The Testing Psychologist

Category: Podcast

  • TTP #14: Dr. Maelisa Hall – Get Your Paperwork in Order!

    TTP #14: Dr. Maelisa Hall – Get Your Paperwork in Order!

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    Dr. Maelisa Hall figured out early on that she has a passion for paperwork. Lucky for the rest of us, Maelisa has built a consulting business around helping therapists and psychologists get their paperwork and documentation in order. She also has a private practice and does ADHD testing for adults, so she understands the paperwork demand from a testing standpoint as well. Here are some things we talk about:

    • The documentation I didn’t do for over five years
    • EHR systems and ways to customize them for therapy and assessment notes
    • Informed consent paperwork specifically for testing
    • Specific information to include in your testing notes

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode

    About Dr. Maelisa Hall

    Maelisa Hall, Psy.D. specializes in teaching therapists how to connect with their paperwork so it’s more simple and more meaningful. The result? Rock solid documentation every therapist can be proud of! Check out her free online Private Practice Paperwork Crash Course, and get tips on improving your documentation today. Website: http://www.qaprep.com/

    About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

    Jeremy Sharp, PhD is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and has grown to include five other clinicians. He earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Jeremy specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

    As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. Jeremy lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

  • TTP #13: The Vulnerability of Psychological Testing

    TTP #13: The Vulnerability of Psychological Testing

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    I totally messed up a feedback session last week, and it reminded me how going through the psychological testing process can be extremely vulnerable for clients. For one thing, they really don’t know what to expect other than, “Someone is going to analyze me/my child.” The representation of assessment in the media is pretty much limited to contrived inkblot scenes and vague discussions of the insanity defense. Not exactly doing us any favors there when it comes to evaluations for your typical family or adult.

    This episode is all about recognizing and honoring that vulnerability in clients, and translating that to a solid evaluation. I talk through how to honor clients’ vulnerability at these stages:

    • Initial phone call
    • Intake interview
    • Testing/assessment day
    • Feedback
    • Report writing
    • Follow up and referrals

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode

    About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

    Jeremy Sharp, PhD is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and has grown to include five other clinicians. He earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Jeremy specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

    As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. Jeremy lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

     

  • TTP #12: Amy Fortney Parks – IEP’s, 504’s, and Coordinating with Schools

    TTP #12: Amy Fortney Parks – IEP’s, 504’s, and Coordinating with Schools

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    This is the longest podcast so far with good reason. Amy Fortney Parks and I just packed SO MUCH info into this episode about private practice evaluations and coordinating with schools. Amy has years and years of experience with schools as an educator, school counselor, parent, and now private practitioner. We cover all sorts of topics like:

    • The NUMBER ONE best marketing tool for school counselors
    • The difference between a 504 plan and an IEP
    • How to network with schools to build your referral base
    • Building a “recommendation bank” for your reports
    • Do’s and Don’t’s for school recommendations and how to keep recommendations realistic

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode

    About Amy Fortney Parks

    Amy Fortney Parks describes herself as a life-long educator, a passionate psychologist, and often stressed-out, but mostly happy, mom of four! She is the Executive Director of WISE Mind Solutions, LLC, a Northern Virginia-based practice focused on children, teens and families. She is also the owner of The Wise Family – a comprehensive brand for kids and parents designed to inspire, educate and energize families!

    Amy brings with her over 25 years of education and experience working with children, adolescents and families as both an educator and psychologist. Her focuses include individual counseling for kids, tweens and teens, parent and educational consulting. She is a passionate “BRAIN – trainer” and strives to help everyone she works with understand how their own unique brain works!

    Amy holds a Masters degree in Psychological Services and is in the dissertation phase for her Doctorate in Educational Psychology. More information and how to chat directly with her about your family are on her website, www.thewisefamily.com. You can also connect with Amy on social media: @wisefamilies.

    About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

    Jeremy Sharp, PhD is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and has grown to include five other clinicians. He earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Jeremy specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

    As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow testing services in their practices. Jeremy lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

  • TTP #11: How to Do a School Observation

    TTP #11: How to Do a School Observation

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    School observations are REALLY important when you’re evaluating kids. Today I’m talking all about the importance of a school observation, how school observations can be a great marketing tool, and the practical elements of how to do a school observation. Here are just a few things I discuss:

    • How to talk to parents about a school observation
    • Billing for a school observation
    • What to look for in a school observation
    • Building relationships during a school observation

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode

    About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

    Jeremy Sharp, PhD is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and has grown to include five other clinicians. He earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Jeremy specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

    As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow testing services in their practices. Jeremy lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

  • TTP #10: Dr. Megan Warner – Therapeutic Assessment

    TTP #10: Dr. Megan Warner – Therapeutic Assessment

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    Collaborative therapeutic assessment is such a cool thing. So often, testing and evaluation is viewed as a critical, deficit-based process (“You’re going to tell me I’m crazy!?”). Megan and I have a great conversation about how to use therapeutic assessment as an intervention tool to support clients rather than a punitive or scary experience.

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode

    About Dr. Megan Warner

    Dr. Megan WarnerMegan Warner, PhD is a clinical psychologist and the owner and founder of Guilford Psychological Services, which is currently in the process of being developed. After  running her private practice for a number of years, Megan saw a need to form a central location where individuals throughout the region could find compassionate, nonjudgmental, and scientifically-driven providers that offer high quality individual and group support to help people find and reclaim themselves and build the lives they yearn to have.  Guilford Psychological Services expands upon Megan’s thriving private practice, and will offer individualized, high quality, high end support, informed and designed by science.
    Megan specializes in trauma, mindfulness based approaches, perinatal and postpartum mood and anxiety, and collaborative therapeutic assessment. In addition to running her practice, she is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. She is also a wife and a mother to two young children.  For more information, visit: https://meganwarnerphd.com or www.guilfordpsychologicalservices.com.

    About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

    Jeremy Sharp, PhD is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and has grown to include five other clinicians. He earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Jeremy specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

    As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow testing services in their practices. Jeremy lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

  • TTP #9: Dr. Amy Connery – Respecializing in Neuropsychology & Performance Validity Testing with Kids

    TTP #9: Dr. Amy Connery – Respecializing in Neuropsychology & Performance Validity Testing with Kids

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    Dr. Amy Connery has had a really interesting career in psychology. She started out as a “regular” psychologist, then decided that she wanted to respecialize in neuropsychology. So Amy quit her job, went back for another post-doc, and continued with her dreams. She talks with me today about respecializing in neurpsychology, getting into- and out of private practice, and one of her primary research areas: performance validity testing with kids.

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode

    About Dr. Amy Connery

    Dr. Amy ConneryAmy K. Connery, Psy.D., ABPP-CN is a board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist in the Department of Rehabilitation at Children’s Hospital Colorado and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She provides neuropsychological assessments and consultations in the Concussion Clinic, International Adoption Clinic (IAC), and Non-Accidental Brain Injury Care Clinic (NABICC) in addition to bilingual Spanish assessments.  Her research is in mild traumatic brain injury and validity testing in pediatric assessment.  She has most recently been involved in research examining neurodevelopmental outcomes after Zika infection.

    About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

    Jeremy Sharp, PhD is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and has grown to include five other clinicians. He earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Jeremy specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

    As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow testing services in their practices. Jeremy lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

  • TTP #8: Joe Sanok – Hiring Assessment Clinicians in Your Group Practice and Slowing Down

    TTP #8: Joe Sanok – Hiring Assessment Clinicians in Your Group Practice and Slowing Down

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    Joe Sanok has done a lot over the last few years. You may know him as the host of the Practice of the Practice podcast. He also runs Mental Wellness Counseling in Traverse City, Michigan and is one of the top private practice consultants in the country. He’s also putting on a conference this summer to help practitioners slow down and spark innovation in their work. Joe stopped by to talk with me about a lot of great topics, like:

    • How to know when to hire someone who does assessment in your group practice
    • How to support assessment clinicians when they join your practice
    • Networking and how to reach out as a testing practitioner
    • The value of an admin assistant in a testing practice
    • Slowing down and leveling up your practice

    Cool Things Mentioned in this Episode


    About Joe Sanok

    Joe Sanok is a speaker, mental health counselor, business consultant, and podcaster. Joe has the #1 podcast for counselors, The Practice of the Practice Podcast. With interviews with Pat Flynn, John Lee Dumas, Chris Ducker, Rob Bell, Glennon Doyle Melton, and Lewis Howes, Joe is a rising star in the speaking world!

    Joe is a writer for PsychCentral, has been featured on the Huffington Post, Reader’s Digest, Bustle, and Yahoo News. He is a keynote speaker, author of five books, and is a top ­consultant.

    About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

    Dr. Jeremy Sharp is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and has grown to include five other clinicians. He earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Jeremy specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

    As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow testing services in their practices. Jeremy lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

  • TTP Episode 7: A Therapist’s Perspective on Assessment

    TTP Episode 7: A Therapist’s Perspective on Assessment

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    Today I’m talking with Jen Knopp, MA, Assistant Director of Beyond the Mirror and founder of Freedom First Counseling. Jen talks with me about the benefits and pitfalls of assessment from the therapist side. We talk about things like:

    • When a therapist knows to refer for assessment
    • Benefits of assessment
    • What makes a good report
    • What makes a bad report
    • What parts of the report are helpful and unhelpful for therapists

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode

    About Jen Knopp

    Jen Knopp, MA is a Licensed Professional Counselor and owner of Freedom First Counseling Services in Fort Collins, Colorado. Jen graduated with her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Saint Martin’s University in May 2009. Prior to private practice, Jen provided individual, family, couples, and group counseling in a variety of clinical settings including residential crisis treatment, school-based mental health counseling, adolescent co-occurring disorder treatment, and outpatient mental health therapy. Currently, Jen is Assistant Director and Primary Eating Disorder Therapist at Beyond the Mirror Counseling and Wellness. Jen is also a public speaker and conference presenter on eating disorders and is passionate about volunteering her time towards eating disorder prevention and outreach in the community.

    About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

    Dr. Jeremy Sharp is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and has grown to include five other clinicians. He earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Jeremy specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

    As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow testing services in their practices. Jeremy lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

  • TTP Episode 6: Technology and Testing

    TTP Episode 6: Technology and Testing

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    Today we’re talking all about how technology and testing can help you be more efficient, productive, and accurate in your assessment practice. Topics we cover include:

    • EHR systems
    • Report writing software – full suites
    • Report writing software – individual tools
    • Digital record storage
    • Q-Interactive

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode

  • TTP Episode 5: Getting Efficient with Time and Report Writing

    TTP Episode 5: Getting Efficient with Time and Report Writing

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    In This Episode

    • Today we talk about how to be efficient with your time management and report writing. Topics include:
    • Evaluating your schedule to get a realistic idea of the time involved in testing
    • Restructuring your schedule to make sure you have room for testing clients
    • Ways to outsource different aspects of testing to increase your available time
    • Technology that can help with time management and report writing

    Cool Things Mentioned in This Episode