Psych evaluations
What to look for in a psych evaluator
My experience conducting BioPsychoSocial (fancy word for intake) assessments may seem routine in my field; however, the depth at which I go through my intake assessments has allowed me to understand the various systems that impact client presentation.
You want someone who is trauma-informed because trauma therapists are trained to hear, if you will, traumatic experiences that may not stick out to others.
While the goal here is not necessarily to treat but to evaluate, having a specialization in trauma-informed care will make the psych evaluation experience more tolerable and compassionate to the immigrant or refugee person undergoing this evaluation.
Why is that necessary?
Whether you are an attorney scoping out a good fit for your client or a person needing my services, you both have something in common: you need to access information held in a stored experience. Regardless of why you need this psych evaluation, a hardship waiver, or help with a VAWA or Asylum case, you must discuss challenging experiences. What I mean by a stored experience is an experience that your brain may be doing an excellent job trying to suppress to protect you. This is probably why, when asked about your experience, you talk about it like you’re telling someone about your lunch that day.
I can tell you that the brain is fascinating, designed to keep you functioning from day to day, desperately trying to cope. This is why you may have recurring nightmares about what has led you to ask for asylum or why, until this moment, you have not even thought about how harrowing your experience indeed was. The human mind has more than one way to deal and cope with emotions and experiences, a trained trauma therapist can help you understand and more importantly explain why this happens.
A trained trauma therapist will not only help you or your client discuss these difficult situations but also do so in a way that does not leave you or your client uncomfortable after the psychological evaluation. A trained trauma therapist conducting a psych eval can incorporate calming and grounding techniques throughout the interview to manage the process of talking about the challenging experience. This behooves both the client and attorney because the safer a person feels, the more likely they are to speak.
Please note
As a licensed professional counselor (LPC), I cannot conduct evaluations or sign off on an N-648 form; you will need a psychologist. To find a psychologist (someone with “Dr.” in front of their name or PhD/PsyD at the end of their name), you can look at the Immigration Evaluation Directory or the Immigration Psych Eval Directory. You can search by state. An N-648 form will not be valid unless a psychologist has conducted and signed off on this evaluation; please be cautious of providers who are not licensed psychologists who agree to do this form for you; it will likely not be accepted by the courts.
My role as a psych evaluator here in CT is to help attorneys establish credibility for the applicant of Asylum, VAWA, and hardship waivers. Because of my experience working with relational trauma and my subspecialty of working with dissociative disorders and Intimate Partner/Domestic Violence, I will be a better fit for VAWA, Hardship waivers, and Asylum cases. I want to emphasize that I am open to T & U visa applicants who need an evaluation. However, my ethics taught me to be transparent about my scope of competency. I am still undergoing training on how to support best individuals applying for the latter visas.
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If you are a client, follow the prompts on the Contact Page linked below
Pro/Low Bono
$800
Psychological Interview:
8 hours
2 separate 4-hour interviews
Court Appearance
Pro Bono
Free
Full Fee
$250/hr
Psychological Interview:
8 hours
2 separate 4-hour interviews
Court Appearance
Expedited
$400/hr
Psychological interview:
8 hours
2 Separate 4-hour interviews within the same week.
Court Appearance
Estimated based on the hours dedicated to expedite the evaluation.
Turn around time for psych evaluations are 2-3 weeks.
Q & A
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What is Pro Bono?
My pro bono spots are reserved for clients who have extraneous circumstances that render them incapable of paying for a psychological evaluation due to lack of financial resources.
What is your turn around time?
2-3 weeks
Who is considered eligible?
Immigrants or refugees who are physically disabled and unable to work.
Children and adolescents sent to the United States alone have no parent or guardian to provide financial resources.
What is offered to a pro bono client?
The same service and quality evaluation offered to clients who are paying full fee.
Why?
Because my practice believes in equity and that everyone deserves a chance to obtain quality service regardless of their race, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Why isn’t everyone pro bono?
Psychological evaluations require a significant amount of my practice’s time and resources. Every hour dedicated to a pro bono case is one that is not generating revenue to my small, one woman practice. To make offering pro bono sustainable to the community and my practice, I must also be strategic about who meets eligibility criteria so that I can offer services to the community on a whole. Psychological evaluations are just a portion of the services I provide at my practice.
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What is “Low Bono”
Low bono is a compromise between pro bono and full fee. It is the awareness that there will be cases where a client would be financially devastated by paying what a full psychological evaluation costs.
What is your turn around time?
2-3 weeks
Who is considered eligible?
Immigrant or refugee families in which more than one person is at risk of deportation.
What is offered to a low-bono client?
I offer the same service and quality evaluation to clients who pay the full fee. The only difference is that I include one court appearance. Any additional court appearances that are required of me will be at a rate of $200.
Why?
Because my practice believes in equity and that everyone deserves a chance to obtain quality service regardless of race, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Why isn’t everyone low bono?
Psychological evaluations require a significant amount of my practice’s time and resources. I offer low-bono services as a compromise and a further attempt to make quality services accessible to the community. I believe that we can only consistently live within our means; overextending my resources would not allow me to consistently give back to the community.
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What is full fee?
A client who pays the full fee is paying for the hours it takes to conduct a psychological evaluation, the time it takes to collaborate with attorneys, provide assessments, and the time it takes to create a well-written document that will be presented to the judge presiding over your case. This document typically is no less than 10 pages and requires much of my time to create outside of the psychological interview time.
What is your turn around time?
2-3 weeks
Who is considered eligible?
An employed/working individual.
Firms.
Organizations.
I realize that even a working individual encounters financial hardship, especially in this economy. It may seem unfair that a full-fee and a pro/low-bono client are given the same services. However, consider that there are other people in your exact circumstance and predicament who cannot rely on a loved one, a big firm willing to do pro bono work, or having an income for all sorts of reasons that are outside of their control.
You are being asked to pay in full because you have resources that your fellow community member does not. Please note that I do offer payment plans.
Why are continuances not included?
Similar to how you have to ask for the day off to go to court, I do, too, in a sense. To dedicate time to your case on the day of your merit hearing, I must cancel my clients for the day.
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What is an expedited evaluation?
I had to conduct an expedited evaluation under time constraints that were out of my control. This required me to dedicate my time and resources to focus on your case.
Why is it more than the full fee?
Unfortunately, due to the likelihood that I will have to conduct the evaluation within a shorter time frame, this will require dedication to your case that is otherwise divided equally among all of my clients. It will also require additional resources dedicated to creating the report that will be given to your attorney and presiding judge.
What is your turn around time?
Within the time frame that you need the evaluation.
Why are court appearances and continuances not included?
Similar to how you have to ask for the day off to go to court, I do, too, in a sense. To dedicate time to your case on the day of your merit hearing, I must cancel my clients for the day. Some cases require my appearance for whatever reason the judge and attorney deem necessary; this is to aid in your case.
How do I know you will not take advantage of your hourly time?
That is an excellent question, and you should hold me and anybody you are paying accountable for it. I realize that I am not asking for a small amount, so I believe in transparency and integrity. This means that when you retain me for services, I let you know that you should expect my report within the time frame given to me by your attorney to provide them with time to review the report and ask for clarification if needed so that I can give that quality document to your presiding judge on the day of your hearing.