Counseling
Even the most resilient child or teen may experience vulnerability at times of stress. These times of strain such as a divorce/parent separation, chronic illness/death in the family, sibling conflict, parent/child conflict, or difficult transition can be stressful, and can yield confusion and a range of emotions. Signs of distress for the youngster might manifest themselves in different ways, such as:
- A marked drop in school grades
- Becoming overly worried and anxious
- Trouble falling asleep, waking up frequently, or having frequent nightmares
- Displays of pervasive, excessive degrees of sadness, moodiness, or irritability
- Becoming withdrawn
- Poor self-esteem
- Trouble focusing and/or coping with everyday life issues
- Engaging in self-harm
- Experimenting and/or abusing drugs and/or alcohol
- Displaying unusual thoughts or behaviors
Oftentimes, familial support is enough to help see the youngster through, yet some may need extra help from a professional counselor. Professional help can assist with getting in touch with distressful feelings and working out ways to adopt more constructive coping strategies. Counseling involves helping the child or teen develop a positive attitude to life, recognize his or her strengths and express themselves rather than making decisions for him or her and imposing beliefs and/or preaching.
Regardless of behavioral manifestation, all problematic behavior serves a function rooted in the youngster’s stressful relations with parents, siblings, peers, teachers, and even one’s self. Dr. Matloff seeks to help the child or teen directly or on their behalf in working with their parents to better adapt and restore a healthier balance of meeting unfulfilled needs. It is not necessarily what is “wrong” with the youngster, but it concerns more with the surrounding conditions that are influencing his or her maladaptive ways of coping. It is the goal for all who participate in counseling to examine the role they play, whether they might be a part of the solution or part of the problem for a more comprehensive approach to problem resolution that enables the youngster to cope better with his or her emotions and feelings.
Assessment
A psychological evaluation involves a series of assessment procedures specifically designed to obtain information about an individual’s learning, behavior, and/or mental health functioning. Dr. Matloff provides comprehensive evaluations for a multitude of psychological issues and concerns:
- Learning difficulties for elementary, middle, and high school age children and teens, as well as college age students
- Giftedness and the need for enhanced academic enrichment
- Developmental delays most often attributed to an Intellectual Disability (InD), an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or some other medical or genetic condition
- Social/Behavioral disorders including an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), or Conduct Disorder (CD)
- Emotional/Behavioral disorders including concerns related to depression, anxiety, or another psychiatric conflict
- Learning accommodation needs for the college age student with a learning, behavior, and/or mental health disorder
- As required for work related testing accommodation needs for adults with a learning, behavior, and/or mental health disorder
- Personality Inventory and Vocational & Career Interest Survey for college admissions counseling purposes
- As required to assess the social and emotional stability of prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt a child.
Testing is an individualized process that might encompass any of the following: the assessment of one’s intellectual functioning, academic achievement, executive functioning including attention and memory, social and adaptive functioning, and personality and behavioral functioning. Evaluation results are detailed in a thorough report with relatable recommendations that address an individual’s strengths and weaknesses.
Test results might provide diagnostic clarity with the potential for further consideration for special education eligibility by the child’s school relative to the following classifications: Specific Learning Disorder (SLD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Intellectual Disability (InD), Emotional/Behavioral Disorder (EBD), Other Health Impaired (OHI) relative to ADHD or other medically related conditions, and Gifted. As final eligibility decisions are resolved by the school’s multidisciplinary committee, in which the parent(s) and school’s resident psychologist are part of the committee, the psychological report will provide relevant information and recommendations to assist with any such determination.
