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Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. It’s great to be back with you all as we continue this deep dive into the world of autism and neurodivergence. Today, we are tackling a topic that has really taken the clinical world by storm over the last several years, and that is the concept of camouflaging and masking. Honestly, this is one of those areas where the research is moving so fast it can be hard to keep up, but it is also deeply personal for so many of the folks we see in our offices. I wanted to take some time to really look at the literature: what we actually know, what we think we know, and where the holes are. Because as much as we talk about “masking,” the science behind it is actually a lot more nuanced and a lot more complicated than it might seem on the surface. Main Topics 00:01: Defining camouflaging as the conscious or unconscious strategies used to hide or compensate for autistic characteristics in social settings 01:45: The three core components of camouflaging: compensation, masking, and assimilation according to the Hull et al. (2019) framework 04:10: Methods for measuring camouflaging, including the CAT-Q self-report measure and the discrepancy method between cognitive ability and observed traits 06:45: The weak correlation between self-report and discrepancy measures and what that tells us about intention versus effectiveness 08:15: Prevalence of camouflaging in autistic versus non-autistic populations and its role as a broader form of impression management 10:20: Sex and gender differences in camouflaging and why females consistently report higher scores across studies 12:40: The significant mental health impact of camouflaging, including burnout, identity confusion, and suicidal ideation 15:15: Critical validity concerns regarding the CAT-Q and potential construct overlap with social anxiety Cool Things Mentioned Craft: the premier membership community for testing psychologists Crafted Practice: the only in-person business retreat for testing psychologists Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing NovoPsych brings 150+ standardized measures into one platform. If you’re interested in high quality measures for personality, disability, ADHD or Autism, try NovoPsych with a 15-day free trial via this link: https://novopsych.com/testingpsychologist  The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I’m back with the second part of our mini-series on autism. Today I’m really trying to parse out why we’re seeing such a gap in how often we diagnose males versus females. We’re also diving into the social communication paradox (how someone can look really skilled on the surface while still struggling with the same underlying neurological hurdles), and the way restricted interests look different when they’re focused on things like animals or art instead of train schedules. It’s a lot to wrestle with, especially when the DSM hasn’t quite caught up to what we’re seeing in our offices every day, but I’m hoping this helps clear up some of that diagnostic fog. Main Topics 00:01: Discussion of the four-to-one male-to-female prevalence ratio and the evidence for under diagnosis in females 01:45: The timing of diagnosis and how delays in assessment compound over time for female patients 02:28: The intellectual disability paradox and how impairment levels influence diagnostic rates 03:20: Research on social communication differences and the distinction between observable skills and underlying understanding 04:55: Issues with measurement bias in the ADOS and the problem of diagnostic overshadowing with co-occurring conditions 07:10: Quantitative and qualitative differences in restricted interests and repetitive behaviors across sexes 10:21: Statistics on psychiatric comorbidities and why autistic females face higher rates of anxiety and depression 12:50: Developmental trajectories from early childhood through adulthood and the adolescence inflection point 14:30: A preliminary look at camouflaging and the CAT-Q subscales in the female phenotype Cool Things Mentioned Craft: the premier membership community for testing psychologists Crafted Practice: the only in-person business retreat for testing psychologists Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testingn use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! NovoPsych brings 150+ standardized measures into one platform. If you’re interested in high quality measures for personality, disability, ADHD or Autism, try NovoPsych with a 15-day free trial via this link: https://novopsych.com/testingpsychologist  The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I’m coming at this episode as much as a parent as I am a psychologist or the co-founder of an AI company. After my own son got flagged by a teacher for potentially using AI on a writing assignment, I had a pretty humbling realization: I hadn’t actually taught him what responsible AI use looks like. Most of our kids (about 70% of teens) are already using these tools, but they’re doing it in a vacuum without much guidance from schools or home. In this conversation, I wanted to move past the “cheating” panic and look at the real developmental stakes. We’re talking about how passive AI use might be replacing the “cognitive heavy lifting” kids need to build critical thinking and how we, as clinicians and parents, can start having the “AI Talk” early and often to turn these tools into structured thought partners rather than just answer generators. Main Topics 00:01: The “Cop’s Kid” moment: How my son’s school assignment became a wake-up call about teaching responsible AI use. 03:05: Current statistics on teenage AI adoption and why school policies are struggling to keep pace with the technology. 05:40: Why the real concern isn’t just academic integrity, but the potential “atrophy” of critical thinking and analytical skills. 08:30: Comparing the “AI Talk” to the “Sex Talk”—why it needs to start early (age 8-10) and evolve over time. 11:20: Privacy red flags and why we need to monitor for “secrecy” or “humanizing” AI in our kids’ digital habits. 13:10: A framework for healthy AI use: Outsourcing the rote tasks while keeping the “human brain in the loop.” 14:50: Prompt Engineering as a metacognitive skill: Teaching kids to give context and identify where they are stuck. 18:20: Tailoring AI for neurodivergent kids: Specific strategies and prompts for ADHD, Dyslexia, and Autism. 24:30: Using the “Socratic Method” with AI to help teenagers navigate social conflict and perspective-taking. Cool Things Mentioned Craft: the premier membership community for testing psychologists Crafted Practice: the only in-person business retreat for testing psychologists Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Simple prompt framework for kids document Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing NovoPsych brings 150+ standardized measures into one platform. If you’re interested in high quality measures for personality, disability, ADHD or Autism, try NovoPsych with a 15-day free trial via this link: https://novopsych.com/testingpsychologist  The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I remember being trained on the original ADOS back in grad school, and even though the ADOS-2 has been out for over a decade now, we are still constantly learning about where it shines and where it kind of falls short. In this episode, I’m digging into the actual numbers behind the instrument, from its 90% sensitivity to the much more complicated reality of its specificity, especially when we’re working with clinical populations like ADHD or anxiety. I’m also tackling the “compensation paradox” and the very real data showing how the ADOS-2 might be under-identifying females and people of color. It’s a nuanced look at a tool we use every day, and I think it’s a necessary conversation if we want to move toward more equitable, accurate assessments. 00:35: The history of the ADOS and its evolution into the current “gold standard” 02:21: Breaking down the five modules and how language level dictates administration 05:40: Sensitivity vs. Specificity: What the meta-analyses actually tell us about accuracy 08:25: The false positive problem and the predictive limitations of “Autism Spectrum” classifications 11:11: Why the ADOS-2 should never supersede clinical judgment in a comprehensive battery 12:45: Differential diagnosis challenges with ADHD, social anxiety, and language disorders 15:30: The “Compensation Paradox” in high-functioning and low-support needs individuals 18:49: Data on sex differences and why the algorithm might be biased against female presentations 21:13: Addressing racial bias and the limitations of a tool validated primarily on white samples Cool Things Mentioned Craft: the premier membership community for testing psychologists Crafted Practice: the only in-person business retreat for testing psychologists Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing NovoPsych brings 150+ standardized measures into one platform. If you’re interested in high quality measures for personality, disability, ADHD or Autism, try NovoPsych with a 15-day free trial via this link: https://novopsych.com/testingpsychologist  The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how easy it is to let the “drift” happen in a testing practice. You start with these great clinical intentions and a solid business plan, but then a few months go by, the schedule gets packed, and suddenly you’re just trying to keep your head above water. This episode is really meant to be a 90 day reset to help us stop and look at the data before we get too far off track. I walk through a four part audit covering clinical quality, financial health, our tech stacks, and our operational flow. I’m doing these same checks in my own practice right now because I’ve realized that if we aren’t measuring these things, we can’t actually manage them, and I’d much rather catch any issues now than a year down the road. Main Topics 01:05: Performing a clinical audit by reviewing battery architecture and front loading high demand tasks 02:22: Monitoring the validity chain and adhering to the AACN and NAN two failure rule 03:32: Moving beyond the “score dump” to focus on narrative synthesis and a one page roadmap 05:25: Conducting a financial health audit by measuring administrative to clinical time ratios 06:42: Calculating your real hourly rate by accounting for overhead and total hours worked 07:14: Benchmarking profit margins for solo versus group practices and monitoring labor to revenue ratios 08:48: Executing a technology audit including BAA verification and data sovereignty checks 11:24: Evaluating data security through “leak tests” and moving toward portal only report delivery 13:01: Running an operational friction test to measure the referral to feedback timeline Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Downloads The Practice Audit Checklist Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. Staying on top of the legal side of things is a huge pain, but we are at a point where keeping up with these digital shifts is just a core part of running a practice. In this episode, I’m walking through the 2026 HIPAA Security Rule updates and what they actually mean for you on a day-to-day basis. We’re moving away from the old “addressable” safeguards into a world where everything is mandatory, from multi-factor authentication to specific 72-hour data recovery rules. I also dig into the concept of data sovereignty, which is really just a fancy way of saying who actually controls your client data, and how to spot red flags in those long terms of service agreements that none of us ever want to read. My goal is to help you build a simple vetting process for your software so you can focus on the clinical work without worrying that your data is leaking into a global AI training model. Main Topics 00:38: The 2026 HIPAA Security Rule update and the end of addressable safeguards 01:12: Mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) requirements for all systems 02:20: The 72-hour recovery rule for clinical data and vendor contract obligations 03:25: Updating Business Associate Agreements (BAA) for AI-specific clauses 04:15: Defining data sovereignty vs. data residency and why control matters 07:45: A three-point vetting checklist for clinical software and AI tools 09:12: Red flag phrases to look for in Terms of Service agreements 11:35: Cross-state compliance and the impact of the Delete Act on practice inventory Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much tele-assessment has changed since the early days of the pandemic, and we’re definitely moving past the “just trying to survive” phase into something a bit more rigorous. I wanted to sit down and look into where the research actually stands right now, especially when it comes to the “spatial problem” and why our tech setups might be accidentally measuring screen resolution instead of actual cognitive ability. Today, I’m summarizing the research on which parts of the assessment are best conducted remotely vs. in-person, along with offering some concrete tips to improve the quality of your remote protocol. At the end of the day, we’re trying to bring the rigor of the clinic into the client’s living room, and that takes a lot more than just a laptop and a prayer. Main Topics 00:15: The foundational research in tele-neuropsychology and the high reliability of remote verbal tasks 00:45: The spatial problem and how parallax or mirroring errors can create a tele-assessment penalty 01:45: Using the Tele-ASD-PEDS to observe naturalistic parent-child interactions in the home environment 03:10: Addressing the sensory bottleneck and hearing loss confounds in geriatric cognitive screening 04:40: Comparing developmental distractions in kids versus facilitator influence in older adults 06:15: The 2026 remote protocol including the three-camera setup and audio priority requirements 08:05: Technical environment audits and the importance of a 10-inch minimum screen size 09:20: Establishing a hard “discontinue threshold” to prevent powering through bad data Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I’m diving back into a topic that I feel more strongly about every day, which is the intersection of professional burnout and the way we handle our documentation. Honestly, the research on clerical burden as a driver of exhaustion is pretty staggering, and in our field of assessment, it’s compounded by the fact that we’re writing these massive integrated narratives rather than simple chart notes. In this episode, I’m making a bit of an ethical plea for automation—not as a way to cut corners, but as a clinical safety measure to preserve our executive functioning for the high-level synthesis our clients actually need. I walk through the APA ethics code, the “skeleton versus soul” model of report writing, and the non-negotiables of data sovereignty in 2026. I also share a four-point protocol for integrating these tools responsibly, from the “blind edit” to clear disclosure, because at the end of the day, I’d much rather we use our brain power for conceptualization than for transcribing scores into tables. Main Topics 00:38: The documentation crisis and the burnout loop in psychological assessment 01:25: Why documentation efficiency is a clinical safety and practice issue 02:44: Navigating APA Ethics Standard 9.09 regarding automated interpretation 03:35: The skeleton versus soul model of AI-assisted report writing 04:58: Current state of research on AI writing quality and patient outcomes 05:55: Data sovereignty and the dangers of public LLMs in clinical practice 07:45: A four-point ethical efficiency protocol for clinicians 10:28: Transparency and disclosure statements for AI-assisted reports Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. As we continue our exploration of modern assessment, I wanted to dive deep into the long-standing debate between digital and paper-based administration. While many of us have made the switch to platforms like Q-interactive, concerns about mode effects and statistical differences in scores remain a common point of anxiety. In this discussion, I review the robust research confirming cross-mode equivalence for most cognitive subtests, but I also highlight critical nuances like technology anxiety in older adults and the tactile friction gap that can influence fine motor performance. We also look at the significant advantage of digital tools in eliminating the 5% human error rate common in manual scoring. To wrap up, I outline a 2026 mode integrity protocol to help you maintain data purity, including screening for digital literacy and proper documentation of your administration methods. Main Topics 00:35: The evolution of digital platforms and research regarding mode effects 01:15: Meta-analysis findings on cross-mode equivalence for cognitive subtests 01:50: User experience bias and the impact of technology anxiety on older adults 03:02: The tactile friction gap and how stylus-on-glass influences motor speed 04:15: Human error rates in manual scoring and the benefits of digital clerical accuracy 05:40: Granularity in timing and the value of millisecond-accurate digital precision 06:45: The 2026 mode integrity protocol for clinical practice 08:35: Best practices for documenting digital administration and AI disclosures in reports Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health!th! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I am so excited to dive into one of the most requested topics we have ever had: making the transition from an insurance-based model to a private pay practice. Many of us feel a lot of trepidation about this shift, wondering why a family would ever choose to pay out of pocket for an evaluation they could technically get elsewhere for a copay. In this episode, I break down the consumer psychology behind high-stakes assessments and why parents are often looking for a comprehensive life roadmap rather than just a bare-minimum diagnosis. We talk about the quality-price inference, how to leverage your calendar to offer the speed that hospitals cannot match, and how to create a premium experience that justifies your rates. Whether you are ready to go fully out of network or just want to test a hybrid model, this episode provides a clear path forward for valuing your expertise and your time. Main Topics 00:14: The mindset shift and consumer psychology of the quality-price inference 01:25: Moving from a minimum diagnosis model to a maximum life roadmap 02:48: Using speed and your calendar as your strongest marketing leverage 04:55: Implementing a hybrid strategy with premium private pay add-on packages 08:15: Upgrading the physical and digital client experience to match premium pricing 10:15: Turning the superbill process into a concierge marketing asset 12:40: The long-term rewards of autonomy and freedom from insurance audits Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. In this episode, I break down the financial and operational logic behind transitioning from a solo assessment model to a technician-led model. Many psychologists hesitate to hire a psychometrist because technician CPT codes reimburse at a lower rate, but looking at the unit’s revenue alone misses the bigger picture of your effective hourly rate. I walk through the specific math of a 15-hour evaluation case to show how delegating the six hours of administration actually increases your hourly value and frees you up to see more clients. We also dive into the reality of the supervision tax, how to handle quality control concerns, and the mindset shift required to move from being a tester to a diagnostician. Main Topics Covered 00:00 Understanding Psychometrist Codes and Reimbursement 06:21 Solo vs. Scaled Models in Assessment 08:46 The Supervision Tax and Its Impact 11:53 Quality Considerations in Psychometrist Models 14:49 When to Hire a Psychometrist Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. In this episode, I break down the essential components of the “core stack” for psychological and neuropsychological testing billing. Many clinicians leave significant revenue on the table by skipping the diagnostic interview code or miscategorizing professional integration time as simple test administration. I explain the critical differences between the 60-minute professional work codes and the 30-minute administration codes, while highlighting the “half plus one” rule that can legitimately maximize your reimbursement. We also touch on specialized codes for developmental and neurobehavioral screens and the absolute necessity of maintaining an audit-ready log to protect your practice. Main Topics Covered 00:01: Introduction to the core billing stack: 90791, 96132, and 96133 02:08: Why you must never skip the 90791 diagnostic interview code 03:25: Understanding 96132 and 96133 as 60-minute professional work units 05:20: Differentiating between psychological (96130) and neuropsychological (96132) evaluation codes 07:15: Deep dive into test administration and scoring codes 96136 and 96137 08:55: Navigating daily unit caps and insurance panel “soft caps” 10:45: Utilizing obscure codes for neurobehavioral and developmental testing 12:45: The “half plus one” timing strategy for maximizing billed units 15:20: Creating audit-ready documentation and the importance of precise time logs Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I’ve found that many assessment clinicians struggle to set fees that actually support their lives and prevent burnout. In this episode, I break down a mathematical approach to setting your hourly rate by starting with your desired take-home pay and working backward. We explore how to account for the hidden administrative drag that often eats into our margins, the reality of overhead in testing practices, and why pricing your services correctly is actually a vital clinical intervention for the sake of your clients. Main Topics Covered 00:01: Defining sustainable capacity and identifying cognitive diminishing returns in diagnostic roles 01:25: Calculating the 1:6 ratio of administrative drag to billable clinical hours 02:40: Setting a personal income goal and accounting for tax allocations and profit margins 04:15: Factoring in the high overhead costs specific to psychological assessment practices 05:00: Planning for annual billable capacity by pre-determining vacation weeks 06:10: The final math to arrive at an ideal hourly rate based on revenue targets 07:15: Implementing the rate by accounting for admin time within flat-fee evaluations 08:40: Conducting a true cost audit using time-tracking tools to find your actual hourly pay 10:45: The ethical case for high rates as a tool to prevent rushed data and templated reports Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. In this episode, I dive deep into the modern evolution of neuropsychological and psychological report writing. We explore why the traditional model of listing scores and rote data is no longer effective for our primary audience: the clients and their families. I discuss the cognitive load placed on readers when we fail to synthesize information and introduce the clinical snapshot as a way to prioritize the most important findings on page one. We also cover the so what rule for narrative synthesis and a tiered approach to recommendations that prevents client overwhelm. The goal is to move from a score-centric document to an integrative narrative that ensures your expertise is actually utilized to improve lives. Main Topics 00:02: The Prime Real Estate of Page One 01:45: The Inverted Pyramid and Clinical Snapshots 02:27: The Two-Sentence Synthesis Challenge 04:35: The So What Rule 07:05: AACN Guidelines and Domain Interaction 08:20: Managing Reader Shame and Overwhelm 09:01: Tiered Recommendations 11:16: The Report as a Lasting Product Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. Clinical intuition is often little more than a coin flip when it comes to detecting suboptimal effort. We like to think we can spot a client who isn’t giving their best, but the data suggests otherwise. In this episode, I dive into the necessity of using objective performance validity indicators rather than relying on gut feelings. I discuss the prevalence of failure rates in adult ADHD evaluations, the difference between malingering and a cry for help profile, and the technical balance between sensitivity and specificity in the tools we choose. I also share a practical framework for addressing poor effort in the moment using a three stage feedback sandwich to preserve the clinical alliance while ensuring the integrity of your data. Main Topics The limitations of clinical intuition in determining optimal effort Prevalence of validity failure rates in clinical ADHD evaluations Distinguishing between malingering and the cry for help profile Balancing sensitivity and specificity in validity measure selection The shift from legacy recognition tasks to multi stage symptom validity tests The two failure rule and the utility of the $0 embedded indicator Strategic scheduling and administration of PVIs throughout a battery The feedback sandwich: affirmation, calibration, and the reset Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist