Tag

projective testing

Sep 25
9

Going South: NESCA Announces New Hingham, MA Location

By | Nesca Notes 2023

By: Jane Hauser
Director of Marketing & Outreach, NESCA

NESCA is excited to announce that it is opening a Hingham location to serve clients on the South Shore of Massachusetts. NESCA is currently booking appointments now for Neuropsychological and Psychological Evaluation Services commencing on November 1, 2023. Learn more about what is being offered by our Hingham-based staff from my interview with Hingham Director; Pediatric Neuropsychologist Moira Creedon, Ph.D.

What prompted NESCA’s expansion to the South Shore or Massachusetts, and how can clients benefit from our Hingham location’s services?
NESCA is expanding our in-person services to Hingham on the South Shore to widen the breadth of neuropsychological and educational evaluation and consulting services offered within the state. We know that families have options as they partner with neuropsychologists, and we want to be in close proximity to communities we hope to serve. This is an exciting opportunity to support students in elementary, middle, and high school as well as young adults, as they navigate the complexities of their daily lives. It is our priority to continue providing detailed, client-centered, thorough evaluations that highlight a client’s areas of strength and vulnerability. I am also excited to strengthen relationships with local care providers and schools, and to build new relationships as a new clinician within the South Shore community.

What services do you offer?
At this time, NESCA’s South Shore-based practice will offer Neuropsychological Evaluations and Projective Assessments. The goal of these services is to build a complete picture of a client’s functioning, including their intellectual, academic, and social-emotional profile. Team members are also available to participate in team meetings at school (IEP meetings), conduct school observations, and offer consultation to parents and team members. Sometimes, a child has already participated in evaluations in other settings (schools, hospitals), and a family needs help to review these documents and make meaning of the findings.

What types of clients will NESCA serve in its South Shore location?
NESCA’s South Shore-based practice is similar to our other locations and will serve children, teens, and young adults with a range of presenting issues. The focus is in working with students in elementary, middle, and high school as well as young adults. I can see clients with diagnostic questions, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Learning Disorders (e.g., dyslexia, dysgraphia), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, and complex psychiatric diagnoses.

A specialty we have at NESCA – including in Hingham – is working with clients who have multiple diagnoses or who don’t fit neatly into a singular diagnostic box. I also see clients who are high functioning and curious about their learning style, how to improve their study skills, and how to plan for their academic future based on their unique profile.

Where are you on the South Shore? Are services in-person or remote?
We are practicing in person in an office at 99 Derby Street, Suite 200, in Hingham, MA. Hingham is uniquely positioned to serve the South Shore/Southcoast, and the Cape and Islands. For those traveling for appointments, most clients schedule testing in two longer (2.5 hour) blocks of time so the commute is reduced for families. I am also available to participate in IEP team meetings and conduct student observations in person on the South Shore, which is an exciting way to collaborate and build strong relationships with families, schools, and organizations.

What is different about what NESCA offers on the South Shore compared to other organizations or services available locally?
NESCA is highly respected in the community for providing detailed, comprehensive evaluations of students that speak to their strengths as well as their needs. Compared to some practices, your child or teen will be assessed directly by a neuropsychologist rather than a technician. You can depend on your neuropsychologist to bring their own expertise as well as the “village” of NESCA, as I am always collaborating with NESCA’s team of innovative neuropsychologists, transition specialists, educational consultants, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, and therapists. We work routinely with special education attorneys, advocates, therapists, and school personnel in collaborative relationships to support children and teens. At NESCA, we live our core values everyday: being creative problem solvers, being collaborative and building lasting relationships, and caring deeply for students, their families, and the community.

Does insurance cover your services in Hingham?
Several NESCA providers take both Blue Cross Blue Shield and private pay for services. I am paneled with BCBS. Some families are able to obtain some coverage or reimbursement through other insurance agencies, and we can provide those families with brief billing information to submit to their insurance company. We can never guarantee insurance reimbursement, so it is important that families check with their insurance plan regarding covered services.

What if I am unsure if I should refer my child or client for an evaluation?
Give us a call! Our administrative team is happy to support you in navigating this process. We are also planning some community events to provide information to our community about a variety of topics, including who we are and how to recognize signs that a child or teen may need additional support. There is also a ton of information on our website.

How do people get more information about NESCA’s South Shore services?
You can fill out our online intake form, call 617-658-9800 to speak with an intake coordinator, or reach Hingham-based Pediatric Neuropsychologist Dr. Moira Creedon directly at mcreedon@nesca-newton.com.

 

About the Author

Hingham Director; Pediatric Neuropsychologist Dr. Moira Creedon has expertise in evaluating children and teens with a variety of presenting issues. She is interested in uncovering an individual’s unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses to best formulate a plan for intervention and success. With experiences providing therapy and assessments, Dr. Creedon bridges the gap between testing data and therapeutic services to develop a clear roadmap for change and deeper of understanding of individual needs.

 

If you are interested in booking an evaluation with Dr. Creedon or another NESCA neuropsychologist, please fill out and submit our online intake form. 

 

NESCA is a pediatric neuropsychology practice and integrative treatment center with offices in Newton, Plainville, and Hingham (coming soon), Massachusetts; Londonderry, New Hampshire; and the greater Burlington, Vermont region, serving clients from infancy through young adulthood and their families. For more information, please email info@nesca-newton.com or call 617-658-9800.

Dec 26
9

What Is Projective Testing and Why Might My Child Need It?

By | NESCA Notes 2022

By: Moira Creedon, Ph.D. 
Pediatric Neuropsychologist, NESCA

There can be a great deal of confusion about what kind of testing you want for your child. No wonder when we have so many options – neuropsychological testing, psychoeducational testing, speech and language testing, occupational therapy testing, personality testing, and psychological testing. The part that can be incredibly challenging is that these labels often involve overlapping test measures, meaning that the assessor may choose the same specific tasks that might fall into most or all of these categories. Take cognitive assessment using IQ tests which can be used by a psychologist conducting psychological, neuropsychological, or psychoeducational testing. Another layer of confusion is added for parents when one considers that many professionals in schools or medical practices are also confused and interchangeably use these labels. In an effort to demystify the process, I want to tackle a common question: what is projective testing and why might my child need it?

Projective testing provides psychologists with very specific and unique insight about a person’s thinking habits and processing. Unlike cognitive or academic tests, projective tests do not have a “right answer.” So, projective testing is not going to ask a child to solve a math problem or define a word. It is not going to test how quickly they can name vegetables or see how skilled they are at shifting between sets of the rules. The overall goal of projective testing is to figure out how a child, teen, or adult responds to an ambiguous situation. This means, we ask people to project their brain habits (thinking style, way of interpreting the world, way of processing emotions, way of viewing self and others) onto a situation when it is not clear that there is a “right” or “wrong” answer. A person must use their problem-solving and emotion regulation skills in action. Examples of projective tests include the Rorschach inkblot test, story-telling tasks (e.g., the Thematic Apperception Test or the Roberts Apperception Test), drawings, and incomplete sentences. Projective tests take additional time to administer and usually longer to score, so they are scheduled as separate visits at NESCA.

Why might you use a projective test? There are some situations where projective testing is incredibly useful, such as when a diagnosis of a thought disorder (e.g., psychosis) is in question. It is also very useful for questions of trauma, attachment, anxiety, or mood disorder. Projective testing is also incredibly useful when psychiatric symptoms are confusing. Take the example of someone who is a perfectionistic or very guarded about their symptoms. A person with this profile is very likely to read a question that says, “I am very anxious,” and answer no. However, projective testing can see if there are themes of anxiety by considering how a person responds to an ambiguous situation. Take another example of someone who leans in the other direction and reports many symptoms that overlap with many diagnoses. In this case, many symptoms are endorsed as “yes.” Projective testing can help to provide clarity to narrow down the list, especially without an obvious answer. In both of these cases, it is helpful to access a person’s unconscious brain habits as a key to understanding a person’s functioning.

When would you not use projective testing? I do not use projective testing when my referral question does not need it. For example, a question of a learning disability or ADHD does not require projective testing. Using projective measures would be inappropriate, time consuming, and potentially stressful for a person when it is not needed. Similarly, projective testing is not often used in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder as there is little research about how neurodivergent populations respond to the ambiguous stimuli. I also do not use projective testing if neuropsychological testing suggests that a person has an intellectual disability or struggles in their visual processing skills (e.g., NVLD) since many of the projective measures (e.g., Rorschach, story-telling, drawings) use a visual stimulus card. In those cases, it would be inappropriate to assume that a response reflects a person’s emotional processing when it would really be about their visual processing.

Projective testing is incredibly informative and, like other neuropsychological tools, should only be utilized by professionals who are trained to administer and interpret these tests. Since it is not as simple as a correct single answer on an answer key, it is critical that these procedures are administered by psychologists with the advanced training to use and interpret the information. And, like all of our measures, the results gathered using projective measures are data points that are combined with other data points. The performance on one test or demand does not dictate the entire conclusion. A strong and comprehensive assessment will use projective test data as part of a larger understanding of your child. Information gathered in projective testing can highlight important strengths for your child and contribute helpful information to drive treatment.

NESCA has several clinicians who are highly trained and skilled at administering projective testing. If you have questions about projective testing and whether your child needs it, let us know by filling out our online Intake Form.

 

About the Author

Dr. Creedon has expertise in evaluating children and teens with a variety of presenting issues. She is interested in uncovering an individual’s unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses to best formulate a plan for intervention and success. With experiences providing therapy and assessments, Dr. Creedon bridges the gap between testing data and therapeutic services to develop a clear roadmap for change and deeper of understanding of individual needs.

 

If you are interested in booking an evaluation with Dr. Creedon or another NESCA neuropsychologist, please fill out and submit our online intake form. 

 

Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents (NESCA) is a pediatric neuropsychology practice and integrative treatment center with offices in Newton and Plainville, Massachusetts, and Londonderry, New Hampshire, serving clients from preschool through young adulthood and their families. For more information, please email info@nesca-newton.com or call 617-658-9800.

May 16
19

10 Facts about the Rorschach Inkblot Test

By | NESCA Notes 2022

By Renée Marchant, Psy.D.
Pediatric Neuropsychologist

As an evaluator, I receive a number of questions about the usefulness of the Rorschach Inkblot Test. The following “10 facts” are designed to answer some common questions and also incorporate some new and fresh scientific research findings related to the Rorschach.

The Rorschach Inkblot Test is a diagnostic tool that should always be incorporated within a comprehensive evaluation which includes projective or “performance-based” testing. If you are considering if your child or teen would benefit from projective testing, please refer to one of my earlier NESCA blog posts: “More Than An Inkblot: Measuring Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking Skills with Projective Tests.”

  1. The Rorschach Inkblot Test is a test that provides data and information about how a child or teen problem-solves situations “in the moment.”
  2. Research indicates that the Rorschach is a valid assessment tool (with validity akin to other personality measures, as well as measures of IQ).
  3. Recent fMRI studies show high levels of brain activation in brain regions associated with emotion, emotion memories, perception, attention and visual processing.
  4. After the Rorschach Inkblot Test is administered, an experienced evaluator uses an evidence-based scoring system to compare a child’s responses to a normative sample to evaluate their performance. RPAS (Rorschach Performance Assessment System) is the most evidence-based scoring system to date and has strong empirical evidence.
  5. The Rorschach evaluates and detects psychotic symptoms.
  6. The Rorschach is helpful for evaluating trauma, including dissociation and intrusive symptoms.
  7. The Rorschach assesses both trait (stable characteristics or patterns) and state (a temporary way of being) variables. For example, the Rorschach tells us about how a person is coping with everyday stressors (e.g. from bullying to family loss to lack of sleep). The Rorschach also tells us if a person has a more pervasive habit of “bottling up” emotions or behaving rashly or impulsively when overwhelmed.
  8. The Rorschach quantifies a child or teen’s strengths, such as capacity for insight and adaptability, or resiliency to stress.
  9. The Rorschach Inkblot Test is not for everyone. More research is needed about the utility of the Rorschach for individuals with expressive language communication impairments or visual-spatial processing deficits.
  10. Not every evaluator is equipped to administer and interpret the Rorschach Inkblot Test. The Rorschach is a powerful diagnostic tool when interpreted in conjunction with observation and other test results by a skilled, experienced practitioner with extensive training in Rorschach administration and interpretation.

 

About the Author:

Dr. Renée Marchant provides neuropsychological and psychological (projective) assessments for youth who present with a variety of complex, inter-related needs, with a particular emphasis on identifying co-occurring neurodevelopmental and psychiatric challenges. She specializes in the evaluation of developmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorder and social-emotional difficulties stemming from mood, anxiety, attachment and trauma-related diagnoses. She often assesses children who have “unique learning styles” that can underlie deficits in problem-solving, emotion regulation, social skills and self-esteem.

Dr. Marchant’s assessments prioritize the “whole picture,” particularly how systemic factors, such as culture, family life, school climate and broader systems impact diagnoses and treatment needs. She frequently observes children at school and participates in IEP meetings.

Dr. Marchant brings a wealth of clinical experience to her evaluations. In addition to her expertise in assessment, she has extensive experience providing evidence-based therapy to children in individual (TF-CBT, insight-oriented), group (DBT) and family (solution-focused, structural) modalities. Her school, home and treatment recommendations integrate practice-informed interventions that are tailored to the child’s unique needs.

Dr. Marchant received her B.A. from Boston College with a major in Clinical Psychology and her Psy.D. from William James College in Massachusetts. She completed her internship at the University of Utah’s Neuropsychiatric Institute and her postdoctoral fellowship at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, where she deepened her expertise in providing therapy and conducting assessments for children with neurodevelopmental disorders as well as youth who present with high-risk behaviors (e.g. psychosis, self-injury, aggression, suicidal ideation).

Dr. Marchant provides workshops and consultations to parents, school personnel and treatment professionals on ways to cultivate resilience and self-efficacy in the face of adversity, trauma, interpersonal violence and bullying. She is an expert on the interpretation of the Rorschach Inkblot Test and provides teaching and supervision on the usefulness of projective/performance-based measures in assessment. Dr. Marchant is also a member of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) and continues to conduct research on the effectiveness of family therapy for high-risk, hospitalized patients.

 

To book an evaluation with Dr. Marchant or one of our many other expert neuropsychologists, complete NESCA’s online intake form.

 

Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents (NESCA) is a pediatric neuropsychology practice and integrative treatment center with offices in Newton and Plainville, Massachusetts, and Londonderry, New Hampshire, serving clients from preschool through young adulthood and their families. For more information, please email info@nesca-newton.com or call 617-658-9800.

 

Aug 31
19

10 Facts about the Rorschach Inkblot Test

By | NESCA Notes 2020

By Renée Marchant, Psy.D.
Pediatric Neuropsychologist

As an evaluator, I receive a number of questions about the usefulness of the Rorschach Inkblot Test. The following “10 facts” are designed to answer some common questions and also incorporate some new and fresh scientific research findings related to the Rorschach.

The Rorschach Inkblot Test is a diagnostic tool that should always be incorporated within a comprehensive evaluation which includes projective or “performance-based” testing. If you are considering if your child or teen would benefit from projective testing, please refer to one of my earlier NESCA blog posts: “More Than An Inkblot: Measuring Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking Skills with Projective Tests.”

  1. The Rorschach Inkblot Test is a test that provides data and information about how a child or teen problem-solves situations “in the moment.”
  2. Research indicates that the Rorschach is a valid assessment tool (with validity akin to other personality measures, as well as measures of IQ).
  3. Recent fMRI studies show high levels of brain activation in brain regions associated with emotion, emotion memories, perception, attention and visual processing.
  4. After the Rorschach Inkblot Test is administered, an experienced evaluator uses an evidence-based scoring system to compare a child’s responses to a normative sample to evaluate their performance. RPAS (Rorschach Performance Assessment System) is the most evidence-based scoring system to date and has strong empirical evidence.
  5. The Rorschach evaluates and detects psychotic symptoms.
  6. The Rorschach is helpful for evaluating trauma, including dissociation and intrusive symptoms.
  7. The Rorschach assesses both trait (stable characteristics or patterns) and state (a temporary way of being) variables. For example, the Rorschach tells us about how a person is coping with everyday stressors (e.g. from bullying to family loss to lack of sleep). The Rorschach also tells us if a person has a more pervasive habit of “bottling up” emotions or behaving rashly or impulsively when overwhelmed.
  8. The Rorschach quantifies a child or teen’s strengths, such as capacity for insight and adaptability, or resiliency to stress.
  9. The Rorschach Inkblot Test is not for everyone. More research is needed about the utility of the Rorschach for individuals with expressive language communication impairments or visual-spatial processing deficits.
  10. Not every evaluator is equipped to administer and interpret the Rorschach Inkblot Test. The Rorschach is a powerful diagnostic tool when interpreted in conjunction with observation and other test results by a skilled, experienced practitioner with extensive training in Rorschach administration and interpretation.

 

About the Author:

Dr. Renée Marchant provides neuropsychological and psychological (projective) assessments for youth who present with a variety of complex, inter-related needs, with a particular emphasis on identifying co-occurring neurodevelopmental and psychiatric challenges. She specializes in the evaluation of developmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorder and social-emotional difficulties stemming from mood, anxiety, attachment and trauma-related diagnoses. She often assesses children who have “unique learning styles” that can underlie deficits in problem-solving, emotion regulation, social skills and self-esteem.

Dr. Marchant’s assessments prioritize the “whole picture,” particularly how systemic factors, such as culture, family life, school climate and broader systems impact diagnoses and treatment needs. She frequently observes children at school and participates in IEP meetings.

Dr. Marchant brings a wealth of clinical experience to her evaluations. In addition to her expertise in assessment, she has extensive experience providing evidence-based therapy to children in individual (TF-CBT, insight-oriented), group (DBT) and family (solution-focused, structural) modalities. Her school, home and treatment recommendations integrate practice-informed interventions that are tailored to the child’s unique needs.

Dr. Marchant received her B.A. from Boston College with a major in Clinical Psychology and her Psy.D. from William James College in Massachusetts. She completed her internship at the University of Utah’s Neuropsychiatric Institute and her postdoctoral fellowship at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, where she deepened her expertise in providing therapy and conducting assessments for children with neurodevelopmental disorders as well as youth who present with high-risk behaviors (e.g. psychosis, self-injury, aggression, suicidal ideation).

Dr. Marchant provides workshops and consultations to parents, school personnel and treatment professionals on ways to cultivate resilience and self-efficacy in the face of adversity, trauma, interpersonal violence and bullying. She is an expert on the interpretation of the Rorschach Inkblot Test and provides teaching and supervision on the usefulness of projective/performance-based measures in assessment. Dr. Marchant is also a member of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) and continues to conduct research on the effectiveness of family therapy for high-risk, hospitalized patients.

 

To book an evaluation with Dr. Marchant or one of our many other expert neuropsychologists, complete NESCA’s online intake form.

 

Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents (NESCA) is a pediatric neuropsychology practice and integrative treatment center with offices in Newton and Plainville, Massachusetts, and Londonderry, New Hampshire, serving clients from preschool through young adulthood and their families. For more information, please email info@nesca-newton.com or call 617-658-9800.

 

Jan 21
13

More Than An Inkblot: Measuring Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking Skills with Projective Tests

By | NESCA Notes 2019

Image Cred: SlidePlayer.com 2019

By Renée Marchant, Psy.D.
Pediatric Neuropsychologist

What might this be? A saxophone player? A woman’s face? A bunch of black and white paint? Or is it something else entirely? This classic optical illusion engages the parts of the brain responsible for perception, critical thinking, and problem-solving so that humans can “make sense” of a somewhat ambiguous picture. We know that everyone perceives and experiences the world differently. In order to best support a child’s growth and development, parents, educators, and professionals need to understand a child’s “lens” or “brain habits” that guide how they think, how they feel and how they behave. Projective testing assesses these “brain habits” and sheds light on a child’s problem-solving style.

If you google or look up “projective test” in the dictionary, an array of definitions pop up. The general theme is: a projective test is a test designed with ambiguous stimuli upon which a person presumably “projects” hidden, unconscious emotions and conflicts. Yes, a person’s internal thoughts, feelings, and assumptions sometimes outside of conscious awareness do influence your response to projective tests and your behavior in everyday life. However, projection is only one piece of the puzzle. A broader, more accurate definition is:

A projective test is a “performance-based” test that requires the respondent to perform a task that has little structure, direction or guidance. These tasks might, for example, involve completing a sentence, telling a story, or describing inkblots (i.e. the famous Rorschach Inkblot Test).

So why do we care about assessing a child or teen’s ability to make sense of an unstructured, ambiguous task? In addition to measuring a child’s concrete knowledge and skills (e.g. academics, intellectual functions, memory capacity etc.), it is oftentimes crucial to understand how a child problem-solves a situation “in action” – when they must rely on themselves to formulate a solution. This is particularly true for children who have difficulties managing their emotions, children who have trouble making reasonable decisions, and children who can’t seem to make or keep friends. For youth with these challenges, understanding how “in the moment” problem-solving and critical thinking skills work or don’t work gives parents, educators, and professionals insight into learning style, challenges and strengths, and most importantly, guides individualized therapeutic interventions.

A growing number of business and education leaders have begun to recognize the importance of performance-based assessments to evaluate student learning in the classroom and the workplace. Creativity, ingenuity, “thinking on your feet” and the capacity for critical thinking and analysis are clearly key skills in today’s innovative world. Therefore, to set kids up for success, it is understandably helpful to evaluate a child’s thinking and feeling “brain habits” that affect their choices, behaviors, and aspirations. As assessors, teachers, professionals, and parents, we want to better understand how each child applies knowledge to solve problems they face now and in the future – social problems, work problems, emotional problems and beyond. Projective testing provides not only a current evaluation of a child’s capacity to problem solve “on their feet” but provides a direction for how those “brain habits” might pose a strength or a challenge for that child as they grow.

Are you thinking about referring a child, teen, or young adult for projective testing? Here are 5 “fast facts” to guide you:

  1. Projective (also known as performance-based) tests are powerful diagnostic tools when administered and interpreted in conjunction with observation and other standardized test results by a skilled, experienced practitioner. It is important to ask a potential evaluator about their training in projective testing and how they utilize the results.
  2. Projective testing is helpful for children and teens with various complex, social and emotional challenges. Common referrals include questions related to: thinking problems/emerging psychosis, trauma, attachment-related concerns, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, developing personality traits and disorders, high-risk behaviors such as suicidal or homicidal thoughts and actions, substance abuse, poor emotion regulation, and self-injury.
  3. Projective testing provides information about a child’s thinking patterns, how they experience emotions, self-esteem, and their habits of interacting with others. For example, is a child more likely to “keep everything inside” and avoid or do they dysregulate and “explode” when they experience anxiety? Are a child’s difficulties making and keeping friends because they get “stuck” on the details of a situation, is it because they “miss the big picture”, or are they in a constant state of worrying that others will let them down? Answering these questions results in a more individualized intervention plan for therapy, at home and at school.
  4. Projective testing is not for everyone. There is little research on the use of projective testing with children and adolescents with low visual acuity, below average verbal and/or non-verbal IQs, impairments in visual-spatial processing, social-communication challenges, or language disorders. Be cautious of practitioners who do not inquire and evaluate these important aspects of a child’s functioning, as they are crucial components to determine the appropriateness of a projective evaluation.
  5. Projective testing sheds light on not only a child’s areas of difficulty, but can also provide an individualized analysis of a child’s strengths. For example, projective testing can identify capacity for insight into choices and behaviors, ability to engage effectively in a therapeutic relationship, capacity for empathy and perspective-taking, as well as a child’s inclination towards imagination, creativity, and ingenuity.

About the Author:

Dr. Renée Marchant provides neuropsychological and psychological (projective) assessments for youth who present with a variety of complex, inter-related needs, with a particular emphasis on identifying co-occurring neurodevelopmental and psychiatric challenges. She specializes in the evaluation of developmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorder and social-emotional difficulties stemming from mood, anxiety, attachment, and trauma-related diagnoses. She often assesses children who have “unique learning styles” that can underlie deficits in problem-solving, emotion regulation, social skills, and self-esteem.

Dr. Marchant’s assessments prioritize the “whole picture,” particularly how systemic factors, such as culture, family life, school climate, and broader systems impact diagnoses and treatment needs. She frequently observes children at school and participates in IEP meetings.

Dr. Marchant brings a wealth of clinical experience to her evaluations. In addition to her expertise in assessment, she has extensive experience providing evidence-based therapy to children in individual (TF-CBT, insight-oriented), group (DBT), and family (solution-focused, structural) modalities. Her school, home, and treatment recommendations integrate practice-informed interventions that are tailored to the child’s unique needs.

Dr. Marchant received her B.A. from Boston College with a major in Clinical Psychology and her Psy.D. from William James College in Massachusetts. She completed her internship at the University of Utah’s Neuropsychiatric Institute and her postdoctoral fellowship at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, where she deepened her expertise in providing therapy and conducting assessments for children with neurodevelopmental disorders as well as youth who present with high-risk behaviors (e.g. psychosis, self-injury, aggression, suicidal ideation).

Dr. Marchant provides workshops and consultations to parents, school personnel, and treatment professionals on ways to cultivate resilience and self-efficacy in the face of adversity, trauma, interpersonal violence, and bullying. She is an expert on the interpretation of the Rorschach Inkblot Test and provides teaching and supervision on the usefulness of projective/performance-based measures in assessment. Dr. Marchant is also a member of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) and continues to conduct research on the effectiveness of family therapy for high-risk, hospitalized patients.

To book an evaluation with Dr. Marchant or one of our many other expert neuropsychologists, complete NESCA’s online intake form.

 

 

 

Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents (NESCA) is a pediatric neuropsychology practice and integrative treatment center with offices in Newton, Massachusetts, Plainville, MA, and Londonderry, New Hampshire, serving clients from preschool through young adulthood and their families. For more information, please email info@nesca-newton.com or call 617-658-9800.