERVICES

Assessment

Historical assessment, clinical interviews, psychiatric evaluation, and standardized testing are used to make an accurate diagnosis and identify any coexisting disorders. The assessment process gives us a baseline of the individual’s strengths and deficits, which is critical for the development of their individualized treatment plan.

Standardized Testing may include:

• Neuropsychological Evaluation (comprehensive assessment of cognitive and behavioral abilities)
• Cognitive Assessment (focuses on attention, working memory, and executive functioning such as organization and planning skills)
• Social Skills Assessment
• Preschool Cognitive Assessment (pre-school and kindergarten age group)
• Psychological/Personality Assessment
• Vocational Assessment (identifies interests that are related to vocational careers)

Initial Treatment Planning

The assessment process provides the baseline of the individual’s strengths and areas needing improvement. This baseline is used to develop an individualized treatment plan which uses the individuals strengths to focus on and improve the individual’s weaknesses. Specific treatment modalities are selected, from the range of services available to address the client’s individual needs. The client in partnership with the clinician develops concrete, realistic treatment goals. The clinician then outlines on the plan the treatment methods they will use to meet these goals. The client receives a copy of their treatment goals and another is filed in their medical record for the clinician’s reference.

SCHOOL VISITS

The Assessment report completed after standardized testing may recommend accommodations for the school setting that would reduce the negative effects of the student’s ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder on their academic performance. The psychologist working with the child will often visit the school to give guidance to the teachers and also to support the child’s parents when the school conducts an ARD Meeting to discuss the accommodations recommended for the student.

COMPLEX MEDICAL VISIT AND MEDICATION THERAPY
 
Best practices used by our psychiatrists to minimize harm to the client include  educating the client regarding risks and benefits to treatment with medication; medical screenings prior to prescribing medication; dosing requirements (starting off with a low dosage then gradually adjusting) to minimize side effects and optimize benefits; carefully monitoring the client’s medical status including weight, height and blood pressure, etc. while they are being treated with medication; and providing a 24-hour emergency contact number

NUTRITIONAL THERAPY / COUNSELING

COUNSELING

Executive Skills Counseling
Executive skills counseling is a partnership in that the client agrees to become accountable for their time and action and the psychologist agrees to build structure to hold the client accountable. Clients are taught strategies and how to use tools to for compensate for their executive skill deficits such as disorganization and procrastination thereby developing more effective and productive coping skills for their everyday lives. Counseling also focuses on helping the client apply these new skills to cope more effectively with day-to-day tasks and challenges at school, home, and at work. The psychologist provides emotional support, motivation and sometimes a good “prod”, while assisting the client to overcome psychological barriers as they practice and master these skills and to ensure that they do not revert back to their previous ineffective coping patterns.

Parent Counseling

As ADHD and Autism Spectrum effects the entire family, information, tools and tips on how to manage life at home will be the focus of each session with specifics including changing the behavior of the child with ADHD or Autism Spectrum while supporting the other family members who struggle in other ways.

Parents will also be introduced to tools that will enable them to anticipate, plan and cope more effectively with the effects of ADHD or Autism Spectrum on the entire family as well as increasing behavioral compliance especially with children who are oppositional and defiant.

VOCATIONAL COUNSELING

Vocational counseling uses the interests identified in the vocational assessment to help the client identify appropriate careers.  Counseling can help the student select the appropriate college courses and majors, which will make them eligible for the career they are interested in following. When the client is ready to start working it can help the client develop a resume and search for a  job and build interview skills.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELING

ACADEMIC/ LIFE SKILLS COACHING 
Coach and client identify talents and strengths, then work as a team identifying the challenging areas for the client and then use these assets to develop strategies to overcome their challenges. Academic coaching focuses on skills such as essay writing, studying for and writing exams. Life skills coaching focuses on the development of a balanced healthy lifestyle which includes sufficient sleep, a nutritious diet and regular exercise to facilitate optimal brain and physical functioning.

Coaching is a partnership in that the client agrees to become accountable for their time and action and the coach agrees to build structure to hold the client accountable. The coach helps the client define short and long term goals then actively motivates, monitors and supports him while he implements, practices, and masters new skills to achieve these goals.

COLLEGE PROGRAM

COLLEGE PREPARATORY WORKSHOP
To prepare the new student for entry into the college academic and social environment

EXECUTIVE SKILLS COUNSELING (see above)
Helps the college student with executive skills deficits cope with the academic and social challenges at college. Video conferencing used for long distance sessions

COACHING (see above)
Helps the college student maintain a healthy balance lifestyle and cope with  academic and social demands. Video conferencing used for long distance sessions

PSYCHOTHERAPY

PARENT CHILD INTERACTION THERAPY
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidenced-based treatment for children ages 2 to 8 who are exhibiting a range of behavior problems including oppositional and defiant behaviors, disobeying authority figures (parents/teachers), poor attention, impulsivity, withdrawal and anxious behaviors.

PCIT is a unique treatment approach because it actively involves the parents or caretakers of the child in the treatment. Live-coached, step-by-step sessions are used to teach the parent/caregiver specific behaviors and skills while they are interacting with their child. Treatment can be administered through the use of a transmitter-receiver system in which the therapist communicates real-time with the parent while the parent is interacting with the child or through the typical in-room therapist-patient interaction model.

PCIT program consists of two parts, a Relationship Enhancement component and a Discipline component.

BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT PLANS
The goal of behavior therapy is to increase the frequency of desirable behavior by increasing the child's interest in pleasing parents and by providing positive consequences when the child behaves. Inappropriate behavior is reduced by consistently providing negative consequences when such behavior occurs.

The mental health professional begins with an evaluation of the child's problems in daily life at home and at school, and in social settings. The evaluation results in a list of target behaviors for change to help improve the child's functioning. Target behaviors can be either negative behaviors that need to stop or new skills that need to be developed.

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY

 Focuses on the conditions such as depression, anxiety, sleep problems, low self-esteem, and relationship problems. These problems may be the result of the negative effects of the individual’s attention or executive functioning deficits or may be coexisting disorders. Cognitive therapy is often used to identify and change the negative thought patterns leading to unwanted emotions and behavioral responses

COUPLES THERAPY

Couples Therapy is recommended when behaviors related to ADHD, executive skill deficits, and conflict over difference in parenting a child negatively affect a couple’s relationship. When one of the partners suffers from ADHD friction and conflict are often caused by the partner without ADHD feeling like they are parenting their partner and the partner with ADHD resenting the criticism and control.

FAMILY THERAPY

Family Therapy is recommended family communication patterns are dysfunctional or when the member of the family disrupts the family environment as result of them having a disability such as ADHD, Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome .

SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING

Children, adolescents and adults with ADHD often have difficulty with interpersonal interactions due to their symptoms especially their poor impulse and emotional control. Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder in contrast have difficulty with social interaction and communicating with others.

Social skills training is conducted in groups where participants are of similar age and focus on self control, communication skills, the recognition of social cues, decision making, initiating social interactions, dealing with low self-esteem, noticing and managing feelings, accepting responsibility and being helpful to others, handling bullies and peer pressure, conflict resolution, and problem solving.

COGMED WORKING MEMORY TRAINING

• Cogmed Working Memory Training is an evidence-based program for helping children, adolescents and adults sustainably improve attention by training their working memory.
• Cogmed is a computer–based training program using a PC at home.
• Clients are assigned a coach who initially trains the client and if their caretaker if the client is a child, to use the program.
• The Program has 25 training sessions of 30-40 minutes each, done over 5 weeks. Each user has a Cogmed coach who leads the training, tracks results and gives support and motivation through weekly consultations.

OUT-OF- TOWN PACKAGES

One or two day assessment and treatment packages customized according to the clients needs. (see Special Programs)

PRE-PAID SERVICES

Discounted packages of service for clients receiving regular treatment. Packages have an installment plan to assist clients with payment.