At Arkansas Families First, we take a team approach to evaluation and treatment services. We incorporate various disciplines to help children and families.

Comprehensive Psychological & Developmental Evaluations:

Our comprehensive evaluations address all developmental areas including, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, language, communication, and fine motor skills. Our team of professionals collaborate to provide a thorough evaluation, based on the needs of each individual child. 

Psychiatric Evaluations and Medication Management:

Arkansas Families First offers comprehensive psychiatric evaluations that integrate relevant information from other treatment modalities, such as psychotherapy, speech therapy, and psychological assessment, in the formulation of treatment plans that individualized and tailored to each patient and family. We conduct a thorough review of past history and discussion of diagnosis, treatment goals and medication management when necessary.

Psychological Treatment:

At Arkansas Families First we use a strengths-based approach and evidence-based treatments for a variety of problems. We frequently work with children and families on the following issues:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group Therapies Include:

• Social and Friendship Making Skills
• Independent Living Skills
• Childhood Anxiety
• Teen Peer Process Group 
• Networking and peer get-togethers 
• Classes on a variety of topics

 

Consultation:

• We offer case consultation for a variety of scenarios where there is a need for child/adolescent development, evaluation or treatment expertise. We can assist in counselor training and program consultation in our specialty areas. 

 

Forensic Consultation: 

• Some of our clinicians accept forensic or court-related referrals. We offer forensic psychological evaluations and parenting evaluations, as well as assistance for families struggling with adoption, divorce, and/or child maltreatment allegations. 

Psychological Testing:

Individuals often need a more formal assessment, or psychological testing, to better understand their struggles and ensure that they get the best treatment available. We frequently receive the following types of psychological testing referrals:

• Diagnostic Clarification
• Learning Disabilities
• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Developmental Delays
• Child Maltreatment Issues
• Intellectual and Adaptive Functioning
• Personality Testing
• Pre-Adoption Evaluations

 

Forensic Evaluations

• Fit-for-Duty Officer Evaluations
• Forensic Sexuality & Risk Evaluations
• Parenting Capacity Evaluations
• Forensic Psychological Evaluations

Parent Support & Education  

• Parenting Support
• Behavioral Parent Training
• Child-Parent Psychotherapy
• Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
• Parenting Defiant and/or Hyperactive Children
• Parenting Children with Developmental Delays and/or Psychiatric Conditions

Parenting & Adoption Evaluations

• Pre-Adoption Evaluations
• Parenting Capacity Evaluations

Many domestic and international adoption agencies require a pre-adoption psychological evaluation for prospective parents. A pre-adoption evaluation provides an overview of each parent’s psychosocial functioning, parenting attitudes and expectations, and marital stability.

Requirements for pre-adoption psychological evaluations vary by agency and country.  Most often, these evaluations involve a clinical interview with a Licensed Psychologist (each parent individually, and the couple together) including psychosocial history, as well as objective measures of personality, parenting beliefs and style, mental health status, and other  measures specifically requested by the referring agency.   

Fees for pre-adoption evaluations vary depending on the measures required, and the length and type of report required by the referring agency.  Fees typically range between $900 to $1200 per couple.  Payment plans are available, although full payment must be received before the final report will be completed.

Career and Occupational Testing:

Career Discovery Program Packages           Career Discovery Program Brochure

Many youth struggle to figure out “what  do with their lives,”  for these teens, one of our Career Discovery Program services may help them make decisions about what to do after high school, what college to attend, what career field suits them best, or what major to choose in college. These packages offer:

1. Career Testing: Individual or group administered career testing with detailed, individualized results. Results apply ones personality type, career interests and occupational skills to discover suitable college majors and career fields.

2. Career Counseling Phase One: During the personalized feedback and Next-Step Planning session, teens explore their test results, resources and material to guide future college and career decisions.

3. Career Counseling Phase Two: College/career mapping incorporates testing results and resources into a detailed personalized path.

4. Career Counseling Phase Three: Online profile building and resume composing to highlight experience and education.

5. On the job shadowing program introduces first-hand experience in interest and type-preferred occupations.