Aptivate offers the following psychological services:
Psychological and Psychoeducational Evaluation* is a service in which a licensed psychologist will conduct a comprehensive evaluation with children ages 2.5 through 18 years to assess or screen for (and potentially diagnose or confirm) various conditions, including (but not limited to):
At Aptivate, we recognize that psychological and psychoeducational evaluations are an investment of time, energy, and financial resources. Therefore, we put the utmost care into ensuring that all concerns and referral questions are addressed using a variety of assessment techniques: intellectual functioning assessments, academic achievement assessments, specific cognitive abilities assessments (e.g., auditory processing, visual-motor integration, executive functioning and attentional skills), social-emotional and behavioral assessments (including adaptive behavior and autism-specific assessments), testing and classroom observations, parent and client clinical interviews, and more. We generally proceed through this comprehensive process in the following manner:
The Evaluation Process
1) Initial consultation to understand concerns and referral question(s)
2) Intake interview with parents
3) Testing sessions with child or teen
4) Record review and gathering input from teachers and other service providers
5) Report writing
6) Feedback session with parents to review evaluation report
*As a therapeutic service, psychological and psychoeducational testing may be fully or partially reimbursable by health insurance. Be sure to check with your insurance provider.
Aptivate offers Admissions Testing for private or independent schools and specialized programs (e.g., FCPS Advanced Academic Programs). The licensed psychologist will administer standardized cognitive/intelligence assessments (and academic achievement assessments, if requested) and complete a report for pre-kindergarten, school-age, and high school clients seeking admission to those schools or programs.
Psychotherapy* is offered to children and teens using evidence-based techniques (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) for 45-minute sessions generally on a weekly, twice-weekly, or biweekly basis, depending on the client’s needs. Psychotherapy will be offered in person and/or via teletherapy, depending on the client’s and therapist’s preferences and the current state of affairs in our community (e.g., global pandemic). The therapist will track the client’s progress towards their therapy goals via a treatment plan. For younger clients, sessions may also be held with their parents on a consistent or as-needed basis.
*As a therapeutic service, psychotherapy may be fully or partially reimbursable by health insurance.
Many children and teens, especially those with interpersonal communication deficits, experience ongoing loneliness, frustration, anxiety, and sadness because they
Aptivate has a solution for these social woes: Social Skills Training!* Aptivate offers Social Skills Training using the PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) Social Skills Curriculum (of UCLA’s Semel Institute). The PEERS Program is the ONLY available evidence-based social skills program for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and is used clinically for youth with ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other social challenges. PEERS certified providers specially trained in the program facilitate weekly sessions with small groups of children and adolescents. Social skills training is offered in-person. For children and teens seeking more individualized support, individual social skills training sessions are available as well.
Social skills training will focus on topics such as:
*As a therapeutic service, social skills training may be fully or partially reimbursable by health insurance, as it is a group therapy service. However, the child or teen would already have to have a clinical diagnosis for potential insurance reimbursement.
Psychological Consultation at Aptivate is offered to current and prospective Aptivate clients, professional colleagues, and school systems. For example, Aptivate personnel offering psychological services can provide consultation for psychotherapy and psychological/psychoeducational evaluation in various ways to support their clients’ treatment outside of therapy, such as with therapist or psychologist participation in the client’s IEP or 504 meetings at their school. With professional colleagues, consultation may involve discussing the administration, scoring, interpretation, and report writing for assessments which the clinician is less or unfamiliar. School systems may also seek consultation for topics including mental health initiatives, or analyses and interpretation of student data regarding social-emotional, academic, and/or behavioral data.
Trainings and Informational Sessions are offered to schools and school systems, institutions, organizations, parent groups, etc. on various topics. Aptivate staff have presented on topics including:
If you are interested in having our knowledgeable staff present on these or any other topics, please contact the Aptivate office by phone or email.
