Carole J. Symer, Ph.D.

As a human being, I understand the joys and hardships life brings. As a parent, I understand the hopes and concerns we have for our children. When I sit with clients and hear their stories, I strive to understand what it is they are facing. My core theoretical approach is to listen to what each child, each parent, each client is experiencing. I listen to the child to understand and empathize, as well as bring hope and relief to parents in their effort to nurture their child. I strive to think holistically in every conversation I have, blending a picture of the human being in front of me and in their specific life context with my expertise in neuropsychology, human development, and contemporary psychoanalysis. I strive to deliver information regarding neuroscience and optimal human attachment to educators and other practitioners who want to better understand what it takes to reach even the most disengaged minds.

A decision to have your child evaluated can be overwhelming. These kinds of assessments are complex but offer an invaluable way of clarifying what has been interfering with your child’s emotional resiliency and love of learning. I make every effort to hold the hearts and minds of the parents and the child throughout the evaluation process to ensure the best results and generate various treatment options. I write each report personally and strive to make the findings relevant and easy for parents, schools, and other treating professionals to understand and use the results for advocating for what the child/person needs.

I am continuously striving to bridge neuroscience research with practice and the real-life stories of families and children. Test scores can be immensely valuable, but I believe test data only tells part of the story about a child. After evaluating many hundreds of adults and children, it continuously amazes me to see so many lives expand and grow as a result of our collaborative efforts together. It pleases me immensely to see how I can assist people in growing into happy, playful, self-determined lifelong learners—at any age. All of the efforts I take in completing these evaluations tap the passion I have for the field of neuropsychology and the belief I have in human development.