Neuropsychological evaluations are usually ordered because there is some indication of changes in thinking skills such as memory, language, attention, problem solving, perception, or personality. These evaluations help your doctors understand how the different areas and systems of the brain are working. These changes can occur for a number of reasons including neurological, medical, psychological, or genetic. Testing will be helpful in understanding your specific situation.
A typical neuropsychological evaluation begins with a discussion between you and Dr. Powell to better understand any changes you have experienced. Afterwards, an interactive evaluation will be completed assessing the following areas:
General intellect
Problem solving
Attention and concentration
Learning and memory
Language
Visual-spatial skills
Motor and sensory skills
Mood and personality
Most evaluations require several hours for completion, though the time does vary depending upon the needs of the patient. The appointment is interactive with mostly paper-and-pencil style assessments. Some of the assessments will be easy, while others may be more challenging. Please bring glasses and hearing aids if applicable. The most important thing is that you try your best. You can take breaks and be sure to let Dr. Powell know if you are feeling uncomfortable.
Dr. Powell is a clinical neuropsychologist who specializes in adult and geriatric evaluations. She is originally from the Pacific Northwest where she completed her doctoral degree at Pacific University. She moved to Arizona to complete her pre-doctoral residency at the Phoenix VA Health Care System. She fell in love with the cacti and 365 days of sunshine and has lived here since.
She completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in Neuropsychology at the Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City. She stayed on staff as a clinical and research neuropsychologist for nearly 10 years. In this role she conducted outpatient evaluations aiding in differential diagnoses of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and other neurological conditions. She also conducted pre-surgical Deep Brain Stimulation evaluations. At Banner, she conducted psychometric and global ratings for various clinical drug, device, and prevention trials.
In 2016, she joined Midwestern as Assistant Faculty in their doctoral Clinical Psychology Program. In this role, she developed and oversaw the Neuropsychology concentration and in 2020 she was awarded Outstanding Psychology Faculty by the Arizona Psychological Association.
Dr. Powell began her private practice in 2020 and is eager to help those in need using her specialized training in differential diagnostics and subsequent development of individualized treatment recommendations.
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