Services & Clients

If you or your child have not previously undergone a diagnostic evaluation, you may be wondering what accounts for what you or they are experiencing.  Is it ADHD?  Are there other explanations?  And what is the best way to approach solutions?

Psychological Evaluations: 

At TAG, we provide comprehensive psychiatric evaluations that can diagnose neurodivergence (ADHD, autism) and that disentangle the relative contribution of other factors as well. The evaluation process consists of:

a) A comprehensive interview with the individual and relevant parties. For children, that includes a parent, and where relevant, other care providers; for adults, this may include speaking with a partner or parent as well.

b) Standardized questionnaires, which are scored relative to the general population and offer quantitative data. 

c) A feedback session. Because understanding one’s own mind (including any relevant diagnoses) and participating in one’s treatment planning are essential for treatment success, the final session of the evaluation offers “feedback,” in which your provider will explain how they conceptualize the information you’ve shared, including any relevant DSM-V diagnoses; they will also offer education, resources, and a recommended treatment plan based on the findings. 

Neuropsychological testing: Note that we are not currently accepting referrals for neuropsychological assessment.  If we believe that you or your child will require one, we will make a referral to someone outside our practice.  Check back for information on when we will begin offering neuropsychological testing again.

Oftentimes neuropsychological testing is a useful way to more thoroughly examine a diagnostic question. 

For children, questions might include: What is the relative contribution of attention versus a learning disorder to a child’s academic struggles? Where do strengths and weaknesses lie, and how can a learning plan be optimized given a child’s individual profile? 

For adults, neuropsychological testing can offer an informative snapshot of strengths and weaknesses, providing clarification of where/why challenges may arise, which can be very validating for clients who have long struggled without explanation.

Adult psychotherapy at our practice is best described as cognitive-behavioral (CBT) and adjacent (see the therapy modalities we specialize in, under Specializations, below), drawing from programs that research has shown to be effective at reducing distressing symptoms and improving well-being. Sessions involve active collaboration with your therapist and are affirming and present-focused. This is not to say you won’t talk about your early life – you will.  However, our main focus will be on what matters to you now, what is getting in the way, and on addressing any interfering emotions, cognitions, and behaviors while committing to living the way you want to live. At the outset of treatment, we’ll work hard with you to identify goals and where you aim to be.  Your therapist will help you to hone the skills to take meaningful steps in that direction.  Throughout, you will regularly be monitoring your progress, celebrating your successes and targeting any gaps that remain.  When you are ready, you will taper the frequency of sessions and discontinue, knowing that you can circle back anytime.

Child/adolescent therapy is typically approached through CBT, with adjacent skills and modalities woven in.  Sessions are structured and goal oriented, skills are learned and practiced, and small exercises are assigned between sessions.  This may involve doing a teachback to a family member, practicing strategies (for relaxation, coping, interacting with peers, approaching homework, etc.), logging thoughts or behaviors, completing other entries during the week, carrying out exposures (facing feared stimuli) or engaging in exposure and response prevention (ERP; facing triggering stimuli without engaging in neutralizing compulsions), using flexible approaches to tasks, and the like.  Parents/caregivers play an important role in child CBT and should expect to be included on a regular basis, through pop-ins, phone calls, and specially scheduled parent-only meetings.

Coaching can address practical obstacles to productivity and success, such as those related to executive functioning (EF): time management, productivity, planning, organization, regulation of attention, control of impulses, prioritization, task initiation and follow-through, effective study/work habits, compensatory strategies, and the like.  As with CBT, sessions are structured and skills are introduced and practiced.  Hand-over-hand rehearsal of skills occurs as new skills are introduced and is gradually scaffolded back, so that individuals develop greater independence and require less support.  Typically coaching is time-limited, with an open-door policy to return at the next life phase and/or when a “booster” is needed to refresh skills.

• Children & Adolescents. In children and adolescents, EFs are targeted through the training of these organizational skills, usually once or twice weekly, and in collaboration with parents (and, where appropriate, teachers).

• College students. College students regularly struggle due to weak EFs and require skills coaching to cope with unstructured schedules, long-term deadlines, and the adjustment to independent living. 

• Adults. In adults, EF skills training can be transformative at resolving lifelong difficulties in these areas to succeed in the workplace and to manage personal obligations more effectively.

Coaching is often done by our clinical staff (therapists), whether as part of psychotherapy or in collaboration with a separate therapist.   Our therapists offer coaching either in-office or virtually, via Zoom.  Coaching can also be effectively done by a “coach,” who is not a clinician but who is trained and supervised in the same EF skills training programs.  Unlike our clinicians, our coaches can sometimes offer in-home services and greater flexibility in appointment length and frequency. Whether it makes the most sense to work with a clinician or a coach is something we would help determine based on your initial informational call and/or your intake appointment.

Parent training is an important component of working with children, and in some cases serves as a primary method for intervention.  This can be appropriate in children as young as toddlers and as old as in their 20s or 30s.

ADHD, oppositional/disruptive behavior, and/or autism.  Parent training for ADHD or oppositional or disruptive behavior includes the following:

• Psychoeducation to help parents understand why children behave the way they do.  This is crucial to manage expectations, identify where children’s efforts may not match up to their output, develop patience and empathy, and think creatively about strategies.

• Strategies to set neurodivergent children up for success. For instance, how to implement schedules, visual cues, prompts, structure, and organizational systems to facilitate improved focus, adherence to routines, and success during homework or transitional times.  When and how to encourage flexibility and where to plan for developmentally appropriate environmental modifications (e.g., to address sensory sensitivities or dysregulation in autism, or to scaffold in supports as children gradually develop greater independence).

• Guidance for improving the parent-child relationship where compliance/defiance is an issue.  Families stuck in coercive or emotionally reactive cycles discover that their relationships are not what they wish them to be, nor are children complying with what is needed.  Parent training begins with returning those warm feelings of connection.  It leverages positive reinforcement to shape desirable behavior, and, ultimately, improves compliance through the usage of loving, firm contingency management.

• Parent training and the accompanying strategies are effective from the toddler years through emerging adulthood.  They look different at the varying stages along the way.

Anxiety and OCD. Parent training is also an important component of treatment for childhood anxiety.

• As with any challenge a child faces, anxiety and OCD deeply affect and interact with the family as a whole.  Children’s distress and big reactions impact the way in which families maneuver through any and all daily activities.  The way that families navigate this dynamic has the ability to either magnify or to lessen anxiety/OCD at its core.  In most cases (according to research, 95% of the time; Lebowitz, 2021), families feel forced to make concessions, or what are known as, “Accommodations.” Accommodations are the ways (big or small, obvious or barely noticeable) in which families modify their demands to ease children’s anxiety and/or associated behaviors.  While temporarily appearing to offer relief, accommodations have the nasty effect of actually growing the anxiety.  To intervene with this cycle, parents are taught ways to reduce accommodations (and consequently their child’s anxiety) while strengthening the warmth and connection that everyone in the family is after.

• This type of parent training can occur in parallel with CBT for the child; it can also be done (and can still be effective) when children are not simultaneously in treatment.

• Parenting work of this sort is appropriate from toddlerhood through emerging adulthood as well.

When school behavior is a concern, it may be appropriate to work more closely with your child’s teachers and educational team. 

 Classroom observations, conducted by clinicians who are not known by your child, can offer impartial, informative glimpses of where and why behavior is breaking down, and thereby inform the construction of a behavior plan. 

School and teacher consultation can guide educators in how to proactively set children up for success and how to respond to them in moments of difficulty.  This can be done informally, on an ad hoc basis, or more formally, through larger team or 504/IEP meetings, where your child’s provider can serve as an advocate for necessary supports that the school would then be required to implement.

Groups can be a terrific way of obtaining services in a structured environment, and allow for peer support and sharing and increased accountability. They can also be a more affordable option than individual therapy.

We are regularly recruiting for workshops and groups for students in higher education, CBT groups for adults and teens, and workshops for parents of children and emerging adults.

To learn more about workshops and groups, click here.

To receive our newsletter and keep abreast of news and announcements, click here.