Most people arrive at this question sideways. A neurologist mentioned it. A parent repeated a story twice in one afternoon. A form came back from a specialist with a word on it nobody explained.
So here is the answer, and then the part almost nobody tells you: in most states, the title “neuropsychologist” is not protected, which means the word alone does not tell you whether the person using it was trained to.
What Does a Neuropsychologist Do?
A neuropsychologist evaluates how your brain is working, using structured tasks that measure memory, attention, language, reasoning, and other thinking skills, then explains what the pattern of those results means for your daily life.
The specialty sits between brain science and behavior. According to the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, clinical neuropsychology is “a specialty field within clinical psychology, dedicated to understanding the relationships between brain and behavior, particularly as these relationships can be applied to the diagnosis of brain disorder, assessment of cognitive and behavioral functioning, and the design of effective treatment.”
In practice, that means a neuropsychologist does four things:
- Measures thinking skills against how people of similar age and background perform
- Interprets the pattern, because which skills are affected matters more than any single score
- Explains what the findings mean in plain language, to you and to your referring physician
- Recommends next steps, which may include treatment, accommodations, follow-up, or referral
What a neuropsychologist does not do is scan your brain. The tools are behavioral. You will answer questions, work through paper-and-pencil tasks, handle a few objects, and use a computer for some items.
| What gets measured | What it can tell you |
|---|---|
| Memory | Whether new information is being stored, or stored and not retrieved |
| Attention and processing speed | Whether the problem is memory at all, or the ability to hold focus long enough to encode |
| Language | Whether word-finding trouble reflects vocabulary access or something broader |
| Visuospatial skill | How you handle space, navigation, and visual organization |
| Reasoning and problem solving | Judgment, planning, and flexibility, the skills that govern independence |
| Mood and personality | Whether depression or anxiety is contributing to the cognitive picture |
The battery is built around your specific referral question. Nobody receives all of it, and two people with the same symptom can be given different measures.
That last row surprises people. Depression can produce memory complaints that look convincing. Sorting that out is one of the more useful things an evaluation does, because the treatment path is completely different.
Are Neuropsychologists Doctors, and Can They Prescribe?
Yes to the first, with a qualifier, and no to the second.
A clinical neuropsychologist holds a doctorate. The AACN describes one as “an independent, professional, doctoral level psychologist who provides assessment and intervention services.” That is a doctoral-level clinician, not a physician. The degree is a PhD or PsyD in psychology rather than an MD.
Prescribing is outside the role in nearly every state. A neuropsychologist evaluates and provides findings; medication decisions belong to your physician, neurologist, or psychiatrist. Those two roles are meant to work together, and the evaluation report is written to be useful to whoever is managing your care.
There is also a line worth being precise about, because it protects you. A neuropsychological evaluation informs a diagnosis. It does not replace your physician’s diagnosis. An evaluation can tell you that your memory profile is consistent with early-stage decline rather than normal aging, and it can rule several things out. Any clinician who promises to hand you a definitive medical diagnosis from cognitive tasks alone is overselling what the method does.
What an Evaluation Looks Like From Your Side of the Table
Patients walk in braced for something that does not happen.
“People come in with all of these unfounded impressions of what the experience is going to be like,” Dr. Baldassarre says. Electrodes. A sterile room. Something that will be done to them.
What actually happens is a conversation and then several hours of structured tasks. The AACN describes the appointment in three parts: an interview with you, and often with someone who knows you well; tasks that look at your cognitive functions, “mostly paper and pencil tasks and some may be on the computer”; and then results and feedback to you and your doctors.
Nobody is watching for failure. Your scores show how you are doing relative to people your age and from a similar background, which is why there is no passing grade to hit. Some tasks are designed so that most people reach a limit. Reaching it is information, not a verdict.
The Riverside Psychology FAQ covers preparation and what to bring in more detail. The short version: sleep, take your usual medications, bring your glasses and hearing aids if you use them, and bring a list of your medications and any prior records.
If you have been putting this off because you are afraid of what it might show, you are not alone. That fear is the most common reason people wait, and waiting rarely improves the picture.
What a Neuropsychologist Does Not Do
Four quick boundaries, because the confusion here is common:
- No imaging. No MRI, no CT, no EEG. Those come from a physician. The evaluation reads behavior, not pictures.
- No prescriptions. Findings go to the prescriber; the prescriber decides.
- No therapy in the same appointment. Evaluation and treatment are separate services with separate goals.
- No medical diagnosis in isolation. The report supports clinical decision-making rather than replacing it.
When Should You See a Neuropsychologist?
The honest answer is earlier than most people do, and you do not necessarily need someone to send you.
Physician referral is the usual route, and it is a good one. Your neurologist or primary care physician knows your history and can frame the referral question. But a referral is not a legal requirement to be evaluated, and the assumption that it is keeps people waiting through a decline they could have documented months earlier. If you are watching something change and nobody has raised an evaluation, you are allowed to ask for one yourself.
The situations that most often warrant one:
- Memory or thinking changes that you or the people around you have noticed
- Recovery after a stroke, a head injury, or a cardiac event
- A shift in personality, behavior, or judgment that does not fit the person
- A neurological diagnosis where cognitive change matters for treatment planning
- Attention or learning difficulties in an adult that were never formally evaluated
- A question of capacity, safety, or independence, including driving
That last one carries the most urgency and gets the least attention. Dr. Baldassarre has described the case that captures it: a 75-year-old who has had a stroke and is still behind the wheel needs answers in weeks, not next year. The evaluation in that situation is not academic. It informs whether someone keeps driving.
Cost stops people too, and it should not stop them silently. Riverside is in network with most major payors, and the insurance and payment page lists them by name so you can check before you call.
NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION
Think an evaluation might be the next step?
Dr. Baldassarre sees new patients in weeks, not months, and Riverside is in network with most major payors. You will get answers you can actually use, explained in plain language.
How Do You Know a Neuropsychologist Is Actually Trained?
This is the part that changes how you shop, and the AACN says it more bluntly than any practice would.
From the AACN’s position on board certification: “Most states allow licensed psychologists to call themselves neuropsychologists without showing they have any special training.”
Read that again, because it reframes the whole search. The word on the door is not a credential. It is a job title, and in most of the country it is unregulated.
Real training in this specialty is specific. The AACN lists four requirements: a doctoral degree in psychology from an accredited university training program, an internship in a clinically relevant area of professional psychology, the equivalent of two years of additional specialized training in clinical neuropsychology, and state licensure to practice independently. Someone can be a fine psychologist, fully licensed, and still not have the third one.
Board certification is the shortcut for checking. It runs through the American Board of Professional Psychology and its specialty board, the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology. The AACN calls the ABCN/ABPP diploma “the clearest evidence of competence,” and describes ABPP’s goal as being “to protect the public by examining and certifying psychologists who demonstrate competence in approved specialty areas.”
So the question to ask, of anyone, is short: are you board-certified in clinical neuropsychology, and through which board?
Dr. Baldassarre is board-certified through the American Board of Professional Psychology. She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, specializing in neuropsychology and brain imaging, and has evaluated thousands of patients. Before opening Riverside, she spent two years developing the neuropsychology clinic at Advocate Memory Center and five years embedded in a neurology private practice. Her background is on the about page if you want to check it, which is the point of publishing it.
She left an institutional setting partly over access. The waitlist there ran roughly eight months, and in her words it was “not serving the community.” That is the gap Riverside was built to close, and it is why the wait here is measured in weeks.
Four questions worth asking anyone you are considering, including us:
- Are you board-certified in clinical neuropsychology, and through which board?
- Where did you complete your two years of specialized neuropsychology training?
- Do you evaluate adults, and how often do you see my specific referral question?
- How long is the wait, and how long after the appointment until I get answers?
None of those are rude. A clinician who is trained in this specialty will answer all four without hesitating, because the answers are the reason to choose them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are neuropsychologists doctors?
They hold a doctorate, usually a PhD or PsyD in psychology, so they are doctoral-level clinicians. They are not physicians, and the degree is not an MD.
Can neuropsychologists prescribe medication?
In nearly every state, no. A neuropsychologist evaluates cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning and provides findings that guide treatment. Prescribing stays with your physician, neurologist, or psychiatrist. The two roles are designed to work together, and the evaluation report is written so your prescriber can use it.
When should you see a neuropsychologist?
Whenever a change in thinking, memory, behavior, or judgment is affecting daily life, or whenever a physician needs objective information about cognition to plan treatment. The most common reasons for an adult referral include memory and aging questions, traumatic brain injury, changes in personality or behavior, stroke recovery, and litigation-related assessment. Timing matters more than people expect. An evaluation done while symptoms are mild gives you a baseline, and a baseline is what makes a later comparison meaningful. If you wait until the change is obvious, you still get answers, but you lose the ability to measure how far and how fast things moved. Situations involving safety, capacity, or driving should not wait at all.
Do you need a referral to see a neuropsychologist?
Most patients arrive by physician referral, and that route works well because your physician can frame the clinical question. It is not a requirement, though. If you are noticing changes and nobody has raised an evaluation, you can request one directly. Check your insurance plan first, since some plans require a referral for coverage even when the practice does not.
About the Author
Dr. Megan Baldassarre, PsyD, ABPP, is a board-certified neuropsychologist and the founder of Riverside Psychology in River Forest, Illinois. She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, specializing in neuropsychology and brain imaging, and has evaluated thousands of patients over the course of her career. Before opening Riverside, she spent two years developing the neuropsychology clinic at Advocate Memory Center and five years embedded in a neurology private practice. She is licensed in Illinois, holds PSYPACT credentials, and is a member of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology. Learn more about Dr. Baldassarre here.
