Neuropsychological Testing in Los Angeles, CA
Have you been wondering why you find focusing so hard, even when you’re trying your best? Or why your child seems bright but struggles in school? Or maybe why, despite therapy or effort, things still feel stuck?
If you’re asking these questions, you’re not imagining things, and you might be ready for some answers.
At GGPA, our neuropsychological testing in Los Angeles helps people of all ages understand how their brain works and how to get the support they need. If you’re seeking answers for yourself, your child, or someone you love, we offer a compassionate, data-informed process to help make sense of the struggle.
Our psychologists offer neuropsychological assessments for children, adolescents and adults. Our assessment services provide valuable clues into an individual’s overall mental health and functioning. Assessment offers in-depth diagnostic evaluation for conditions such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, anxiety, trauma and mood disorders, brain injury and disease.
Assessments are used to qualify for educational and testing accommodations, to develop individual education plans, employment evaluations and placements. They aid in medication management, treatment planning and progress monitoring, and can be used in various insurance, medical and legal cases.
What Is Neuropsychological Testing?
Neuropsychological testing is a specialized, evidence-based evaluation of how your brain functions. It explores areas like attention, memory, language, processing speed, emotional regulation, and executive functioning.
Rather than relying solely on conversation or observation, this approach gathers concrete data providing a comprehensive cognitive and psychological profile that can inform treatment, diagnosis, and support plans.
Unlike a typical therapy session, which might focus on emotions or relational patterns, this is a structured, integrative process designed to uncover how your mind operates under various tasks. From verbal reasoning and memory retention to behavioral patterns and learning styles, the assessment offers a holistic view of how your brain makes sense of the world.
These assessments don’t define you. They help you understand yourself better.
The clinical insights from this process can change everything, whether you’re seeking a diagnosis or just an explanation for your lived experience.
Who Is
Neuropsychological Testing For?
Neuropsychological testing is for anyone navigating confusion, self-doubt, or long-standing challenges that haven’t yet made sense.
Children may benefit from testing when they’re falling behind in school, not reaching developmental milestones, or struggling in ways that don’t match their effort or curiosity. Adolescents and college students often seek evaluations when attention, motivation, or executive function starts to interfere with academic success or emotional well-being.
Adults also come to us, some because they’re facing burnout or memory challenges, others because they’ve lived for years with an underlying sense that something has been overlooked or misunderstood.
For many, the desire for understanding grows from a quiet, persistent feeling that there’s more going on than others have recognized. You might be seeking confirmation of a suspected diagnosis like ADHD, autism, or a learning difference. You might want to understand why therapy has plateaued, or why it’s hard to stay organized or focused, no matter how hard you try.
Some people seek evaluations because they need documentation for accommodation: maybe an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), testing support for the SAT or LSAT, or legal recognition of a disability. Others come just for themselves for peace of mind, for language to describe their experience, or for a clearer path forward for themselves, their friends and their family.
Whatever your reasons, we’re here to meet you where you are with warmth, compassion, and no assumptions.
Why People Seek Testing
The reasons people seek neuropsychological testing are as varied as the people themselves. Some want to know why their child is struggling in school, while others are adults who’ve always sensed they were working twice as hard as everyone else just to keep up.
We see college students who suspect undiagnosed ADHD, or people who have experienced years of misdiagnosis and conflicting labels. Some clients arrive because they’re trying to unlock access to much-needed accommodations, while others simply want to understand why therapy hasn’t been as effective as hoped.
Meet Dr. Howard
PsyD #31425
Dr. Tyler Howard, PsyD (#31425), is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Director of Neuropsychological Testing at GGPA. She offers a uniquely integrative approach that draws from psychodynamic insight, mind-body science, and cognitive-behavioral interventions grounded in her deep commitment to justice, healing, and self-advocacy.
Dr. Howard specializes in facilitating group therapy, process groups and skills groups. She also conducts comprehensive neuropsychological assessments for children, adolescents, and adults.
As an LGBTQIA-affirmative clinician, Dr. Howard creates a therapeutic and testing space where people can feel fully seen and supported. She believes in offering not just answers, but education, options, and the tools to help clients advocate for themselves and their needs.
The Benefits of Neuropsychological Testing
A neuropsychological evaluation can change your relationship with yourself. It can validate what you’ve known deep down for years; that your struggles aren’t imagined, and that they have a name, a pattern, and a pathway forward.
Testing can clarify which diagnoses do or do not apply. It can guide next steps in therapy or medical treatment and inform decisions about school, work, or daily life. Many of our clients use their evaluation reports to apply for IEPs, accommodations on standardized tests, or workplace adjustments that make their lives more manageable and help them succeed in whatever they’re doing.
Perhaps most importantly, this process can help you or your child feel seen, maybe for the first time. It offers not just labels, but context. Not just answers, but validation.
It can be life-changing.
For some, it’s the first time they feel seen.
What the Testing Process Involves
We understand that the idea of a “battery of tests” can sound intimidating. But our process is structured to be gentle, clear, and collaborative.
It begins with a clinical interview: a warm, one-on-one conversation with Dr. Howard. This is your chance to share your history, your concerns, and what you’re hoping to understand. We want to hear your story, not just a list of symptoms. We want to understand your lived experience.
The testing sessions themselves include a variety of tasks. Some are paper-and-pencil activities, others involve puzzles, memory games, or verbal exercises. Most clients find the experience surprisingly manageable – some even find it engaging or validating. You don’t need to prepare or “perform well.” There’s no passing or failing here, it’s all geared towards better understanding you.
After the testing is complete, Dr. Howard carefully reviews and interprets all the data alongside your history and lived experience. She creates a comprehensive report, which she’ll walk you through in a feedback session. Instead of declaring a rigid diagnosis, she offers diagnostic considerations, rooted in evidence, but always leaving room for nuance and personal insight. Neuropsychology is a complicated field, and there are often no easy answers, but Dr. Howard has years of experience in using test results to improve her patients’ lives.
How does Neuropsycholgical Testing work for kids?
When a child is struggling academically, emotionally, or socially, it can be hard to know what’s actually going on. You might wonder if it’s just a phase, or if something deeper needs support. Neuropsychological testing can bring clarity to those questions in a way that’s thorough, compassionate, and tailored to your child’s needs.
At GGPA, the process begins with a parent interview. You’ll sit down with Dr. Howard to share your child’s developmental, medical, social, and academic history, along with any concerns or observations you’ve had. You’ll also complete questionnaires that help us understand your child’s experience from your perspective.
Your child will then participate in one-on-one testing sessions that assess a range of skills: from cognitive and academic abilities to emotional regulation and social functioning. Depending on their age and energy levels, testing may happen over one long session or be spread across two or more shorter visits. We prioritize your child’s comfort, so we adapt the pace and structure to fit their needs.
In some cases, with your consent, we may also connect with others who know your child well like teachers, therapists, or care providers to gather additional insight. This helps us build a fuller picture and ensures our recommendations are as accurate and helpful as possible.
The goal isn’t just a diagnosis, it’s understanding how your child actually thinks. And from that understanding, you can discern a path forward: whether that’s classroom accommodations, therapy support, or simply a new lens through which to see your child’s strengths.
We’re here to walk that path with you, every step of the way.
What Happens After Testing?
Put simply, it’s up to you.
The report you receive is more than a summary of data, it’s a tool for your future, to be used at your discretion. As we’ve mentioned, many clients use it to qualify for services or accommodations. Others bring it to their therapists or healthcare providers to deepen treatment. Some simply keep it for themselves as a form of clarity and even closure.
You’ll come away with a better understanding of your strengths and challenges, along with clear recommendations for what to do next. This might include therapy, coaching, academic or workplace support, or additional medical follow-up.
Whatever your goals, this process is designed to move you toward them with more concrete insights and less second-guessing.
Neuropsychological Testing FAQs
Our Los Angeles Practice
Our assessments are available both in-person and remotely, serving clients across Los Angeles and throughout California. We understand that accessibility and comfort matter and we’re here to meet you wherever you are.
To learn more, reach out to our front desk or book a free consultation with Dr. Howard. We’ll walk you through what to expect and answer any questions you have, no pressure.
GGPA Assessment Tiers
Tier 1: General Psychological Mental Health Assessment
Full intellectual evaluation, broad psychological symptom evaluation, diagnostic screening of adhd, autism-spectrum, preliminary diagnostic considerations.
Note: The lack of scope of Tier 1 testing is insufficient for requests for academic accommodations, and IEPs.
- Baseline measurement of mental health and functioning
- Approx. 3-5+ hours testing, 2-3+ week turn around for report and feedback
Tier 1 does not include:
- In-depth assessment of learning disorders, academic achievement, specific cognitive domains, personality.
Fee: $2500-3500
Tier 2: Comprehensive Neuropsychological Assessment
Comprehensive and detailed assessment of specific cognitive functions. Assessment of intellectual, cognitive and academic functioning recommended for school and testing accommodations (Detailed IEPS may require in-depth Tier 3 testing). Comprehensive diagnostic evaluation for more complicated clinical presentations.
- Full (IQ) intellectual evaluation and tests of academic achievement
- Evaluation of learning disorders, and intellectual strengths and weakness
- Meets required testing for qualifying for school and testing accommodations, if needed
- in-depth testing of specific cognitive domains (Memory, executive functions, sensory processing, language abilities, sensory/motor, visual-spatial, and computerized test of attention)
- Assessment of emotional functioning, personality, and social-communication
- Approx. 4-7+ hours face-to-face (2-3+ week turn around for report and feedback)
Tier 2 does not include:
- comprehensive battery of computerized testing, measurement of change in functioning, in-depth behavioral observation, detailed assessment of developmental delays, cognitive decline, or injury, detailed analysis of neurological functions)
Fee: $4500-$6500
Tier 3: In-depth Neuropsychological Profiles
School-age children and adolescents in need of in-depth cognitive testing, detailed IEPs, and academic learning tools, detailed measurements of change (pre/post interventions, medical procedures, measurement of treatment progress). In-depth personality, developmental history, attachment styles, etc.
- In-depth cognitive testing (specific learning & processing differences)
- Specialized assessment of areas of function: (i.e., sensory sensitivity, psychomotor, activities of daily living (ADLs), etc.)
- In-depth behavioral observation, detailed assessment of attachment, and developmental delays
- Analysis of neurological conditions (traumatic brain injury, disease, and age-related decline)
- Measurements of change (pre/post intervention, medical procedure, treatment progress)
- Apx. 6-10+ hours face-to-face (3-4+ week turn around for written report and feedback)
Fee: $6000-$9000
Recommended testing tiers and additional fees are assessed during initial consultation.
Some testing can be completed virtually, but some tests require in-person administration, details of which will be discussed with your assessor.
When You’re Ready,
We’re Here
You don’t need to have all the answers before reaching out. If you’re wondering whether testing might help, or you just need a little more information, we’re here to talk it through.
Let’s explore what’s possible, together.