Staying mentally stimulated | Neuropsych evaluation with Dr. Sara Douglas

Sara Douglas, Psy.D., NCSP, is a neuropsychological evaluator and nationally certified school psychologist. Sara received her master's degree in school psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and then obtained her Psy.D  in school psychology from St. John's University. Sara has worked across a variety of settings including schools (both public and private), treatment clinics, and hospitals. At her current private practice, Sara conducts neuropsychological evaluations with school-aged children, adolescents, and adults who have unexplained academic, behavioral, or emotional difficulties. In the past, she’s worked as a school psychologist providing counseling to students, as an Associate Adjunct Professor within the School Psychology graduate program at St. John's University, and as an Adjunct Professor within Manhattanville College's Graduate School of Education. 

In this episode, we cover: 

1. What neuropsychological tests do you conduct, and what do they tell you?
2. What does a testing session look like?
3. What makes you good at this, and is that quality intuitive or learned?
4. How do you communicate difficult test results to parents?
5. How did you learn to be confident in synthesizing so much information?
6. What advice would you give someone who is interested in becoming a neuropsychological evaluator but is not sure?
7. Why did you want to become a lawyer, and why did you change your mind?
8. Did you think psychology would be useful in your future work as a lawyer?
9. How did you experiment and figure out that psychology was more of the right thing for you?
10. Why didn’t you want to be a child therapist?
11. Why did you decide to get your master’s in school psychology?
12. When did you realize testing was the path for you?
13. Why did you pursue a doctorate?
14. What was the most beneficial part of grad school?
15. What do you learn in a school psych grad program?
16. Can all school psychologists call themselves neuropsychologists?
17. Why did you open a private practice while also being a school psychologist?
18. What did you enjoy the most about being a school psychologist?
19. Was there anything you witnessed being kind of immersed in the education field that irked you and that you wish you could change?
20. Do you think on the whole, we rely on teachers to take on more of that psychologist role when they shouldn’t?
21. Was there something students came to you all the time about?
22. What is one skill, quality, or general factor that has served you no matter where you went?

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Music by: Adam Fine