Email Dr. DeRight or call 703.680.4200 x112
Jonathan DeRight is a board certified neuropsychologist and works in clinical and forensic settings in the Washington, DC metro area, including Virginia and Maryland. Clinical neuropsychological evaluations involve an interview and testing to help determine the presence and extent of cognitive and/or emotional problems to help inform treatment. Forensic evaluations use the same procedures but are intended to answer a question posed by different entities such as disability, fitness for duty, competency to stand trial, mental state at the time of the offense, and mitigation at sentencing. In addition to his offices in Woodbridge and McLean, Virginia, Dr. DeRight also performs forensic evaluations in other parts of the country on a case-by-case basis.
Having attained board certification in clinical neuropsychology signifies that Dr. DeRight has proven, through a rigorous evaluation (including credential review, written examination, practice sample review, and oral examination), that he is fully competent in neuropsychological assessment for people who have neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders. This is similar to other areas of medicine, such that board certification is the only way to officially be deemed a specialist in a certain area.
As a clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. DeRight focuses on the assessment of neurocognitive and neurobehavioral functioning in adults over the age of 16. He performs comprehensive assessments of individuals with various neurological and psychiatric disorders, including traumatic brain injury, concussion, dementia (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia), stroke, epilepsy, movement disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s disease), neurotoxins (e.g., carbon monoxide, lead), mood disorders, multiple sclerosis, ADHD, and learning disabilities.
Dr. DeRight also provides assessment and consultation services to attorneys, Courts, and regulatory bodies regarding forensic mental health matters, particularly as they relate to neuropsychological functioning. These include criminal matters, such as competency to stand trial, mental sanity at the time of the offense, mitigation, second opinion, record review, particularly in criminal cases in which there is a question about cognitive impairment or neurological insult. Dr. DeRight is also available as a teaching expert for juries. Dr. DeRight is also available as a retained or independent evaluator in non-criminal cases, including independent medical examinations (IMEs), worker’s compensation, fitness for duty, preemployment evaluations, court-ordered psychological evaluations, testamentary capacity, financial capacity, and case reviews.
Dr. DeRight is a licensed clinical psychologist and board certified clinical neuropsychologist. He earned his bachelor’s degree in neuroscience at the University of Rochester and completed his PhD at Syracuse University. He went on to complete a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Why obtain a neuropsychological evaluation?
Neuropsychological evaluations are often helpful because of their comprehensive nature, as typical patients spend between 3 and 7 hours with the doctor. Recent research has found that neuropsychological assessment can improve both diagnostic clarification and prediction of long-term daily life outcomes in patients over a large age range. This research found neuropsychological evaluations to have strong incremental value (i.e. significant added information as compared to not having an evaluation) in cases of mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and brain injury and moderate incremental value in cases of stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and ADHD. Finally, participation in neuropsychological evaluations has been associated with cost savings in the form of decreased hospitalizations.
or call 703.680.4200 x112