What does a neuropsychologist do?
Neuropsychologists are neurology experts who are responsible for conducting evaluations to characterize the behavioral and cognitive changes in the brain due to central nervous system disease or injury. These neuropsychologists must work with doctors and neurologists to evaluate and treat people who are diagnosed with various types of nervous system disorders such as Parkinson's disease. They must perform a variety of tests on patients suffering from problems with brain function to help assess the function problem. Neuropsychologists must also participate in training for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Neuropsychologist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real neuropsychologist resumes:
- Provide consultation services to hospital staff including behavioral-management plans for brain-injure patients and co-treatment sessions with rehabilitation therapists.
- Participate in training for PTSD and TBI treatment, group supervision, and program development working groups.
- Develop program providing hospital base educational services for inpatient children and adolescents in acute TBI rehabilitation unit.
- Develop cognitive behaviorally-base educational module for post-surgery patients.
- Have some experience building outpatient programs within large scale neurosciences initiative, and would enjoy opportunities to expand this skill set.
- Attend weekly meetings for DBT treatment providers.
- Collaborate, and disseminate salient results from any neuropsychological testing that are completed, within an interdisciplinary treatment team.
- Administer psychological and neuropsychological assessments.
- Develop cognitive behaviorally-base educational module for post-surgery patients.
Neuropsychologist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Neuropsychologists are proficient in Rehabilitation, APA, and Veterans. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Integrity.
We break down the percentage of Neuropsychologists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Rehabilitation, 31%
Provided inpatient consultation for general rehabilitation unit and Brain Trauma Unit (BTU).
- APA, 13%
Supervised clinical activities of doctoral level psychology interns in APA accredited internship program.
- Veterans, 11%
Expedited access to Mental Health services from Primary Care and facilitated continuity of care with tailored treatment recommendations for veterans.
- Autism, 10%
Provide psychological therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder, deficit/hyperactive disorder, specific learning disorder and others mental diagnosis.
- Brain Injury, 9%
Served as co-investigator on two research studies examining traumatic brain injury.
- TBI, 7%
Developed program providing hospital based educational services for inpatient children and adolescents in acute TBI rehabilitation unit.
Most neuropsychologists use their skills in "rehabilitation," "apa," and "veterans" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential neuropsychologist responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a neuropsychologist to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "psychologists must examine the information they collect and draw logical conclusions." Neuropsychologists often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided cognitive behavior therapy to and applied behavior analysis services to individuals with traumatic brain injuries. "
Communication skills. Many neuropsychologist duties rely on communication skills. "psychologists must have strong communication skills because they spend much of their time listening to and speaking with patients or describing their research.," so a neuropsychologist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways neuropsychologist responsibilities rely on communication skills: "co-led weekly dialectical behavior therapy group maintained weekly documentation of patients' progress maintained communication with primary outpatient therapist"
Integrity. neuropsychologists are also known for integrity, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to neuropsychologist responsibilities, because "psychologists must keep patients’ problems in confidence, and patients must be able to trust psychologists’ expertise in treating sensitive problems." A neuropsychologist resume example shows how integrity is used in the workplace: "provide all requested clinical psychological services within an ethical domain. "
Interpersonal skills. For certain neuropsychologist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a neuropsychologist rely on this skill, as "psychologists study and help individuals, so they must be able to work well with clients, patients, and other professionals." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what neuropsychologists do: "ensured effective communication and interpersonal skills when interacting with patients, families, physician, and the interdependent care team. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in neuropsychologist job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what neuropsychologists do. Neuropsychologist responsibilities rely on this skill because "psychologists need problem-solving skills to collect information, design research, evaluate programs, and find treatments or solutions to mental and behavioral problems." You can also see how neuropsychologist duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "negotiated payment plans, issued credits, and resolved account discrepancies for vista, patients, and insurance companies. "
The three companies that hire the most neuropsychologists are:
- KBR8 neuropsychologists jobs
- Kaiser Permanente6 neuropsychologists jobs
- Essentia Health4 neuropsychologists jobs
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Compare different neuropsychologists
Neuropsychologist vs. Clinical psychologist
A clinical psychologist is a healthcare professional who treats patients with various mental disorders through one-on-one or group settings. Clinical psychologists assist their patients in identifying their psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues so that a plan of action is created to help patients achieve personal and social development. To create a patient treatment plan, clinical psychologists must interview their patients who have different mental problems. They also collaborate with professionals such as social workers, nurses, and occupational therapists to provide the right treatment to their patients.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, neuropsychologist responsibilities require skills like "brain injury," "neuroscience," "research projects," and "american board." Meanwhile a typical clinical psychologist has skills in areas such as "patients," "clinical psychology," "group therapy," and "patient care." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, clinical psychologists reach higher levels of education than neuropsychologists. Clinical psychologists are 6.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 5.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Neuropsychologist vs. Neuropsychology service director
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, neuropsychologist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "rehabilitation," "apa," "veterans," and "autism." Meanwhile, a neuropsychology service director has duties that require skills in areas such as "program development," "family therapy," "treatment planning," and "behavioral programs." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Neuropsychology service directors earn similar levels of education than neuropsychologists in general. They're 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for neuropsychologists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Jim Sliwinski Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Defiance College
Neuropsychologist vs. Pediatric neuropsychologist
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from neuropsychologist resumes include skills like "rehabilitation," "apa," "veterans," and "psychiatry," whereas a pediatric neuropsychologist is more likely to list skills in "genetic disorders," "educational recommendations," "behavioral disorders," and "behavioral problems. "
Pediatric neuropsychologists typically earn lower educational levels compared to neuropsychologists. Specifically, they're 6.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 6.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Types of neuropsychologist
Updated January 8, 2025
