Clinical Neuropsychology

George Michael Cuesta, PhD is a Board Certified Clinical Psychologist / Neuropsychologist practicing at the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains (Westchester County), New York.

What is Clinical Neuropsychology? Clinical neuropsychology is a speciality of psychology that focuses on the study of brain-behavior relationships. Clinical Neuropsychologists evaluate and treat patients with brain injury and neurocognitive impairments.

Brain Injuries, or traumatic brain injury (TBI), also called intracranial injury, or simply head injury, take place when a sudden trauma causes brain damage. Brain injuries can be the effect from a closed head injury or a penetrating head injury and is one of two subsets of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). The other subset is non-traumatic brain injury (i.e. stroke, meningitis, anoxia). Parts of the brain that can be damaged include the cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum, and brain stem . Symptoms of brain injury can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the extent of brain damage.

Clinical neuropsychologists such as Board Certified Psychologist, George Michael Cuesta, PhD,  are involved in conducting neuropsychological assessments to assess a person's cognitive skills and behavioral functioning after a brain injury. This may be for the purposes of planning treatments, to determine someone's neurocognitive functioning or mental capacity (often done for presentation as evidence in court cases or legal proceedings) or to detect changes over time.

How do clinical neuropsychologists help patients? A clinical neuropsychologist treats people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) such as stroke and aneurysm ruptures, brain tumours, epilepsy/seizure disorders, dementias, mental illnesses (e.g. schizophrenia), and a wide range of developmental disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, autism and Tourette's syndrome.

A clinical neuropsychologists' formative training  includes evaluation and assessment of cognitive impairments, cognitive remediation, behavioral management, and  methods of psychotherapy and counseling related to assisting patients with coping and adjustment to their injuries. Clinical neuropsychologists also provide therapeutic services and treatments to patients in need of education and emotional support concerning their neurological injuries or illness.

More information pertaining to clinical neuropsychology can be found here:

Neuropsychology Central
http://www.neuropsychologycentral.com

American Psychological Association
http://www.div40.org 

The American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology
http://www.theabcn.org

Feel free to contact George Michael Cuesta, PhD  at the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains (Westchester County), New York to schedule an appointment to diagnosis or treat your brain injury.