Neuropsychologists in private practice - NSW

Here is a list of neuropsychologists in private practice in NSW. As usual, more would be better, so please send in your details for inclusion.

Zoë Thayer
Sydney Neuropsychology Services
zoet@ich.usyd.edu.au
0404 305 560
(02) 9515 7837

Clients:

• Brain injury
• Geriatric populations
• Assessments for the Defence forces
• D.V.A. assessments
• Memory rehabilitation

Clare Dickson
NSW/Victoria Border region
clare1dickson@gmail.com
0438 278 629

Clients:

• Brain Injury
• Geriatric populations
• Neurology referrals 
• Children and Adults

Dr Mark Sabaz
0411 291 375
msabaz@brainassessment.com.au
PO Box 13
Erskinevelle NSW 2043

Clients:

• TBI
• medico-legal
• lifetime care + support (NSW)
• Demential assessments in intellectual disability population

Wayne Reid
Sydney
0417 217 065
wyjreid@bigpond.com.au

Clients:

• Adults and Children - neuropsychology assessments
• Forensic
• Geriatrics
• Medico-legal

Corinne Roberts
Sydney based, but available for rural consults
0409 429 113
cbtcentre@bigpond.com

Clients:

• Adult, Geriatric clinical neuropsychology including capacity
• Medicolegal
• Forensic
• Counselling re. rehab, adjustment, problem-solving

Ilana Hepner
0412 550 277
ihepner@internode.on.net

Clients:

• Adults and geriatric
• medicolegal, forensic and clinical neuropsychology

cheers,
Izabela

Neuropsychologists in private practice - Tasmania

Here is a list of private practicing neuropsychologists from Tasmania. Any more names?

Neuropsychology Tasmania
Janine Martin
Clive Skilbeck
Hobart
janine@neuropsychtas.com.au
clive@neuropsychtas.com.au
03 0286 7729
www.neuropsychtas.com.au

Clients:

• Children
• Adolescents
• Adults
• Older Adults
• TBI, stroke, MS, tumour, dementia
• assessment and rehabilitation services (cognitive, psychological, behavioural)

cheers,

Izabela

Neuropsychologists in Private Practice - Queensland

This entry is listing contact details of private practicing neuropsychologists in Queensland.  If you practice in Queensland and your details are not here, please let me know, and I'll add you to this entry. We need more names here!

Marnie Cumner
Suite 4, 6 Bottlebrush Avenue
Noosa Heads, Qld 4567
marnie.cumner@gmail.com
0423 176 895

Interests:

• Paediatrics
• ASD in kids, & adults, especially intervention
• Child & adolescent mental health

Debbie Anderson
Suite 20, 1st Floor, Silverton Place
1010 Wickham Terrace
Brisbane
debbie@wtpc.com.au
(07) 3832 3591

Main work:

• medicolegal personal injuries
• competency assessment
• general neuropsychological assessment

cheers,
Izabela

Neuropsychologists in Private Practice - Western Australia

This entry is listing contact details of private practicing neuropsychologists in Western Australia. Or, in fact it is only listing one private practicing neuropsychologist. I am sure there is more! If you practice in Western Australia and your details are not here, please let me know, and I'll add you to this entry.

Pascalle Bosboom

Perth

0432 585 216

pbosboom@ppcgroup.com.au

Interests: 

• adults and older adults
• broad range of neuropsychological services

cheers,
Izabela

Neuropsychologists in Private Practice - ACT

As I mentioned before, we don't really have an mechanism for finding out about other private practicing neuropsychologists in our area. So, at the CCN Conference Private Practice Forum, we shared our details to be published on this blog, and, in the future, compiled into a directory. Today is the first instalment of contact details, starting with Australian Capital Territory. If you practice in or close to ACT and your details are not here, please let me know, and I'll add you to this entry.

Ursula Johns
Canberra
ursulajoh@hotmail.com
ph: 0403 916 671
Population: adult community neuropsychology

Judy Buchholz
Simply Psychology (ACT)
ph: 0404 370 572
email: judy@simpsyc.com
Private rooms in Tuggeranong ACT
Areas of interest:

• Geriatrics
• Learning disabilities
• TBI/ABI
• Behaviour management
• Clinical counselling and therapy
• Neuropsychological assessment

cheers,
Izabela

Acquired Brain Injury and Intellectual Disability and Prison

The other day I met with Lachlan Dunrick in Port Philip Prison. He is a Prison Services Coordinator of the DHS and is organising services for intellectually disabled and brain injured prisoners in Victoria. A very interesting meeting, and I thought I'd share the information on the blog.

First of all, he made me aware of a research paper on acquired brain injury in the Victorian prison system (available on the internet here). A nice study, screening prisoners who entered the system and then confirming the possibility of brain damage with a full neuropsychological assessment. The study found that 42% of males and 33% of females entering the prison system had an acquired brain injury. These numbers may be an underestimation, because only 75% of all male and 58% of female prisoners entering the system agreed to participate in the study.

Also, I found out that there is a separate unit for brain injured and intellectually disabled prisoners at Port Phillip Prison. The prisoners have to need a bit of extra care and to agree to participate in the services. The unit is much nicer than the rest of the prison - with flower beds and quite a bit of greenery, and the prisoners work in a small horticultural area in the unit rather than working in the prison factory with the mainstream prisoners. The prisoners who receive the disability services (in the unit or outside) are also helped to obtain appropriate help upon release from prison.

Lachlan pointed me to the Service Access Policy of the DHS (available here). It has a nice definition of disability due to an acquired brain injury, which may be worthwhile to consider in our reports when we are recommending services. Lachlan hoped that we can address this definition in our reports, which would make determining whether the person can access services somewhat easier.

So, disability is:

A sensory, physical or neurological impairment or acquired brain injury or any combination thereof, which

• is likely to be permanent, and
• causes a substantially reduced capacity in at least one of the areas of self care, self management, mobility or communication, and 
• requires significant ongoing or long term episodic support, and
• is not related to ageing, or

An intellectual disability, or

A developmental delay.

He also agreed to me putting up his details on the blog and was happy for neuropsychologists to contact him if they needed some information. His details are:

Lachlan Durinck
Prison Services Coordinator
Disability Forensic Assessment & Treatment Service
Department of Human Services
Ph. 9217 7200 (ext 306) & 9280 2730
Lachlan.Durinck@dhs.vic.gov.au

cheers,

Izabela

Apologies for a long silence. I veered close to burnout and didn't feel like writing much. Holidays helped, even though I only got out into the country overnight (was supposed to be away for two days, but on Monday morning I got a phone call asking about a report that I promised for Tuesday. Back to the desk I went).

I have since talked with two other neuropsychologists working in private practice and it seems that regular holidays are the best antidote to burnout. I marked a week in mid-November for a bit of a break.

Any other suggestions re. burnout busters? I'll be grateful for any advice, apart from exercise, which is against my religion. 

--

Another private practicing neuropsychologist:

Contact Details:

Mary Fitzgerald
M Psych (Clin Neuropsych), APS
Associate member College of Clinical Neuropsychologists
Member College of Counselling Psychologists
Endorsed in Counselling Psychology
Supervisor
107 Droop St
Footscray 3011
9687 0700 
giverny107@hotmail.com

Region:
Western region of Melbourne

Type of clients most frequently seen
General counselling
ABI counselling

Preferred clients
Paediatric neuropsychological and educational assessments

Part time : Four days
 

cheers,

Izabela

Working in vacuum - is anybody there?

I have recently had an interesting experience. I got a file on a new client that included a neuropsychology report. The Neuropsychologist saw the client in a nearby magistrates court, suggesting that she practices nearby. But I have never heard her name before.

Being naturally curious, I called the number on the letterhead and found out that she has been practicing for the last three years in the same region of Melbourne and with the same client group as I have. Yet this was the first time our paths crossed.

We met for a coffee and had a great chat, both pleasant and oh-so-useful for collecting these precious peer supervision hours. We exchanged information and practice tricks.

---
This experience makes me realise that in private practice we often lack information about other practitioners. And having that information can be so very useful: passing referrals on, holiday cover, renting tests, peer supervision, etc.

I am not worried about competition: a long time ago, when I was starting my first private practice, I was told by a wise psychologist (whom I visited to make sure that I don't unwittingly muscle in on her area) that each of us develops their own referral networks and that there is very little competition out there. This has definitively been my experience. The fact that I have practiced for several years in complete parallel with another neuropsychologist just underlines this fact.

So, I that that it would be worth compiling a brief directory of private practitioners: send me some information, and I'll post it on the blog. When there is enough of us, I'll create a separate document with practices sorted by regions.

I'll start with myself:

Contact Details:
Izabela Walters
Clinical Neuropsychologist, MA, MAPS
Member of the College of Clinical Neuropsychologists
(I have just found out that saying CCN or MCCN is not allowed, we have to write it out in full)
107 Droop Street
Footscray 3011
0407 866 579
iwalters@lawandbrain.com
www.lawandbrain.com

Region:
Western suburbs of Melbourne, can travel to country Victoria (or interstate if somebody would pay me)

Type of clients most frequently seen:
Medico-legal and forensic assessments

Preferred clients:
Personal injury assessments, preferably adults

Full time/part time
Full time in private practice

Here are also details of my newly discovered colleague:

Contact Details
Dr Linda Borg
Neuropsychology Services

0407 827 356

lindaborg@ymail.com

Region:

Western suburbs of Melbourne, performs assessments mostly in courts or on Legal Aid premises

Type of clients most frequently seen:

Forensic assessments

Preferred clients:

Linda, let me know who your dream clients are

Full time/part time

2-3 days in private practice

---

Please email me on izawalters@gmail.com (or the email address above) if you would like to put your details in the blog. The section preferred clients is for you to let us know which kind of clients you'd like to see more of. You never know - we may oblige.

cheers,

Izabela

Legal Matters - permanent stay in criminal proceedings

I have recently came upon a completely new reason for a neuropsychological assessment - an  application for a permanent stay in criminal proceedings. This apparently happens when there is a long delay between the alleged offence and the trial. We are talking quite a few decades, usually.

As the accused is usually quite elderly at this point, one of the important arguments lawyers use is the inadequate mental capacity of the accused to cope with the trial and to remember the circumstances of the matters alleged against him.

Interestingly there is a precedent (case of Littler), that says that the person does not have to have an impairment compared to age peers. They just need to experience a substantial difficulty, which can be entirely due to age.

That is an unusual twist to our usual assessments. I ended up comparing the person first to age peers, and then, in a separate results section, to an average younger adult. Fortunately, the patterns of results made the conclusion not too tricky, with no marked impairment in either case.

I'd be interested in how others would approach this assessment.

Cheers,
Izabela

Legal Matters - Fitness to stand trial

From time to time, I will be posting about legal matters. Please be aware that these posts reflect my understanding of the material and are not a formal legal advice! If you don't agree with my facts, opinions and interpretations, please post a comment!

To start with - the biggie - fitness to stand trial.

This issue impacts directly into ethical obligations of the legal profession. If there is a question of somebody being unfit to stand trial, it is unethical for the legal practitioners to proceed unless the matter is resolved. Therefore, be prepared that if you raise that issue, there will be a flurry of activity, questioning, requests for supplementary reports, etc. etc. Of course, it is unethical for us to avoid this question just because it will have an effect of throwing a stone into a beehive.


Anyway, memory problems do not make a person unfit to stand trial, and this is clearly said in the Act. There are 6 reasons a person may be unfit, and it is enough if only one of them is present. The reasons include:

- being unable to understand the nature of the charge
- being unable to enter a plea and exercise the right to challenge jurors or the jury
- being unable to understand the nature of the trial
- being unable to follow the course of the trial
- being unable to understand the substantial effect of any evidence that may be given in support of the prosecution
- being unable to give instruction to the legal practitioner.

The link to the actual Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 Act No 65/1997 is here. The bits of interest are: Part 2.6 and 2.7.

It is important to remember that intellectual disability alone is not usually considered to be enough to be unfit to stand trial.

Cheers,
Izabela

A practice-building seminar for psychologists

Patrick Lumbroso from PsychNiche is offering a 2-day intensive on marketing and practice development in Melbourne on 24th and 25h of March. For details go to the APS website:
http://www.psychology.org.au/Events/EventView.aspx?EventID=9054

I personally strongly recommend Patrick and his approach. I had individual mentoring sessions with him last year and they were a fantastic help in developing my practice. Consider going, and decide soon, as the early bird registration is much cheaper.

cheers,
Izabela

Protect your home address

Those of us that see clients for medico-legal reasons need to be fairly careful about their privacy. In particular, having a home address accessible through Yellow Pages or the internet is not a good idea.

Making your home phone number private costs $6 a month. Not much, but it adds up over a year. Transferring the phone onto your partner's name, or your maiden name for women is a cost-free option.

Don't forget your business name. If you have registered your business name, you had to provide your residential address, and that address is accessible by the public. You can sent a letter detailing the reasons why this is not a good idea. I have done so and the access to my address is restricted to a certain extent - I believe that to access it a person has to file a formal request, and that I will be informed if the access is granted.

Is anyone aware of any other ways in which a psychologists home address can be easily found?

Izabela

BAS reminder

Just a reminder - BAS is due on the 28th of February.
cheers,
Izabela

Attempts to get my life back - Part 1

As reported previously, my practice ate my life, and I decided to do something about.
This is a report of phase one of the project.

I have reclaimed my life!
Great.
I spent several weekends with my family - camping, having fun, going away.
I was around in the evening and improved The Kid's piano practice no end.


Pity about the practice...

While I am not overdue on any reports yet (this may change if I don't write two today), the pile has grown and started to topple.
The comming weekend has officially been assigned to report writing, and the next week looks like a desk-bound nightmare.

OK, the balancing act is not quite figured out.
Will report on Phase 2

Izabela

My practice ate my life

Last year, I got my practice to grow from 'hardly there' to a full-time salary earner. I also managed to distance myself from my family and to completely abandon any hobbies and fun.

My goal this year is to manage the same workload in less time and with less effort. I have been reading  time management books galore and trying to work out some systems and methods for spending less time in front of my computer. So far, my new year resolutions include:

- not looking at silly websites at my desk. I am still allowed to have fun on the internet, but have to use iPad to do it
- writing reports within the week I finish seeing the client (probably the best time saver, but oh-so-hard to actually do!)
- and getting my paperwork better organised.

I think I need more than that.

Do you have any systems, methods or tricks of keeping your private practice from taking over your life?

Feel free to leave a comment below this post or to write a post of your own. If you would like to publish a one-off post or become a regular contributor, just send me an email at IzaWalters@gmail.com and I'll set you up.

cheers,
Izabela

Peer supervision groups

I have just posted information about peer supervision groups on CCN website. The url is:

http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/GroupContent.aspx?ID=4132. This is one way of exchanging information, getting grounded and getting our peer supervision hours for registration.

There are two groups in NSW and Victoria, and one group each in South Australia, Tasmania, and Singapore.

 

They look good, but I'd love an interest group specifically related to private practice issues. And maybe one on medico-legal issues as well? Is there anybody who is willing to organise one? We could even run it as an online conference call using Skype. I would be happy to figure out the technical details, if there is somebody willing to set up the times, advertise and organise new members.

 

cheers,

Izabela

Organising myself

I have promised myself that I will clean my desk these holidays. I am maybe half-way through the reorganization, and have lost hope for a complete desk clean-up. But a huge mountain of paperwork got shifted and I am feeling very accomplished. The business side of things is now organised in the following folders:

1. Marketing - ('to do' and 'information')
3. Assessments - half a filing cabinet drawer, divided into 'follow up to do', '2 weeks ago clients', '1 week ago clients', 'this week', 'next week' and folders for 6 months ahead
4. Financial - ('to do', 'receipts', 'pending invoices' and 'paid invoices')
6. Admin - ('to do' and 'information')
8. Practice Improvement and PD -('to do' and 'information')



What are your ways of organizing business paperwork? Do you have a method that works? Or do you have an 'action' pile that threatens to topple over (also known as my filing system in 2011)?

Cheers,
Izabela