The Neuropsychologist S Roadmap

"With contributions by more than 40 experts in the field, this comprehensive text details the steps necessary to build a career in neuropsychology and outlines the core competencies students and trainees must master along the way. Contributors share helpful tips and guidance on topics as wide-ranging as getting into graduate school and navigating the application process, gaining internships and fellowships, licensure and certification, and finding a job. Chapters on competencies discuss common issues involving teaching and supervision, assessment, research, grants, ethics, and diversity, as well as personal and professional factors such as work-life integration, advocacy, and mentorship. The content and structure of the book is based on the most up-to-date specialty training and education standards. This indispensable volume will serve as a foundational resource for readers whose aim is to become a neuropsychologist in any of the associated fields of health care, research, or education"--

Becoming a Neuropsychologist is the first comprehensive resource for students interested in pursuing a career in neuropsychology. Whether you are a student in high school, college, or graduate school, or a professional interested in a career change, this book will serve as your North Star to help you navigate on your journey. To this end, Part I answers the questions, What is Neuropsychology?, Why Neuropsychology?, and Where Do Neuropsychologists Work?, and ends with a discussion of the Challenges of Working in Neuropsychology. In Part II, you will find a step-by-step guide on how to move from where you are to the endpoint of working as a full-fledged neuropsychologist. Specifically, the authors provide concrete advice such as how to obtain adequate research and clinical training, how to apply to graduate school or doctoral internship programs, what criteria postdoctoral fellows need to meet to remain eligible for board certification, what questions to ask on interviews or when looking for your first job, and much more. The book is packed with action steps and advice for maximizing your training and avoiding common pitfalls along the way. "As our field looks to expand diversity and representation in our ranks, my hat is off to John Bellone and Ryan Van Patten for not only extending an invitation to the party but also for providing a map for how to get here. —Kathleen Fuchs, PhD, ABPP “Drs. Bellone and Van Patten have distilled the complexities of neuropsychology career development into an eminently readable and understandable roadmap. —Glenn Smith, PhD, ABPP “An easy, accessible introduction into the field of neuropsychology...The authors’ open and personal accounts of their own journeys toward becoming clinical neuropsychologists read like a fireside chat with a beloved mentor.” —Jenn Davis, PhD, ABPP “Informative, witty, and inspiring. After reading this, I feel re-inspired and excited to be pursuing a career in this field. —Ilex Beltran-Najera, MA

With contributions by more than 40 experts in the field, this text details the steps in building a career in neuropsychology and outlines core competencies students and trainees must master.

A Neuropsychologist's Guide to Training Psychometrists: Promoting Competence in Psychological Testing provides a framework for busy neuropsychologists faced with training their newly-hired psychometrist. It supplies concrete guidelines and provides a roadmap for training that can be customized to any practice, department, or clinic setting. In this essential resource, Dr. Christine S. Ghilain discusses the role of the psychometrist in various neuropsychological practice settings and provides suggested minimum standards of competence across training domains. She dives deeply into the core components of assessment—from optimizing testing conditions, to standardized test administration, to keen observations of behavior—and includes coverage of topics such as testing with unique populations, behavioral management strategies for challenging situations, as well as promoting ongoing competence over time. A compilation of several sources of data, the book includes excerpts from Dr. Ghilain’s practice-specific psychometry training manual along with advice and illustrative examples from many neuropsychologists and psychometrists who shared their experiences. This book is an indispensable guide for neuropsychologists looking to instill high standards of competence in their hired professionals and for those involved in training graduate students who are just learning to administer cognitive tests. It is also of interest to other assessment-focused professionals looking to enhance their skills and refine their psychological testing knowledge.

Bioinformatics involves specialized application of computer technology to investigative and conceptual problems in biology and medicine; neuroinformatics (NI) is the practice of bioinformatics in the neurosciences. Over the past two decades the biomedical sciences have been revolutionized by databases, data mining and data modeling techniques. The Human Genome Project, which depended on informatics methods, has been the most well recognized bioinformatics undertaking. Bioinformatics has since been applied all across biology and medicine, and has also transformed almost every avenue in neuroscience. Yet in neuropsychology, NI perspectives remain largely unrealized. Ironically, NI offers enormous potential to the essential praxis of neuropsychology - assessing cognitive behavior and relating cognition to neural systems. Neuroinformatics can be applied to neuropsychology as richly as it has been applied across the neurosciences. Neuroinformatics for Neuropsychology is the first book to explain the relevance and value of NI to neuropsychology. It systematically describes NI tools, applications and models that can enhance the efforts of neuropsychologists. It also describes the implications of NI for neuropsychology in the 21st century – fundamental shifts away from the conventional modes of research, practice and communication that have thus far characterized the field. One of the foremost experts on the subject: Illustrates the vital role NI is playing throughout the neurosciences. Provides a sampling of NI tools and applications in neuroscience research, and lays out current organization structures that support NI. Describes the lack of NI in neuropsychology, differentiates between NI systems for neuropsychology and conventional computerized assessment methods, and proposes criteria for neuropsychology-specific NI systems. Describes NI applications and models currently in use in neuropsychology, and NI models for neuropsychology that are being pioneered in phenomics research. Discusses potential obstacles and aids to NI in neuropsychology, including issues such as data sharing, standardization of methods, and data ontology. Projects the future of neuropsychological research and practice in light of the new generation of the internet, Web 2.0, geared to collective knowledge building. A vital introduction to a profound technological practice, Neuroinformatics for Neuropsychology is important reading for clinical neuropsychologists, cognitive neuroscientists, behavioral neurologists, and speech-language pathologists. Researchers, clinicians, and graduate students interested in informatics for the brain-behavioral sciences will especially welcome this unique volume.

Practical and comprehensive, this is the first book to focus on noncredible performance in clinical contexts. Experts in the field discuss the varied causes of invalidity, describe how to efficiently incorporate validity tests into clinical evaluations, and provide direction on how to proceed when noncredible responding is detected. Thoughtful, ethical guidance is given for offering patient feedback and writing effective reports. Population-specific chapters cover validity assessment with military personnel; children; and individuals with dementia, psychiatric disorders, mild traumatic brain injury, academic disability, and other concerns. The concluding chapter describes how to appropriately engage in legal proceedings if a clinical case becomes forensic. Case examples and sample reports enhance the book's utility.

A Neuropsychologist's Guide to Training Psychometrists: Promoting Competence in Psychological Testing provides a framework for busy neuropsychologists faced with training their newly-hired psychometrist. It supplies concrete guidelines and provides a roadmap for training that can be customized to any practice, department, or clinic setting. In this essential resource, Dr. Christine S. Ghilain discusses the role of the psychometrist in various neuropsychological practice settings and provides suggested minimum standards of competence across training domains. She dives deeply into the core components of assessment -- from optimizing testing conditions, to standardized test administration, to keen observations of behavior -- and includes coverage of topics such as testing with unique populations, behavioral management strategies for challenging situations, as well as promoting ongoing competence over time. A compilation of several sources of data, the book includes excerpts from Dr. Ghilain's practice-specific psychometry training manual along with advice and illustrative examples from many neuropsychologists and psychometrists who shared their experiences. This book is an indispensable guide for neuropsychologists looking to instill high standards of competence in their hired professionals, and for those involved in training graduate students who are just learning to administer cognitive tests. It is also of interest to other assessment-focused professionals looking to enhance their skills and refine their psychological testing knowledge.

Working with the Brain in Psychology: Considering Careers in Neuropsychology seeks to assist students in their career exploration, by introducing them early, in the contemplative stage of career planning, to the fascinating speciality of psychology known as neuropsychology. The text spends considerable time differentiating neuropsychology from alternative career paths, and provides personal accounts, contributions from neuropsychologists in various settings, and case examples of different patient populations to illustrate what it is like to train to become and work as a neuropsychologist. This text begins by describing what neuropsychology is, how it is situated within psychology, and for whom it could be a good fit. Suggestions are provided about how to engage in self-assessment in order to help choose a career. It goes on to review over a dozen similar and overlapping careers to illustrate how neuropsychology stands out. Quotes by professional neuropsychologists bring to life what "a day in the life" looks like in different settings, and the kinds of populations with whom neuropsychologists work are illustrated with case examples. This book then outlines how one becomes a neuropsychologist, including how to re-specialize from a different field. It also gives an honest appraisal of potential challenges that come with this career, and ends with anticipated future directions in the profession to look forward to. This book will be useful primarily for psychology-minded undergraduates and college graduates thinking of going on to graduate school for psychology, as well as for high school students interested in the brain and psychology. This book is further aimed at those considering a change of career from a related field into neuropsychology, as well as the guidance counselors and college career centers that assist with career planning.