Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 46 - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS › Part LXIII - Psychologists › Subpart 1 - General Provisions › Chapter 3 - Training and Credentials › Section LXIII-307 - Clinical Neuropsychology

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A.
				  Statement of Purpose. As each of the other specialty areas of psychology such
				  as clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, and
				  industrial-organizational psychology typically have their own clearly defined
				  doctoral programs and curriculum, no separate guidelines beyond those
				  established by these programs are deemed necessary to declare these particular
				  specialty designations. Clinical neuropsychology has evolved into a specialty
				  area as defined by LAC 46:LXIII.Chapter 17 in that it has become identified as
				  having its own "history and tradition of service, research, and scholarship
				  (and) to have a body of knowledge and set of skills related to that knowledge
				  base, and which is discriminably different from other such specialties" (LAC
				  46:LXIII.1705.B). However, the evolution of clinical neuropsychology has cut
				  across several applied areas, most notably clinical, counseling, and school
				  psychology, resulting in the need for guidelines defining the minimal education
				  and training requirements necessary for specialization in this area of clinical
				  practice.
B. Definition of
				  Practice. As implied by the term, clinical neuropsychology involves the
				  application of both neurological and psychological knowledge and clinical
				  skills in the assessment, treatment or intervention with individuals with known
				  or suspected brain injury or disease.
1.
				  Clinical neuropsychology differs from the general cognitive, perceptual,
				  sensorimotor, intellectual or behavioral assessments of clinical, counseling,
				  school or industrial-organizational psychology. Its purpose is to make clinical
				  judgments regarding the functional integrity of the brain and of the specific
				  effects of known brain pathology based on assessment and analysis of these
				  functions.
2. Other psychologists,
				  licensed under this law (R.S.
				  37:2356) and possessing appropriate education
				  and training in the area of health care delivery, may also assess individuals
				  with known or suspected brain pathology for the purpose of defining levels of
				  academic or intellectual development; determining areas of relative strengths
				  or weaknesses in cognitive, perceptual or psychomotor skills; identifying and
				  categorizing behavioral or personality problems and their psychological
				  origins; and making differential psychiatric diagnoses.
3. Clinical neuropsychologists, however, have
				  as their purpose to assess and analyze cognitive, perceptual, sensorimotor and
				  behavioral functions in order to identify and isolate specific, elementary
				  neurobehavioral disturbances; differentiate neurological from possible
				  psychological, cultural or educational contributions to the observed deficits;
				  and finally, to clinically integrate this information into a neuroanatomically
				  and/or neuropathologically meaningful syndrome. These impressions are then
				  compared with the patient's known medical, psychiatric and neurological risk
				  factors and personal and behavioral history to arrive at a neuropsychological
				  diagnosis. Because of their appreciation of specific neurobehavioral deficits
				  and neurobehavioral syndromes in general, clinical neuropsychologists, as part
				  of the evaluation process, are also called upon to make specific
				  recommendations for the treatment and management of cognitive and
				  neurobehavioral deficits resulting from brain injury or disease.
4. Clinical neuropsychological intervention
				  includes, but is not limited to, developing strategies and techniques designed
				  to facilitate compensation for or recovery from these various organically
				  induced deficits based on the clinical neuropsychologist's understanding of
				  brain-behavior relationships and the underlying neuropathology. It is also
				  recognized that other psychologists, licensed under this law (R.S.
				  37:2356) and possessing appropriate education
				  and training in the area of health care delivery, may also provide traditional
				  psychotherapeutic intervention in assisting patients adjust to the emotional,
				  social or psychological consequences of brain injury.
5. These regulations recognize the
				  overlapping roles in certain aspects of clinical neuropsychological assessment
				  and intervention of other professionals, such as behavioral neurologists,
				  speech pathologists, and learning disability specialists, and are not meant to
				  constrain or limit the practice of those individuals as affirmatively set forth
				  in their relevant enabling statutes. These regulations are not meant to
				  constrain or limit the practice of licensed psychologists who through
				  education, training, and experience have acquired competence in the use of
				  psychological assessment instruments that measure various aspects of function
				  to include but not limited to general intelligence, complex attention,
				  executive function, learning and memory, language, perceptual motor and social
				  cognition.