Non-Neuropsychologists & Neuropsychological Assessment

[Chase3557]

Since I know there are a lot of neuro people in this forum, I figured someone could answer these two questions I have about neuropsychological assessment.

1. How much can a psychologist do without his/her neuropsych certification? I know that s/he can't identify as a neuropsychologist, but what if s/he takes a class or becomes proficient in administering these tests? For example, I plan--pending HPSP acceptance--to be a Navy Psychologist. If they needed a neuropsychological battery for TBI, would I be able to administer these tests if no other neuropsychologists were around?

2. What is the use of taking a neuropsychological assessment class if one does not plan on becoming board certified?

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[erg923]

Since I know there are a lot of neuro people in this forum, I figured someone could answer these two questions I have about neuropsychological assessment.

1. How much can a psychologist do without his/her neuropsych certification? I know that s/he can't identify as a neuropsychologist, but what if s/he takes a class or becomes proficient in administering these tests? For example, I plan--pending HPSP acceptance--to be a Navy Psychologist. If they needed a neuropsychological battery for TBI, would I be able to administer these tests if no other neuropsychologists were around?

2. What is the use of taking a neuropsychological assessment class if one does not plan on becoming board certified?

I think you are probably confusing a few issues here. There is no npsych "certification." Formal post-doc training really makes the neuropsychologist. It allows you to call yourself a neuropsychologist, and it opens up the doors to employment in that specialty. Anything after that is optional, although I think some hospitals are now requiring that new folks coming in apply for board certification through either ABCN or ABPN. However, generally, getting boarded (maybe what you meant by "certified?") is optional and only comprises about 15% of those who ID as "neuropsychologists" in this country. 2. Test admin itself really has nothing to do with any of this. You could train a monkey to do most of them. 3. ethics , "do no harm", and providing care within your competency is the issue here. Without training in issues salient to npsych evaluation, what exactly would you be able to offer if you did a "neuropsychological assessment." Without training in brain-behavior relationships, it really wouldn't be. It would just be an assessment that with speculative conclusions and inferences, no?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I think you are probably confusing a few issues here. There is no npsych "certification." Formal post-doc training really makes the neuropsychologist. It allows you to call yourself a neuropsychologist, and it opens up the doors to employment in that specialty. Anything after that is optional, although I think some hospitals are now requiring that new folks coming in apply for board certification through either ABCN or ABPN. However, generally, getting boarded (maybe what you meant by "certified?") is optional and only comprises about 15% of those who ID as "neuropsychologists" in this country. 2. Test admin itself really has nothing to do with any of this. You could train a monkey to do most of them. 3. ethics , "do no harm", and providing care within your competency is the issue here. Without training in issues salient to npsych evaluation, what exactly would you be able to offer if you did a "neuropsychological assessment." Without training in brain-behavior relationships, it really wouldn't be. It would just be an assessment that with speculative conclusions and inferences, no?

This. Giving the tests is the easy part; the meat of a neuropsychological assessment is the interpretation of the results, and the use of that interpretation in treatment planning/making appropriate recommendations.

To answer your second question--the use of taking the class is just to familiarize you with the concept of a neuropsych exam. If nothing else, it can help you make informed decisions as to when a referral for such testing might be appropriate. It can also help you to perhaps better understand neuropsych reports that you might read.

Trust us: if all it took to truly become competent in neuropsych assessment was to sit through a class in grad school, I don't think anyone would be doing two-year fellowships.

 

[Chase3557]

I appreciate your helpful answers. AcronymAllergy, I hadn't considered those alternate uses for taking the class. Thanks for the thoughts.

I think my question may have been taken the wrong way. I was not suggesting that a psychologist could do neuropsych assessment w/o knowledge of neuropsychology or test interpretation. Like erg pointed out, that's going outside of one's competencies and likely "doing harm" to the assessee. I was merely asking if one could do some neuropsych assessment (test & interpretation) at all if the situation called for it and s/he was not board-certified.

Also, by "certification," I'm referring to becoming board-certified in neuropsych from the ABCN after doing a formal post-doc. We're talking about the same thing here. And, of course, one would hope that a generalist wouldn't have the same competency as a specialist in neuropsych assessment.

 

[Ollie123]

Another consideration is research utility. That was the main reason I took a class in neuropsych assessment - while I enjoy assessment I have little interest in going into neuropsychology as I'm more on the "health-psych" side of things. However, its been extremely helpful for my research to know about (and use!) some of these tests. While it would be highly unethical to open up a practice as a neuropsychologist without the proper training, I doubt anyone would have a problem with someone adding a digit span to a research project to see if it was correlated with performance on some other task. My area is pretty heavily neuroscience-based so its quite common to use tests that are generally considered to fall under the purview of neuropsych.

 

[Chase3557]

Thanks for the suggestion, Ollie! My main interests is clinical health psychology as well. I hadn't considered using neuropsych results for research, but I could see how that could be highly useful.

 

[erg923]

I was merely asking if one could do some neuropsych assessment (test & interpretation) at all if the situation called for it and s/he was not board-certified.

Yes, most psychologists trained in neuropsych aren't.

 

[futurepsydoc]

Ethically and professionally, its all about operating within your domain of competence. I am not competent in neuropsych testing and assessment. Therefore, I will not right reports or conduct such assessments despite any relevant coursework I may have under my belt. It is formalized training (i.e., practica --> internship --> fellowship) that provides you with competence in a specific domain.

Having said that, one can become competent in using basic screening instruments. For example, if a practitioner believes some serious form of impairment exists in a particular area of functioning, using a screening tool to justify a referral to a neuropsychologist or neurologist would not be unethical. A psychologists basic training in testing and assessment would allow them to use such measures without an ethical dilemma.