Mindful Assessments & Psychological Services, LLC Grand Opening

New Assessment Practice Helps Individuals Address Personal Obstacles over a Lifespan

A loving mom is unsure if her son Michael is having trouble at school due to his multiple mild concussions after playing hockey, or whether some sort of Learning Disability is showing itself with the new challenges of school material.  He is getting frustrated and his motivation for school is decreasing.

John, a man with an electrical business, has been more forgetful and hasn’t always taken the right tools with him to a job.  He has also been forgetting what he needs to buy when he gets to the supplier.  His business is struggling and he is feeling more pressure to provide for his family.

Joanna is increasingly concerned about her aging father, who insists that he should continue to live alone.   She worries about his safety, though, especially after she recently discovered he’s been forgetting to lock the doors and turn the stove off.

In a lifetime, a variety of challenges are faced by nearly every family.

To meet these needs, a new and innovative neuropsychological assessment practice just opened its doors: Mindful Assessments and Psychological Services, LLC.  The Grand Opening Celebration took place on October 5th in its Pequannock location.  This practice is owned and operated by Dr. Beata Sylvia Beaudoin and Dr. Maha Younes and helps individuals who have questions about their ability to function, whether in a work, school, or home environment.  “While psychotherapy is highly recommended in supporting people through difficult transitions, there are some questions that simply need to be answered in a practical way using the best available research, clinical evidence, and expert opinion,” Dr. Younes notes.

Dr. Beaudoin has been answering these questions for families with children for most of her career.  “Often it’s just not clear whether a child’s struggles at school might be caused by a learning or attention deficit, or an emotional issue like depression, stress, or a reaction to a significant family change.  Depending on the answer, the recommendations for moving forward would be vastly different.  If there is an additional complicating event like a concussion, the questions might be even more difficult to answer without careful evaluation,” she says.

Fall is a particularly busy time when many people refocus on their health and projects they’d like to accomplish.  Dr. Beaudoin and Dr. Younes have noticed these trends before,  “Students are getting past their period of excitement in returning to school and seeing their new teachers and friends again, and the ‘real work begins’.  Sometimes families notice academic issues emerging at that time, or they might be reminded that an issue they hoped would fade is once again appearing”  Getting back into fall and winter sports is also a time when the risk for concussions increases.   Understanding the effects of concussions and head injuries has been a central part of Dr. Younes’ practice.  “Having a thorough evaluation ensures that any changes in thinking are properly addressed so that individuals can return to their normal functioning as quickly as possible,” she notes.  For a young man like Michael, it can be the key to recognizing a subtle learning problem that was able to be addressed so that he could regain a sense of self-efficacy.  

In addition to the changes in thinking that can happen with medical issues and age, there can be emotional issues that provide people with obstacles for optimal functioning.  “People often don’t succeed because of negative beliefs about themselves.  For example, John’s belief of ‘I’m not allowed to make even one mistake, especially as the provider of the family’ might lead to anxiety or depression, which can interfere more with concentration and memory.  Helping clients become more self-aware  may be the key to helping them function optimally,” Dr. Younes says.   Dr. Beaudoin adds, “Self-awareness and coping skills are features of emotional intelligence, which the research shows is critical for success.  This is central to our practice, since we strive to integrate emotional and traditional cognitive understanding, which goes beyond the standard of the field.  It allows for specific and evidence-based recommendations to be made to enable individuals to gain the tools to improve their coping skills.” 

For John, helping him understand the pressure he was putting on himself to support his family was the key to enabling him to move forward with more self-assurance in using real-world strategies to improve his attention and memory. 

For Joanna, an evaluation can take the guesswork about how to best manage her father’s care, while maintaining a deep respect for his culture, dignity, and independence. 

At Mindful Assessments, clients come with uncertainty about the way forward, but as the doctors note “Evidence-based and sensitive, respectful answers can make all the difference at various stages of life, both for our own well-being and for the best support of those we love.”

For more information about these services and options for understanding one’s functioning, potential, and recommendations for improved performance and life satisfaction, visit www.mindfulassessment.com.  Our neuropsychologists are also available for community presentations and trainings, and have experience with a variety of audiences.

Editor’s note: No actual patient information was used in the above descriptions.  They are used for illustration of typical issues only.  We value confidentiality as our top priority.