Assessment-based Practice

[fullmetal1381]

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I apologize if this has been previously addressed, but I was unable to find a similar thread, so here goes: just out of curiosity, what are the basic steps that a licensed psychologist would go through to set up a primarily assessment-based practice, and is this something that a psychologist should ever be interested in doing?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

An assessment-based practice is quite common. Most practices have a niche (educational/achievement, personality, forensic, neuropsychological, etc), as you can't be all things to all people. An assessment-based private practice is built in a similar way as a psychotherapy-based private practice. Most people build up their case load while working another job, and then they transition to full-time at their private practice when they have a substainable caseload.

 

[wigflip]

An assessment-based practice is quite common. Most practices have a niche (educational/achievement, personality, forensic, neuropsychological, etc), as you can't be all things to all people. An assessment-based private practice is built in a similar way as a psychotherapy-based private practice. Most people build up their case load while working another job, and then they transition to full-time at their private practice when they have a substainable caseload.

It seems like an assessment-based practice might take longer to build up though. With many if not most psychotherapy clients/patients you'll have "repeat business" with ongoing appointments, at least for for those who don't terminate early. But aren't assessments more "one-offs"? Obviously I know nothing about assessments; please be gentle. 🙂

 

[audchik]

I think it depends on the type of assessments. For example, many assessment firms contract with government agencies or schools. I would say that those are the ones that probably have more steady income. At my work, we have a long-standing contract with a particular firm to provide forensic assessments.

 

[wigflip]

I think it depends on the type of assessments. For example, many assessment firms contract with government agencies or schools. I would say that those are the ones that probably have more steady income. At my work, we have a long-standing contract with a particular firm to provide forensic assessments.

Cool--thanks. Funny--I just replied to you on another thread!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

It seems like an assessment-based practice might take longer to build up though. With many if not most psychotherapy clients/patients you'll have "repeat business" with ongoing appointments, at least for for those who don't terminate early. But aren't assessments more "one-offs"? Obviously I know nothing about assessments; please be gentle. 🙂

Yes and no. The mode number of psychotherapy appointments is.....one. 😀

There are many group therapy practices that do little to no assessment, so you can share referrals: they send you their assessment referrals and you send them your therapy referrals. You can also look for contract work with large employers: business, school districts, etc. The work can be very sporadic (an assessment every few months) or you can get slammed. The trick is networking within your community. If you can carve out a niche, you often will have more work than you can take. If you take insurance this is often the case....BUT...the reimbursement tends to be lower. I'm on a number of listservs, and there are always referrals getting tossed around for people who need assessments (and have insurance)...the tricky part is getting on an insurance panel or panels that reimburse at a good rate.

 

[wigflip]

Thanks, T4C, very helpful! 🙂

 

[paramour]

One of my advisers in my master's program had an assessment-only practice (in a life prior to him landing at that university). So, yes, it can be done. He reportedly made quite a bit of money doing nothing more than neuropsyc evals before he eventually gave it up.

 

[ResearchRefuge]

Do you know if one needs formal Houston guideline training to conduct neuropsychology assessments in a private practice setting? I wasn't sure about the ethical guidelines for neuropsych assessment.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Do you know if one needs formal Houston guideline training to conduct neuropsychology assessments in a private practice setting? I wasn't sure about the ethical guidelines for neuropsych assessment.

It depends who you ask. Formally trained neuropsychologists will say one thing, and generalists who want to do neuropsychology assessment on the side will say something else.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Do you know if one needs formal Houston guideline training to conduct neuropsychology assessments in a private practice setting? I wasn't sure about the ethical guidelines for neuropsych assessment.

Like T4C mentioned, it depends on who you ask, yep. However, I think most practicing neuropsychologists, while they may not necessarily agree on the specifics of training and/or credentialing, would say that neuropsych assessment should only be conducted by an individual with an adequate skill set, including in-depth understanding of psychometrics, brain-behavior relations, and neuroanatomy/neurophysiology, among other things.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Like T4C mentioned, it depends on who you ask, yep. However, I think most practicing neuropsychologists, while they may not necessarily agree on the specifics of training and/or credentialing, would say that neuropsych assessment should only be conducted by an individual with an adequate skill set, including in-depth understanding of psychometrics, brain-behavior relations, and neuroanatomy/neurophysiology, among other things.

Agreed.

Add in neurology rounds, neuropathology, radiology didactics, journal club, and a host of other training options and the material really comes to life. Maybe I'm just spoiled, but the data becomes so much more when you can integrate all of those other areas into a case.

 

[sydb1367]

It depends who you ask. Formally trained neuropsychologists will say one thing, and generalists who want to do neuropsychology assessment on the side will say something else.

and of course there are plenty of formally trained neuropsychs who favor the NAN definition of a neuropsych

and, yeah, I miss neuropath. mmmm...brains.