Worker’s Comp + MH Disability Assessments

Question: What is a Worker’s Compensation psychological evaluation?

Answer: In Worker’s Compensation cases, the main issue is causality. The psychological evaluation seeks to determine if a person’s employment caused- or greatly contributed to- their injury. The injury might be physical, psychological or both. The evaluation assesses whether psychological damage resulted from the injury and, if so, to what extent.

Question: What happens in a Worker’s Compensation psychological evaluation?

  • In-person interview(s) with employee.
  • Psychological testing with employee.
  • Complete review of all work activities.
  • Information gathering (medical records; employment records; etc.)

Question: What is a Mental Health Disability evaluation?

Answer: Disability insurance provides benefits to an eligible person whose ability to work is made difficult by physical or mental impairment. The impairment does not need to be related to the work setting since the main issue in disability evaluations is ‘functional capacity’. Roughly, functional capacity is one’s ability to operate effectively in a variety of activities and settings.

Question: What happens in a Mental Health Disability evaluation?

Answer: In-person interview(s) with disability claimant.

  • Interview(s) with collateral sources, as needed.
  • Psychological testing with claimant.
  • Complete review of all current or previous work activities.
  • Information gathering (medical records; employment records; et

Question: Can neuropsychological testing help detect Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?

Answer:Yes. In fact, sometimes neuropsychological testing is the ONLY way to detect Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). In the time following a suspected head injury, the person will often receive a CT scan or MRI, the MRI being the more ‘sensitive’ of the two scans. However, because the injury to the brain might be microscopic, even MRI will be powerless to detect legitimate injuries in a patient with TBI. (See https://www.asnr.org/patientinfo/conditions/tbi.shtml.) Neuropsychological testing, therefore, is used to detect significant changes in the person’s cognitive and behavioral functioning. Gale Forensic Psychology offers neuropsychological testing unavailable through most other sources.