Neuropsychology Central

[dgreenberg]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about postdoctoral training in neuropsychology. I'm currently completing a PhD program in experimental psychology, with a focus on cognitive neuroscience. I'm looking for a postdoctoral program that will provide me with experience in neuropsychological testing. The catch is that I don't have a clinical degree. Do any postdoctoral programs provide experience and training in neuropsychological testing for people without a clinical background? If so, do they result in certification?

My ultimate goal is to be a researcher, but one who actually has experience with the neuropsychological tests used in research.

Thanks!

Dan

[laura]

fielding has a neuro respecialization program. the details are on the website. good luck, laura
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[danyounghan]

Hi Dan, great name!

In order to be a neuropsychologist, one has to be a licensed or licensure eligible as a clinical psychologist. As neuropsychology is a clinical subspecialty in mental health, all postdoc fellowships or residencies will be geared towards mentoring clinicians. So, in short, no, you can't. However, you CAN respecialize in clinical psychology. A lot of professional psychology schools offer APA accredited programs in respecialization. It's usually anywhere from 2~3 years and most will get you to be eligible for state licensure as a clinical psychologist. As for specializing in neuropsychology, it really has to begin at the predoc level as per Houston Conference guidelines (suggest you look it up). So, the loophole is to respecialize in clinical psychology and then do practica in neuropsychology and get the internship and on later. With your primary PhD in experimental psych with cog neurosci twist, it would be your advantage. The drawback is that, you would have to go through some long long hours of going back to school. So, neuropsychologists are ultimately *clinicians* with research implementations.

As for your ultimate goal, many people just do research in neuropsychology who are not neuropsychologists. So, you can skip the entire process and just do what you love to do. Hell, at the end of the day, all neuro-somethings are interdisciplinary anyway.

Hope this helps! Good luck.
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