Dr. Moncata

Advocacy

An integral part of our work is helping educate and collaborate with teachers and school personnel in regards to an individual’s unique difficulties. When appropriate, we attend school meetings and work to ensure that each individual is receiving the necessary accommodations and services in the classroom.

Consultation

Psychological consultation is an art that requires relationship development. It focuses upon the needs of individuals, groups, programs or organizations. It is a planned interaction between the psychologist and one or more clients or colleagues. Most often at The Center for Lifespan Development, consultations evolve from the advocacy work done on behalf of our testing clients. As professional psychologists, we collaborate with other professionals (e.g., teachers, physicians, testing boards, school administrators, etc.) in a respectful manner as we strive to facilitate understanding and implement change. The goal of this work is to build effective bridges from the testing data to the day to day worlds of our clients in order to establish the recommendations from our assessments within other settings or relationships.

Evidence-Based Techniques

At The Center for Lifespan Development, we are constantly attending conferences and reviewing the most current research. We recognize the importance of changing and adapting when newer and more effective techniques become available. We incorporate these proven strategies into our work on a daily basis.

Learning Style/Cognitive Fingerprint

Just as we all have unique fingerprints, we all have a unique pattern of relative strengths and weaknesses that influence how we process information and learn. At CLD we can help you understand your learning style and provide you with strategies to effectively harness your strengths and be as successful as possible.

Research-Based Testing

Psychological tests are one of the sources of data used within the process of psychological assessment. Psychological testing provides ‘samples of behavior”, often responses to specific test questions or measures of observable behavior, in order to infer generalizations about a given individual. The technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics. A useful psychological test must be both reliable (i.e., produce internally consistent and stable results over time), and valid (i.e., there is evidence to support the specified interpretation of the test results). All research-based tests possess these qualities. Further, psychological measures that are grounded in research can be interpreted in a norm-referenced manner, allowing for an understanding of how an individual's scores compare with a referenced group (e.g., how one’s scores compare to others of the same age, gender, culture, or social class).

Neurodevelopmental

This specialized testing examines brain functioning and development. It is particularly useful for clarifying and understanding developmental disabilities, such as autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorders.

Neuropsychological

This term refers to testing that evaluates different brain functions including language processing, visual processing, attention, organization, and memory.

Psychodiagnostic

This term refers to testing that is conducted for the purpose of clarifying psychological diagnosis.

Psychological Assessment

Psychological Assessment is similar to psychological testing but usually involves a more comprehensive assessment of the individual. Psychological assessment integrates information from multiple sources, such as tests of personality, tests of ability or intelligence, tests of interests or attitudes, as well as information from personal interviews. Collateral information is also collected about personal, occupational, or developmental/medical history, such as from records or from interviews with parents, spouses, teachers, or previous therapists or physicians. Most psychologists do some level of assessment prior to providing services to clients or patients. The focus of a psychological assessment can vary from case to case. Assessments are used to provide a diagnosis for treatment settings; to assess a particular area of functioning or disability often for school or work settings; to help select type of treatment or to assess treatment outcomes; to help courts decide issues such as child custody or competency to stand trial; or to help assess job applicants or employees and provide career development counseling or training.

Research-Based Testing

Strengths-Based

At The Center for Lifespan Development, we focus on what each individual CAN do, rather than what they struggle with.

Team-Testing Approach

When doing psychological assessments at CLD, we utilize a team-testing approach. The Team-Testing approach involves multiple examiners who work in tandem throughout the course of an evaluation. With this model, the client comes to our Center on multiple days across several weeks. Testing is conducted within smaller time units (1 ½ to 3 hour blocks), the length dependent upon several factors, including age and learning style. We never do all testing across one day or with just one psychologist. Longer testing sessions often measure fatigue and boredom rather than a client’s true potential. Further, if the client or the clinician is not at top form during a session, having multiple testing days or having another examiner present better controls for these contingencies. Multiple samples of behavior across time, with multiple examiners significantly reduce any margin of error and makes for a more powerful assessment.

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Dr. Moncata

Samuel J. Moncata, Psy.D. has been teaching psychology and providing clinical services for more than 25 years. In 1992, Dr. Moncata created The Center for LifeSpan Development, Inc. (CLD), a regional leader in the assessment and treatment of learning and behavioral issues across the life span. He continues to direct CLD.

Dr. Moncata obtained Master’s and Doctor of Psychology degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Hartford. He received his pre- and post-doctoral training at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, where he later worked as a Staff Psychologist, then as an Attending Psychologist. Dr. Moncata has held teaching positions at the University of Hartford and Harvard Medical School.

Since 1994, Dr. Moncata has taught at The Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP). He is currently a core faculty member in the Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) program at MSPP, teaching introductory and advanced assessment courses, as well as child and adolescent psychopathology. His research interests include cross-cultural personality assessment, learning style issues, adolescent depression, trauma, cognition within personality development, predicting dangerousness, educating troubled youth, pervasive developmental disorders and Asperger's Syndrome.

Dr. Moncata is also the Clinical Director of the Brenner Center, a not-for-profit MSPP agency and internship site that brings state-of-the-art assessment and testing services to disadvantaged, underserved populations across Massachusetts and the continental United States.

Dr. Moncata is a licensed psychologist and health service provider in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is also a member of both the Massachusetts and American Psychological Associations. Dr. Moncata conducts numerous workshops and presents on a variety of topics to both professional and nonprofessional audiences alike. His work has been published in both professional and lay journals.

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The Center for Lifespan Development | 91 Wyman Street, Waban, Massachusetts 02468 | 617.969.7891 (tel) | 617.969.7855 (fax)