Support Services for Conditions Affecting Memory
At NYU Langone’s Pearl I. Barlow Center for Memory Evaluation and Treatment we specialize in caring for patients with age-associated memory loss, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, prion diseases, cognitive disorders related to epilepsy, and cognitive disorders related to Parkinson’s disease.
As part of our treatment program for these conditions, we offer the following support services.
Counseling and Psychosocial Therapy
Counseling sessions are provided by our team of licensed clinical social workers who specialize in working with people dealing with memory disorders. We offer counseling in several different formats:
- individual psychotherapy that can help you regain confidence in the face of your diagnosis
- couples’ counseling that helps you focus on supporting the positive elements of the relationship, despite the memory decline
- weekly group therapy for people with memory problems to share their concerns, mishaps, and successes, and develop coping strategies in a stimulating, safe, and supportive environment
Neuropsychological Testing
The neuropsychological evaluation of memory and other cognitive functions is offered on an outpatient basis. It can help determine your cognitive strengths and weaknesses, your overall competence, and intellectual functioning. Your physician uses the results to help guide your treatment or develop strategies to enhance your mental functioning.
Because neuropsychological testing creates a comprehensive memory and cognitive assessment, it also allows your doctors to make treatment recommendations for neurologic or neuropsychiatric conditions, such as memory disorders, dementia, traumatic brain injury, stroke, brain tumors, and neurocognitive and behavioral impairments resulting from physical illness.
Our neuropsychologist works closely with referring physicians, including primary care doctors, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and psychiatrists, and provides them with a detailed evaluation, along with specific recommendations for treatment.
In addition to memory and cognitive assessment, our neuropsychology program actively engages in many areas of research related to the diagnosis and treatment of geriatric cognitive disorders, including ongoing studies to identify the very earliest cognitive changes associated with various dementing illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.