Charleston Neuropsychology

05/02/2022

WANTED NOW: Small but busy Mt. Pleasant mental health clinic looking to immediately hire a full time, permanent front office Administrative Assistant. Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm (40 hrs per week) Annual Salary $31,200. Must have a high school diploma, minimum of 1yr experience in administrative office duties and experience with checking patients insurance for eligibility & benefits.
For more information please call (843)813-5090 and leave your name & phone number.
Email resumes to: ChsNeuro@yahoo.com

05/08/2021

https://scdhec.gov/covid19/covid-19-vaccine

04/09/2021

https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/anxiety-difference?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=apa-stress&utm_content=stress-anxiety-difference #

There’s a fine line between stress and anxiety. Both are emotional responses, but stress is typically caused by an external trigger.

03/22/2021

Speaking of Psychology: How we’re coping one year into the pandemic.

Vaile Wright, PhD, talks about the state of our mental and physical health right now, how we are feeling about returning to our previous lives now that vaccines are providing some hope for an end to the pandemic.

11/18/2020

We are implementing important precautions for in-office visits due to the COVID-19 situation to better ensure a safe and comfortable environment for patients and staff. These include:
•If you are showing signs of unusual illness (including a new cough, shortness of breath, sore throat,shakiness, chills, headache, or muscle ache that cannot be attributed to another health condition), please call to reschedule your appointment.
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•If you have been exposed to an individual demonstrating any of the symptoms described above or anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19, we will also have to reschedule your appointment
​•Please take your temperature prior to leaving your home. If your temperature is 100.4°F or higher, please contact our office and we will reschedule your appointment. We will also check the temperatures for all individuals entering our office using a non-invasive infrared thermometer
​•Please wash your hands prior to entering the office and again once you enter
​•Masks (covering both the mouth and nose) are required for all individuals entering our office. Please wear one to your appointment.
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•We are minimizing the number of people present in our office at any given time. When coming to your appointment, please travel alone or with no more than one person (e.g., a family member or caregiver) and do not bring additional people into the office (e.g., multiple family members or siblings)
​•During appointments, we ask that family members/caregivers wait in their car rather than our waiting room
​•We will be texting and/or calling you 2 days prior to your in office visit to confirm that you do not have
symptoms of COVID-19. Your in-office visit will be cancelled if such confirmation is not received by the end of the working day immediately prior to your scheduled visit.
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•We will only be able to provide services to patients who agree to abide by all of these safety precautions.

Our staff will also be taking many important precautions to protect the safety and well-being of each other and ourpatients. We will all be following government-recommended social distancing protocols in our personal lives tominimize potential exposure and will wear personal protective equipment at all times while in the office. All roomsand counter top surfaces will be cleaned multiple times per day and our offices are equipped with Plexiglass barriersseparating patients and providers for certain appointments.If you have any questions or concerns about our office policies, please speak with a member of our office staff (843-849-9913) ahead of your scheduled appointment so that we can ensure a safe environment for all involved.

11/18/2020

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/11/anxiety-depression-treatment?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=apa-press-release-telehealth&utm_content=telehealth-survey-nov17

Almost all licensed psychologists now offering remote treatment via telehealth.

03/26/2020

Hey there South Carolina,
Charleston Neuropsychology is providing Telehealth services during these challenging times of social distancing and fearfulness regarding COVID-19. During these times, it is especially important to be monitoring your own mental health status. The CDC has put together a nice list of resources and wellness tips: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/managing-stress-anxiety.html.
If you need more support managing stress, anxiety, worries, loneliness, difficulty sleeping, difficulty focusing, irritability (and more), please know that you are not alone and you can do something about it. All of our providers are accepting short-term telehealth cases at this time. Give us a call at 843-849-9913 or contact us through our website. We take insurance and can serve anybody in the state.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China.

02/22/2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/parenting/extracurriculars-kids-costs.html

Circus school?!

01/01/2020

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/advice-your-best-life/201912/why-new-year-s-resolutions-succeed

Three steps to victory in keeping your New Year’s resolutions.

11/07/2019

AACN's Ask the Experts Series

What is the role of neuropsychology in diagnosing ADHD?
By Wendy B. Marlowe, PhD, ABPP

Since October was ADHD awareness months, it is a good time to talk about the role of the neuropsychologist in assessing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Although some people think that anyone with fidgety behavior and distractibility has attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and many people take online rating scales to self-diagnose ADHD, the actual diagnosis is more complex.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a constellation of symptoms, the most prominent of which are inattention, over activity and impulsivity. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 describes a combination of symptoms that can result in an ADHD diagnosis. The number of symptoms required to meet the criteria depends on the age of the person, with more characteristics required in children.

The criteria for inattentive behavior include making careless mistakes, not listening, avoiding tasks that require mental effort, losing things, and being distractible or forgetful. The criteria for hyperactivity relate to being fidgety, overactive, having trouble sitting still, difficulty waiting for one’s turn, and interrupting. The symptoms must occur across multiple settings and interfere with daily functioning. The tricky part of the criteria, and that aspect that really requires the expertise of a clinical neuropsychologist, relates to the symptoms not being better explained by another mental disorder.

The symptoms are not totally specific or unique to ADHD. Any of us can be distractible or inattentive if we are preoccupied with worries or fears, anxious, hungry or sleepy. In addition to alcohol, many other recreational drugs, as well as prescription medications may cause drowsiness or inattention. These same factors may lead to impulsivity. If we are preoccupied for any reason, we may not take the time to consider consequences before an impulsive act. There are a number of other kinds of mental disorders, such as anxiety, mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder) or personality disorders that are characterized by many of the same symptoms/behaviors seen in ADHD.

Neuropsychologists are generally careful health care providers. We do our best to provide an accurate diagnosis, and recommendations for intervention or treatment. We take a thorough history in order to understand your past background and how long these symptoms have persisted. Generally, ADHD develops in early childhood, whereas other disorders may occur at a later point in time. We undertake a comprehensive evaluation that involves all areas of thinking, behavior and performance for two primary reasons.

First, there are many other disorders with similar symptoms that need to be carefully considered before reaching the diagnosis. Second, ADHD is rarely “pure” and may be part of a co-occurring disorder, such as a learning disability or a more generalized disorder of executive functions. People with ADHD are also at risk for psychiatric disorders involving mood, personality and often substance abuse.

A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, in the hands of a well-trained and skilled neuropsychologist, will not simply rule in/rule out ADHD. A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation will identify those factors or behaviors that are interfering with competence and successful functioning, and provide recommendations for improvement or amelioration.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/sad-learning-school-reading-544730/

10/25/2019

AACN's Ask the Experts Series

Are there really differences in the way men and women think?

Response by Loren Mallory, PhD, ABPP

Sometimes it seems like my wife and I are speaking a different language. Sometimes we hardly have to speak to understand each other. Sometimes I can’t understand how she is going about a task or problem. Sometimes we work together beautifully. But at those times when we are just not communicating, it can seem like we are from different planets. As the author, John Gray said, Men are fom Mars and Women are from Venus. Are there really significant cognitive (thinking and information processing) differences between men and women?

In the 1980s, when I completed my doctoral research in hemispheric differences of brain functioning, it was believed that women on average are better at verbal and linguistics tasks, while men on average are better at tasks of spatial and construction abilities. Further, it was believed that women are less hemispherically lateralized compared to men, meaning that their left hemispheres are relatively less dominant for verbal skills, and men more lateralized, meaning that their left hemispheres are relatively more dominant for language (at least in right-handed people). Thus, as far as this reasoning goes, women are more verbal and more able to put their emotions (a right hemisphere function) into words. Another finding using visual tests is that women are (slightly) more aware of and sensitive to their environment.

There is some scientific support for these notions. For example, while the brains of girls and boys begin to lateralize for language about the same age, there is evidence that girls’ brains are less lateralized, and language is shared between the hemispheres more than with boys. Another example of support for this notion is that men suffer from aphasia (speech and language disorders) with left hemisphere damage more often and more severely than women with left hemisphere damage, assumedly because a woman’s right hemisphere is more able to compensate for speech and language impairment.

While it has been difficult to find consistent gender differences in the physical makeup of brains, one difference that has been consistently found is that the planum temporale of the left hemisphere is relatively larger in women than men. The planum temporale is an area of the cortex known to be important for language. Further, women are more likely to have larger planum temporale in the right hemisphere as well, meaning language is shared more with the right hemisphere or even dominant in the right hemisphere for some women.

Some have argued that these gender differences are apparent but not real. They believe that socialization factors impact how men and women go about tasks differently, thus causing the apparent differences on tests used to measure hemispheric differences. Women may be more verbally assertive or talk more about feelings simply because of their socialization, not because of true brain differences.

In the past couple of decades, things have been changing. First, the whole idea of gender has been changing, and gender is no longer thought of as a clear dichotomy (one thing or the other and nothing else). Second, while some admit that there are minor differences in how men and women think, these differences are small. Individual differences are thought to far outweigh gender differences in one’s thinking style. Recent authors have written books which argue strongly against gender differences (Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine; Gender Mosaic: Beyond the Myth of the Male and Female Brain, by Joel & Vikhanski).

So, in summary, there may be certain small differences in how men and women think, but these are likely minor, of limited importance, and far outweighed by individual differences among people in general.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/vectors/gender-sex-symbol-male-female-312411/

10/16/2019

AACN's Ask the Experts Series

How Can The Neuropsychologist Tell If There Has Been a Change If I Have Not Been Tested Before?

Response by Pamela M. Dean, Ph.D., ABPP

A unique aspect to the comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation that sets it apart from many other disciplines is the use of statistics to guide the clinician’s understanding of what is expected with respect to neurocognitive function versus what may constitute a change for a patient.

This process begins with a review of available records as well as the clinical interview, which gathers information regarding the presenting concern(s) and medical/mental health history as well as details from the patient’s psychosocial history, which can shed light on previous functional status (e.g., early developmental factors, attentional/learning challenges, educational attainment, and employment history).

For pediatric patients, this may include a deeper discussion of school related topics, social relationships, and behavior. The information provided helps the clinician to understand the patient, which initiates their hypotheses regarding areas of strength, weakness, and/or areas of possible change or decline.

The evaluation itself consists of a number of tests that have been developed and normed for various patient populations, and it is up to the discretion and expertise of the neuropsychologist to create a battery of tests that best meets the needs of the referral question.

There are certain tasks that may be included in the battery, called hold measures, that evaluate well-ingrained and crystalized abilities, including reading, reasoning, and vocabulary knowledge, that are resistant to brain change over time. Certain tests also have statistical algorithms that take into account educational history and personal characteristics (including aspects of diversity) as well as the performance on these hold measures.

The summation of this information generates the foundation for estimating what is referred to as Premorbid Functioning, or the estimate of the person’s intellectual and cognitive abilities prior to the onset of a disease, injury, or condition. When taken together, these variables provide an estimate for where a person’s performances are likely to fall under optimal circumstances and prior to the concern for which they have been referred.

Neuropsychologists also utilize the Normal Curve (also known as the Bell Curve), which is a statistical and symmetrical plot that represents the probability or likelihood of normally distributed values. Sixty-eight percent of the area that falls under the largest part of the curve is considered to be average, or where most people will fall.

As scores fall to either side, where the tails appear to be their thinnest, this indicates a performance in the population that is less common, whether this is considered to be superior or something more concerning, in the impaired range.

By making an estimate with respect to the patient’s premorbid function through history and hold measures, the neuropsychologist is able to identify potential strengths and weaknesses, which can be suggestive of a change in status. In many cases, these puzzle pieces fit well together; however, other times exist where the evaluation provides a baseline from which we can compare future evaluations, if concerns continue.

https://pixabay.com/photos/brain-anatomy-abstract-art-2146817/