Loving
Psychological Services, L.L.C.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How can I make a referral for an evaluation or speak with someone about your services?
- Simply call or email us (see our Office & Contacts page). Our practice manager or one of our psychologists will ask a few questions to make sure we understand your situation & your evaluation needs. We will answer any questions you have about scheduling, cost, reports, privacy, coordination with other parties, etc.
- LPS is a contracted provider for NJ Division of Child Protection & Permanency, & our evaluators are in the provider database used by the Office of Parental Representation & Office of the Law Guardian. If you are case manager, attorney, or related staff, we are available to provide services to you.
- If you are a person involved in a court matter, seeking an evaluation, we are happy to speak with you, discuss the situation, & decide if we can help. However, if you have an attorney or DCP&P case manager, we will also need to speak with him/her before agreeing to any evaluation arrangements. This is so we can be sure we are providing exactly what is court-ordered.
Do you provide evaluations for people who are not involved with the courts?
- Absolutely. Most of our current work happens to be with court-involved people or families, but all of our evaluators have extensive clinical experience working with people in other situations. Call or email us to discuss specific needs, arrangements, scheduling, & costs.
Do you offer psychotherapy/counseling?
- No. All of our psychologists have been therapists at other settings in the past, but at LPS, our main emphasis is on providing psychological evaluation & consultation services. If you are uncertain whether you need treament vs. an evaluation, we'll be happy to discuss the situation with you & help if we can.
Do you provide custody evaluations?
- No, we do not offer custody or time-sharing evaluations. However, we do offer evaluations that are sometimes needed within a matrimonial/divorce/custody matter. As examples, we are routinely hired to provide (1) psychological evaluations or specialized risk assessments of parents to help determine if they can safely resume unsupervised parenting time; also (2) bonding evaluations to help the Court determine whether someone should be designated a child's psychological parent. In these cases, we address these more specific issues but stop short of making specific custody or time-sharing recommendations.
I have been referred for a "forensic" evaluation. What does this mean?
- Forensic work is any professional service being done to assist or give specialized input to the court (that is, a judge &/or jury). So, most of our evaluations are considered forensic evaluations.
I have never been involved in a psychological (or other) evaluation. What can I expect?
- This answer depends on your specific evaluation & needs. Typically, our psychological evaluations are completed in a single 3-hour session, but it is also possible to break the evaluation into shorter sessions. Evaluations usually include a lengthy interview with you (possibly with other involved people, such as a relative, case manager, or therapist; depending on your situation & with appropriate permissions). Evaluations also usually include psychological testing, which again varies depending on your situation (for example, intelligence testing, if relevant; questionnaires to help us collect more a detailed understanding of your symptoms or specific topics such as parenting experiences; other hands-on testing that helps us understand your way of seeing the world, problem-solving, & so on). Some evaluations include family observations or joint interviews. For court-involved cases, evaluations always include a review of professional records. Contact us if you have more specific questions or scheduling needs.
Why is my evaluation appointment so long?
- Our psychological evaluations are typically scheduled to last 3 hours for adults, a bit shorter for children & adolescents. Parenting capacity evaluations are typically 4-5 hours (see the next Q&A for details). Same as discussed in the previous Q&A, please know we are willing to work with any concerns or scheduling issues you have. It is sometimes possible to break an evaluation into two shorter sessions, but without that request, we assume that you would prefer to come to our office just once & complete everything on one day. Because our sessions are so long, we offer & encourage some short breaks. We also welcome you to bring a snack, a bag lunch, etc., to make your time with us as comfortable as possible.
What is a parenting capacity evaluation, & how is it different than a psychological evaluation?
- Court-involved parents are often referred for evaluations to help understand a specific problem, to assess risk in some area, or to help with case planning. As we see it, most Family Court referral questions can be addressed with a psychological evaluation (that is, a single session that includes interviewing, testing, & review of records). A parenting capacity evaluation is essentially a psychological evaluation that also includes a parent-child observation session & more in-depth assessment of hands-on parenting issues (for example, child management difficulties, parent-child relationship problems). At LPS, both types of evaluations are usually scheduled to take place on a single day, but parenting capacity evaluations are longer (for example, 3 hours for the parent to complete interviewing & testing, a short break, then the child arrives for a 1-hour parent-child observation session).
My child & I have been referred to a bonding evaluation. What is this & what can I expect?
- In family court cases, children are sometimes referred to a bonding evaluation with a parent, caregiver, sibling, or relative interested in adopting. Children are sometimes referred to a series of bonding evaluations (for example, one with each parent, also one with caregivers who are willing to adopt if parental rights are terminated). The purpose of a bonding evaluation can vary, but it is usually to understand the strength & quality of the child's emotional attachment to the adult. If you are attending a bonding evaluation with a young child, you can expect a 1-hour appointment that is structured to be essentially a "visit," as we ask you to spend time playing, talking, snacking, or doing whatever else might be natural. Our office includes a play area, but you are also welcome to bring toys, snacks, etc. During the session, our psychologist will be in the room, observing to see how the child responds to you: Does she seem familiar, comfortable, & close with you? Some of the session will also include interviewing, which is very often even more important & useful than the observation. The psychologist will want to know how long the child has been living with you, how she interacts during your day-to-day life, what concerns you have, & other detailed information that can help us understand her attachment experiences. Depending on the child's age, verbal abilities, & comfort level, the psychologist may includes some limited one-on-one interviewing with her.
For our bonding evaluation, how can a one-hour observation tell you anything meaningful about my child's attachment to me? Isn't this too artificial and too limited to be meaningful?
- This is a common question, & we completely agree with the concern. As we see it, the observation session is nothing more than a one-time "behavior sample." Sometimes the session is incredibly useful, but honestly, sometimes it is not a good reflection of a child's real-world behavior or family interactions. This is why we also value background information that we collect from interviewing & from professional records. For example, for parents who are separated from their children but visit on a regular basis, we typically collect several weeks or months of visitation observation records. By collecting that type of outside information, we attempt to place our one-time observation into a longer-range, real-world context. We hope that your observation is as natural & comfortable as possible, so we welcome you to bring play supplies, snacks, etc., to the session.
After I attend an evaluation, can I receive a copy of the report?
- Evaluations are usually summarized in a written report, which is provided to you &/or to the professionals who have referred you. For clinical (non-court-involved) evaluations, we typically provide the report directly to you & arrange a feedback session to discuss the evaluation findings. For court-involved cases, the arrangements are usually more complicated, because often we are only allowed to provide the report to the specific attorney or agency who has hired us. We write every report with the expectation that you will read it, but we often are not allowed to provide it to you or any party except the referring person/office. Because every case is different, we make a point of discussing these arrangements at the start of your session (or at the time you first contact us to request an evaluation, if necessary).
Do you accept medical insurance?
- No, unfortunately we do not. In fact, most of our work is court-involved, instead of being provided for treatment purposes, and generally insurance providers do not cover forensic services.