Our Approach, Our Services, Our Mission, and Our Fees Structure

Our Approach

We believe that a single test score is not sufficient to fully understand the complexity of a human’s brain processes. For example, two people can have the same test scores on a psychological test, but the origin of their challenges may be entirely different. Similarly, two people with the same diagnosis may have different presentations of symptoms, life experiences, neurodivergences, beliefs, and values. Only through individualized conceptualization and treatment plan can our clients truly understand their challenges, personal strengths, areas of concern, and qualities and personal traits that make them unique.

Our neuropsychological evaluations provide an in-depth window into the individual and how their brain functions—providing us with a nuanced understanding of childhood attachment and brain-behavior connection. These assessments can reveal a deep understanding about developmental and learning differences and other struggles experienced by children, teens, and young adults.

We analyze and interpret test results in the totality of our clients’ lived experiences so that we can help them and their families make sense of their struggles: how they are rooted, how they take shape over time, evolve into patterns across cognition, feelings and behavior, and how these patterns intertwine with neurodevelopment and learning differences.

At Beam, we draw from many sources. We use diagnostic tests, clinical observations, records review, developmental history, and comprehensive interviews to identify conditions such as autism, ADHD, anxiety, depression, OCD, as well as various psychological conditions and neurodevelopment and learning differences such as dyslexia and dyscalculia.

Simply put, we seek to help clients understand how their brain functions and how these processes influence how they think (cognition), what they do (behavior), and how they perceive their own bodily sensations and internal states (somatic awareness). We also investigate why our clients get stuck in repetitive patterns of perceiving themselves, others, or the world around them in ways that can spur cycles of sadness, anxiety, isolation, or low self-esteem. In sum, a neuropsychological assessment can help us to understand how our brains function in the following ways:

1. How a person learns and processes information.
2. How a person responds to situations or tasks (external stressors), social challenges (interpersonal stressors and conflicts), and emotional struggles (internal stressors).
3. How a person’s neurodevelopmental differences (i.e., how their brain differs from the
the narrow confines of social norms or expectations) such as autism or ADHD intersect with socio-emotional experiences and developmental or complex traumatic events that can further affect the way they think, act, feel, and/or perceive themselves.

Our Mission

At Beam Neuropsychology, we aim to uplift, encourage, build community, and give hope. We believe in a whole-child, attachment-based approach to assessment that affirms neurodiversity, provides diagnostic clarity, guides treatment planning, and supports the family system. We use psychoanalytically informed, insight-oriented case formulations that focus on social emotional and developmental needs, while also seeking to incorporate advances in biomedical research and evidence-based assessment and therapy practices. Our ultimate goal is to be able to attune to clients’ needs, understand their struggles, and celebrate their unique strengths.

Our Services

Neuropsychological Evaluations

We provide full, comprehensive neuropsychological assessments for children, teens, and young adults. These assessments identify learning disabilities as well as conditions such as autism, ADHD, anxiety, depression, OCD, and other mood or psychiatric concerns. Our neuropsychological assessments typically require two to four testing sessions (e.g., depending on sessions’ duration) to evaluate various cognitive domains including intellectual functioning, executive functions, language, social-emotional and behavioral functioning, learning and memory, academic achievement, attention, visuospatial reasoning, and fine motor and visual-motor integration.

A neuropsychological assessment comprises multiple steps:

• Parent/client developmental history intake form
• Initial clinical interview
• Referral question(s) to be determined
• School observation, upon client request, subject to scheduling availability
• Comprehensive testing, scoring, data analysis, and interpretation
• Self-report, caregiver, and/or teacher questionnaires and record review
• Any follow-up sessions, if needed, to examine findings related to the referral question(s) and help with diagnostic clarification
• Consultation or interview with your child’s therapist or other providers, if applicable
• A comprehensive report with one or more diagnoses, recommendations, resources guide, and treatment plan
• Final feedback session.

Autism and ADHD Assessments

We also provide more focused assessments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These single-session assessments are more limited in scope, designed for younger children who do not require (or would not be able to sustain) a full battery of psychological tests administered in an extended neuropsychological evaluation. These limited-scope assessments may also be appropriate for elementary school aged children who do not require, or who have already completed, a full neuropsychological evaluation previously but may need an additional ASD or ADHD evaluation for clarity around diagnosis and treatment. Limited-scope assessments typically require one testing session in addition to a parent/client interview. More details are provided below.

Unless they had a recent neuropsychological evaluation, we would not usually recommend single-session, limited-scope assessments for middle school aged children, adolescents, and young adults as it typically requires more testing and clinical analysis to complete their evaluations.

Parent Support

Support Groups

We offer ongoing parent support groups to help parents support their children (for example, parents whose child has recently been diagnosed with autism). We also offer parent therapy groups to help parents manage their own difficult feelings, thoughts, and stress. These parent groups are led by a licensed clinical psychologist and assisted by graduate-level psychology trainees.

Individual Support

Individual parent support sessions may be arranged depending on availability and scheduling.

Support for Children, Teens, and Young Adults

Support Groups

We offer ongoing therapy groups for children, teens, and young adults to help them process their feelings or thoughts. We offer two types of groups: one that is more open-ended, and another one that is more structured and focused on skills building. Open-ended groups provide a safe space for our clients to process and make sense of their emotional experience—where they can be heard, seen, and understood without feeling the need to mask their feelings or behaviors. We also have groups that are a mix of the two approaches (for example, a thematic art therapy group to teach CBT/DBT skills and help young people explore and express their feelings using art as a medium).

These groups are led by a licensed clinical psychologist and assisted by graduate-level psychology trainees.

Individual Support

Individual therapy sessions may also be arranged depending on availability and scheduling.

Our Fee Structure

Discounted, Fixed-Rate Fees Schedule*
(*Applicable to evaluations in which graduate trainees conduct testing and report writing under the supervision of a licensed psychologist)

Because Beam is a teaching clinic, most of our assessment services are offered at fixed, discounted rates when the testing and report writing are completed by graduate psychology trainees, all of whom are enrolled in highly reputable APA-accredited psychology schools.

These graduate-level trainees are under the direct supervision of a California-licensed clinical psychologist, and their work product—including assessment reports—are discussed, checked, reviewed, and approved by a licensed psychologist.

While trainees are not licensed psychologists and have not completed their doctorate degrees, many have specialized training or qualifications (e.g., ABA or BCBA, master’s degree in social work, and/or previous pediatric training).

In addition to working with the trainees, families/clients will also meet with the licensed clinical psychologist during the clinical interview and feedback, and at other times of the assessment, for example, to gather additional information, discuss concerns that have arisen, or circle back to the referral question.

Initial Free 30-Minute Consultation with Licensed Psychologist

Beam offers a free 30-minute consultation to learn about the prospective client and the referral question(s). This consultation also offers our prospective clients an opportunity to get to ask questions about the assessment process. After the initial consultation, our team at Beam will assess the referral questions and presenting concerns. If a case is considered by the attending clinical psychologist to be too complex or serious (e.g., previous hospitalization, history of serious self-harm, gender dysphoria, unresolved eating disorder, child abuse, sexual trauma, possible psychosis, bipolar disorder, etc.) after the initial consultation (or subsequently during the clinical interview with the parent/caregiver, child, or young adult) for a graduate trainee to handle under supervision, then the psychologist will communicate to the client that all or some of the interview and testing would be conducted by a licensed psychologist at the psychologist’s hourly rate. Please refer to the Exceptions to Discounted, Fixed-Rate Fees Structure, below. If a case is also considered not an appropriate referral to this clinic for other reasons (e.g., forensic or medical in nature), the attending psychologist will communicate this finding to a prospective client.

Neuropsychological Assessment conducted by our graduate psychological trainees under the supervision of a licensed psychologist: $4,000
(excluding school observations and IEP, 504, SST and other types of administrative meetings, hearings, depositions)

• Typically require two longer or three to four shorter test sessions, usually 3-5 hours each session.
• A school visit (in-person) or teacher interview (by phone) may be recommended by the psychologist. School observations may be arranged with the trainees, subject to schedule and availability. School observations, upon client’s request and conducted by a trainee, are charged at a flat rate of $100 per visit.*
• Feedback is provided in-person or via Zoom.

Autism Evaluation conducted by our graduate psychological trainees under the supervision of a licensed psychologist: $3,000

(Single-session, limited scope autism assessment conducted by a graduate-level trainee, without a full neuropsychological assessment of cognitive abilities, and excluding school observations and IEP, 504, SST and other types of administrative meetings, hearings, depositions)

• Typically require one test session, usually 3-4 hours for the session (including clinical interview). Parent/caregiver questionnaire(s) are usually provided prior to, or on the same day as, the evaluation.
• School observations are generally not needed for limited-scope evaluations; however, in some cases, a school visit (in-person) or teacher interview (by phone) may be recommended by the psychologist. School observations, if recommended by the supervising psychologist and conducted by a trainee, subject to schedule availability, are charged at a flat rate of $100 per visit.*
• Feedback is typically provided in-person (preferably) and on the same day of the evaluation, unless a school visit or teacher interview is required.

ADHD Evaluation conducted by our graduate psychological trainees under the supervision of a licensed psychologist: $3,000

(Single-session, limited scope ADHD assessment conducted by a graduate-level trainee, without a full neuropsychological assessment of cognitive abilities, and excluding school observations and IEP, 504, SST and other types of administrative meetings, hearings, depositions)

• Typically require one test session, usually 3-4 hours for the session (including clinical interview). Parent/caregiver questionnaires are usually provided prior to, or on the same day as, the evaluation.
• School observations are generally not needed for limited-scope evaluations; however, in some cases, a school visit (in-person) or teacher interview (by phone) may be recommended by the psychologist. School observations, if recommended by the supervising psychologist and conducted by a trainee, subject to schedule availability, are charged at a flat rate of $100 per visit.*
• Questionnaires completed by the client’s school teacher related to the client’s functioning would be given as a part of the assessment, in addition to parent/caregiver questionnaires and a self-report (if applicable).
• Feedback is provided in-person or via Zoom typically at a later date upon completion of all test data.

Please note that the purpose of any of our assessments is to perform a clinical neuropsychological (or limited-scope) evaluation and to make recommendations to the clients around accommodations application, treatment planning, or interdisciplinary care. Our evaluation is not intended for use in litigation procedures, such as administrative or other types of hearings, depositions, and court-related work.

*School observations and IEP, 504 Plan, or SST participation with a graduate trainee may be arranged at a flat fee of $100 per school visit OR school IEP, 504, or SST meeting.

Exceptions to Discounted, Fixed-Rate Fees Structure

In more complex cases where direct testing and/or diagnostic interview and follow-up sessions require the services of a licensed clinical psychologist, a discounted, fixed-rate assessment that is conducted by psychology trainees would not be appropriate (set forth in the Discounted, Fixed-Rate Fees Schedule above).

• We strive to work collaboratively with all families. Complex cases should be discussed at the onset as early as possible (upon referral and parent/client interview). If the complexity of a case, or serious circumstances thereof, are disclosed or otherwise come to our attention during the initial consultation or subsequent clinical interview with the parent/ caregiver or child such that a discounted, fixed-rate assessment (with the interview(s), testing and report writing to be completed by graduate trainees under the supervision of a licensed psychologist) would not be appropriate, then a Good Faith Estimate of additional involvement by a licensed psychologist will be provided to you along with a discussion on the reasons why testing, in-depth interview, and/or report writing should be performed by a licensed psychologist.
• In those cases where some or all the testing, interviewing, and report writing need to be completed by a licensed clinical psychologist, then the psychologist’s rates and time estimate will be communicated to you in writing. While the team at Beam would like to provide the community with discounted cost, fixed fee evaluations (at the prices quoted above in the Discounted, Fixed-Rate Fees Schedule), there are cases of complex and serious nature that require a licensed psychologist to complete the assessments.

College Corner

Beam will be launching remote accommodations testing, via a HIPAA compliant online platform, for high school or college students who cannot attend in-person assessment. More details will follow!