Forensic Evaluations | Adoption Evaluations | Psychoeducational Testing

Child Custody Evaluations

• Dr. Lefkowits collaborates with Dr. Michelle New, Director of Kentlands Kids (www.kentlandskids.com), to provide child custody evaluations. Dr. New has over 17 years of experience with an expertise in children and development. Families benefit from the expertise of two experienced clinical psychologists without incurring any additional cost. On each case, either Dr. New or Dr. Lefkowits will be the Lead Evaluator, depending on the nature of each family's psychological and legal needs
• The goal of a custody evaluation is to help the family and/or court understand the family dynamics in a way that will allow for the development of an appropriate plan for custody and visitation of minor children, when such custody and access is in dispute
• An evaluation can benefit the court by assisting the judge in understanding complex questions of parenting fitness, psychological attachment, sibling relationships, developmental needs of each child. The evaluator presents many complexities of family dynamics to the judge in an understandable way to assist in making a decision regarding children and their needs. An evaluation integrates all of these issues into a comprehensive understanding of the family with clear set of specific recommendations
• Ultimately, the court must decide how to use the information from a custody evaluation in any decision making process about custody.

Parenting Fitness Assessment

A parenting fitness evaluation provides the court with more detailed information about the psychological functioning of one or both parents. These evaluations are limited to the parent or parent's and do not involve testing or interviewing of children.

Like a custody evaluation, ultimately it is up to the court to make a determination about how to use the information from an evaluation of this nature.

Substance Abuse Evaluations

Dr. Lefkowits can perform a clinical interview, review documents and conduct a psychological assessment to determine diagnosis and treatment options. This information can then be utilized to assist individuals referred by the court or an attorney to determine what type of intervention is most appropriate and make recommendations about follow-up if necessary. These evaluations are often required after a DWI or DUI.

Tests like the SASSI can be administered to provide useful information about patterns of substance use or abuse.

Adoption Evaluations

The process of adopting a child can be filled with many joys and many challenges. It is both exciting for the prospective parents and daunting at times. Suburban psychology can help both parents and adoption agencies with psychological evaluations, including the MMPI II and home studies if necessary.

Due to a number of tragic cases involving abused children adopted from Russia, psychological assessments are now required as part of the evaluation process. In addition, some South and Central American countries are also requiring psychological assessments as well. Adoption Psychological evaluations offers that extra added assurance that families have been evaluated for risk factors which might interfere with parenting. While no evaluation can 100% predict behavior, psychological evaluation can help identify whether certain individuals are likely to be able to cope with the special needs of adoptive children and the stresses of parenthood.

It is important to note that the MMPI II is not a pass/fail type test. It must be interpreted by a licensed psychologist and written in a way that is meaningful and understandable for adoption agencies. Please feel free to contact suburban psychology for more information.

Psychodiagnostic Testing

Psychodiagnostic testing is a process that uses scientifically valid psychological tests to examine a person's cognitive strengths and levels of achievement and in some cases personality preferences. With this knowledge, a person can better understand their learning and personality styles and characteristics. A person can then make more informed decisions about themselves in the areas of learning strategies, work and social environments. In addition to testing, discussions about prior successes and challenges help the person understand factors that can contribute to increased levels of performance and satisfaction.

Dr. Sechrest can:

• Administer and evaluate adult psychodiagnostic tests and assessments to help you understand your learning style and strengths as well as areas for improvement
• Can help you make the most of your efforts to improve your home, school, work and social situations.

Psychoeducational Testing for Children

School-aged children can also benefit from psychoeducational testing. Understanding how your child learns can help parents and teachers work more productively together with the student. Observations of a child's learning styles, in addition to testing results, can provide more accurate assessments of academic strengths and areas for growth and help develop more effective learning plans. Often what are interpreted as behavioral problems are, in fact, learning issues. School-aged children can misbehave to avoid difficult academic tasks or to avoid the embarrassment of poor performance. Additionally, schools provide testing for their students but at times do not adequately assist parents in understanding what the test results mean for their child. It is important for parents to understand what the test results for their child indicate in order to agree upon and employ school-based interventions.

• Administer and evaluate psychoeducational tests and assessments to help the parent understand how their child learns.
• Help clarify school-based testing procedures and the results of school-based testing.
• Help coordinate and implement effective learning practices and strategies with the child, parents, teachers and schools.