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Clinical Neuropsychologists

Assess and diagnose patients with neurobehavioral problems related to acquired or developmental disorders of the nervous system, such as neurodegenerative disorders, traumatic brain injury, seizure disorders, and learning disabilities. Recommend treatment after diagnosis, such as therapy, medication, or surgery. Assist with evaluation before and after neurosurgical procedures, such as deep brain stimulation.

What you’d do

  • Interview patients to obtain comprehensive medical histories.
  • Write or prepare detailed clinical neuropsychological reports, using data from psychological or neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct observations, or interviews.
  • Conduct neuropsychological evaluations such as assessments of intelligence, academic ability, attention, concentration, sensorimotor function, language, learning, and memory.
  • Diagnose and treat conditions involving injury to the central nervous system, such as cerebrovascular accidents, neoplasms, infectious or inflammatory diseases, degenerative diseases, head traumas, demyelinating diseases, and various forms of dementing illnesses.
  • Diagnose and treat pediatric populations for conditions such as learning disabilities with developmental or organic bases.
  • Provide education or counseling to individuals and families.
  • Distinguish between psychogenic and neurogenic syndromes, two or more suspected etiologies of cerebral dysfunction, or between disorders involving complex seizures.
  • Diagnose and treat neural and psychological conditions in medical and surgical populations, such as patients with early dementing illness or chronic pain with a neurological basis.

Skills that matter

  • Active Listening
  • Critical Thinking
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Complex Problem Solving

How to get there

Extensive preparation: most need graduate school, such as a master's degree or higher

Also called

  • Clinical Neuropsychologist
  • Pediatric Clinical Neuropsychologist
  • Pediatric Neuropsychologist
  • Staff Psychologist
  • Aviation Neuropsychologist
  • Board Certified Clinical Neuropsychologist

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