Practicing Neuropsychology NYC And Other Places

By April Briggs


Someone who is interested in brain-behavior activity and the way it affects the health may choose to go into the field of neuropsychology. He will have an interest in helping people in need of therapeutic intervention. The required education includes degrees up to and including a doctorate. Before working in neuropsychology NYC or another location, he must take an exam to earn a license to practice.

He or she is helped through the board certification process by the members of that august organization. This is another indication of the highest level of achievement in this profession. The benefits of being board certified include respect and a lower rate charged for insurance.

The one on one work with clients, the cognitive ability and emotional status of the troubled individual are evaluated. There are both physiological and neurological factors in play. Sharing information with other doctors and health care providers can help to treat the patient. Some of these professionals prefer to work in research rather than clinical settings.

The clinical neuropsychologist will work with people who require assistance to cope with problems. They begin by evaluating through formal testing and other means. They plan an intervention that will best help the patient. In time, they may move into supervisory and teaching roles.

Education and experience must be augmented by a sensitivity to all kinds of people. There is such a broad spectrum of factors that go into the personality of each person, healthy or ill. Anyone who walks through his or her office door may bring influences relating to factors such as gender, ethnicity, age, education, sexual orientation and spiritual beliefs as a part of his background and current status.

Any event that may have triggered a current depression will have been influenced by all those things. A person from one cultural background may respond in one way while someone from a different upbringing may respond in another. All those things should be taken into account when planning a course of therapy that will bring about adjustment.

Neuropsychology is a relatively new field. It may share similarities with neuroscience, cognitive therapy and often these professionals work together to assist one patient. For the person who wants to do research, he or she may work in a laboratory or institution. Teaching positions are available at universities.

Some researchers will study normal brain functioning and compare it to the functioning of a mentally ill individual to compare them. Magnetic resonance imaging done on the brain will help to clarify what areas in the brain are indicative of mental illness. Connectionism studies neuronal activity through the use of artificial neural networks that mimic certain cognitive processes. Functional neuroimaging records brain activity.

All approaches may overlap in one or more ways. Using several of them concomitantly is not uncommon. There are many tests that neuropsychologists have access to that will assist in making a diagnosis.

Some of these neuropsychological tests are an Adult Memory Scale, the an Adult Intelligence Scale and an Intelligence Scale for Children. Others are the sorting picture cards into categories and memory retention tests. All help to gather useful data and some are more useful for an individual patient than others.




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