Thrive, From The Inside Out
Laurie Darling, Ph.D.
New Orleans, LA
Customized psychological assessment and treatment to identify barriers, overcome obstacles, and gain tools to be healthier, happier, and more successful
For prospective new clients or patients, please let us know if you are inquiring about an evaluation and/or therapy, primary concerns (e.g., anxiety, ADHD), and insurance info (e.g., BCBS, United), as well as any other helpful info to relay (e.g., best available times to reach out, referral source, etc.).
Services
Child Assessment
Get answers about your child’s learning and development with a plan to help your child thrive
Adult Assessment
Get clarity and understanding so you can move forward and reach your goals
Adult Consultation
Get guidance with brief, solution-focused visits to get unstuck and move forward
Adult Therapy
Get tools and strategies to improve thoughts, mood, and behavior to be your best self
Christian Therapy
Get resources to think and feel healthier, while deepening your faith and relationship with God
What Is Assessment?
Psychological assessment involves the evaluation of many areas of human cognition, learning, emotion, and behavior, including attention, executive functions, mood, language/communication, social/behavioral functioning, academic skills, and intellectual functioning. In this process, your areas of strength and weakness are able to be determined through scientifically-based and data-driven approaches. Ultimately, those findings are used to guide the development of a plan to help you remove obstacles, increase skills and daily functioning, and meet your goals in all areas of your life.
What Is Therapy?
Therapy is a collaborative experience designed to better understand barriers or difficulties in your life and ways to overcome them, feel better, and reach your potential. When you come in, the first one or two visits involves an initial interview including a thorough review of your concerns, personal background, and reasons/goals for treatment, often accompanied by brief assessment measures to provide additional clarity. Consultation is, by nature, a briefer and more topic-specific type of therapy. Whatever your needs, together we will develop a plan to map out the next best steps for you, including referrals for other services such as a medical evaluation or more specialized treatment.
What Is The Process?
It often takes people a while before they ultimately make the decision to come and seek help from a psychologist. You may try everything you know to do first, maybe putting off the visit because you don’t know how it would really help, because you’re afraid it might be a waste of time, or because of negative beliefs about what it means to seek that assistance. Whatever the reason, I want you to have as much information about the process as possible so you feel comfortable when you make the decision to come in.
1. Schedule an appointment
It is easy to schedule an appointment with me. You can call the office or request to schedule an initial appointment online. At that time, we will ask for your information (e.g., name and contact info, reason for the visit, insurance information). Then, we will determine if we can help you in our office, in which case we will schedule a visit, or if your needs may better be served by another professional, in which case we may point you in a better direction – we want you to find the best match!
2. Complete intake paperwork
We will ask you to complete our intake paperwork before coming for your initial appointment. This can be completed at your convenience online or printed and faxed to us, to make sure we have the most accurate information and save time when you come for the visit. Don’t hesitate to call or email us if you have any questions about the paperwork. Even though it may seem long, it allows us to be as thorough and thoughtful as possible in order to best serve you!
3. Come in for initial visit
The initial visit will include the clinical interview (which usually lasts about an hour) and sometimes includes testing, depending on your needs and insurance benefits. We understand you have a busy schedule and want to accommodate you as much as we possibly can. Please make sure you come 15 minutes early for your appointment so that we can get you checked in and ready to go!
4. Finish testing
If you didn’t complete your testing after our initial visit together, you will do so on a second day, usually within 1-2 weeks if your schedule allows. If you don’t need testing, as is the case with some consultation or therapy services, you will skip this step.
5. Come in for follow-up/feedback sessions
Most assessment services will end in a feedback session, where we review the results of testing, diagnostic impressions, and recommendations for treatment (the “plan of attack” as I like to call it!). By the end of that week, you will have a copy of your evaluation report, and we are happy to send a copy elsewhere at your request (e.g., school, physician). In the case of pre-surgical evaluations, the feedback session is optional and the report goes straight to the referring physician, usually within 5-7 business days of test completion. With adults, there is the possibility of following the assessment process with therapy if desired, where sessions are designed to work on collaboratively identified goals, with practice of strategies between visits.