Dr. Klein's Secure Contact Form

Inspect the Lower Right Corner of the Front of your Insurance Card looking for an image of a Suitcase

Sorry, Dr. Klein does not accept your insurance - unless the Behavioral Health Benefits are through Blue Cross. Another company (e.g, Beacon) may manage yours. Call your insurance to find out if another company manages your mental health benefits.

Please send Dr. Klein's office a picture of the front and back of your card

Email WKlein@Hushmail.com

Fax 866 386-1195

Mail Dr. Klein 741 Pond Street Franklin, MA 02038

If you have Out of Network Benefits then you must pay Dr. Klein directly & submit receipts to your insurance.

You are advised to contact your insurance to determine the rules & requirements. If assessment (testing) is involved ask the following:

How do out of network benefits work?

Do I need pre-authorization?

What is the deductible?

What is the co-pay?

Do you cover Telepsych assessments?

Do you cover Telepsych therapy sessions?

Psychological Assessment Fees & Limitations

Dr. Klein is Not doing face to face assessments.

• A thorough diagnostic interview, specialized diagnostic interviews and questionnaires can all be completed online.
• While Psychological assessment can be done via Telepsych, it would Not include IQ testing. Some verbal cognitive testing can be done online, but Full Scale IQ will not be obtained. Whether this would be necessary would depend on the questions to be addressed and the availability and recency of prior testing. This testing is Not always needed, even in the absence of prior testing.
• Dr. Klein recommends an initial one hour consultation at which time assessment needs - and whether they can be addressed online may be determined. And if you require a face to face assessment, you will be given guidance as to what you are looking for. In most cases this consultation can be billed to Blue Cross (assuming BC is your insurance).

Neuropsychological Assessment during COVID: Fees & Limitations

• Because many tests can not be administered online, only under rare circumstances will an actual Neuropsychological Assessment be undertaken.

• Neuropsychological services offered include:

  • Review & interpretation of prior Neuropsychological, Psychological & School testing
  • Assistance in clarifying the questions you should be asking
  • Psychodiagnostic interview
  • Advisement as to how to proceed
  • Specialized diagnostic interview beyond the initial interview e.g., Autism Spectrum, Bipolar Disorder, etc.
  • Psychological assessment for ADHD, which entails extensive history, record review, psychodiagnostic interview and questionnaires, but Not Neuropsychological testing.
• Some verbal cognitive testing can be done online, but Full Scale IQ will not be obtained. Whether this would be both accepted and sufficient for schools and test boards is questionable. and it must be paid out of pocket. Therefore, Dr. Klein is reluctant to undertake this.
• What is needed depends on the questions to be addressed and the availability and recency of prior testing. Note that testing is Not always needed, even in the absence of prior testing.
• Dr. Klein recommends either finding someone who will do an in-person assessment and/or an initial one hour consultation with him, at which time assessment needs - and whether they can be addressed online may be determined. In most cases this can be billed to Blue Cross.
• As to whether you have Out of Network benefits with another insurance carrier for Telepsych assessment or therapy, you would have to check with your insurance. Request Dr. Klein's Insurance Questions Form.
• If your insurance is Not Blue Cross then you would pay out of pocket and seek reimbursement from your insurance.

Sorry, an FAA evaluation requires face to face testing and Dr. Klein is only working in his online office.

I am only seeing patients in my secure virtual office. You will be sent a link that will work with a cell phone or another device with a webcam. You must have a private location with a good internet connection.

I can only see people when they are physically in Massachusetts. It is conceivable you could be seen if you live out of state but work in Massachusetts and can be seen virtually in your private office while in Massachusetts.

If your depression ever gets so bad that you feel suicidal please use one or more of these resources :

Call your Primary Care Doctor or psychopharmacologist

Call nearest emergency room & ask for psych on call

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-TALK 800-273-8255 Consider putting this number in your cell Someone is available 24 hours a day

Blue Cross Neuropsychological coverage policy

Neuropsychological testing for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may be MEDICALLY NECESSARY for the following:

• When routine treatment for ADHD has not improved patient outcomes and there is well documented evidence of treatment failure
• When psychological testing has been completed and further clinical information is needed to rule out a medical or psychiatric diagnosis.

Neuropsychological testing for the routine diagnosis of ADHD is NOT MEDICALLY NECESSARY.

Neuropsychological testing is considered NOT MEDICALLY NECESSARY when used primarily for:

• Educational or vocational assessment or training (to diagnose specific reading disorders, developmental disorders of scholastic skills, dyslexia and alexia),
• Determining eligibility for special needs programs
• Assessment or diagnosing of pervasive developmental disorders or other disorders or psychological development
• Improving academic performance
• Baseline assessment of function
• Monitoring of chronic conditions when there is no significant new change in behavior, mental state or cognition
• Screening purposes.

Blue Cross Neuropsych & Psych Policy

Limits of Diagnosis

People typically have a WHAT question as in what is the diagnosis. This is certainly a good place to start if diagnosis is needed for the purpose of medication, accommodations or eligibility for services. However, diagnostic categories as outlined in the book published by the American Psychiatric Association DSM-5 often do not fit the individual and are controversial. For example the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has rejected the DSM-5. The focus is on a dimensional approach as opposed to discrete categories. No more putting people in boxes. But the focus is on genes and biology. Neither approach is particularly helpful in formulating psychological interventions, lifestyle modifications or parenting ploys. Diagnosis can be immensely helpful, but it seldom provides a complete picture or a clear path forward

Asking more helpful questions

• We tend to ask WHY questions such as Why does he or why do I do such and such, or feel such and such. Asking why is fine, but limited. For example, if the answer to why is "Because of ADHD, or because of depression" that does not tell you how to proceed. Why questions do not provide a road map forward. Dr. Klein suggests that you spend some time generating HOW questions.
• When you ask if you meet diagnostic criteria for ADHD, what you most likely want to know is how you can focus better, be more organized, not make errors of inattention, not miss meetings, not say things you later regret, complete projects before the deadline, etc. Only some of these concerns can be solved with medication. You need strategies.
• You may ask: How can I get my son off videogames and into bed without a tantrum? Great question. Now lets dive deeper. Is your goal really to get him off the screen, or is it setting up conditions enabling your son to learn to think longer term, be more flexible, be more compliant in general, know how to initiate a change in behavior, improve self-regulation.
• You may ask how to overcome a specific fear. This is a subset of how to manage emotions, and there is more than one way to accomplish this.

About Dr. Klein

Thirty years experience as a Pediatric & Adult Clinical Psychologist & Neuropsychologist, and even more in years counseling adults & youth. Prior to COVID, Dr. Klein had offices in Franklin MA & Spaulding Center for Children in Sandwich, MA and has been the Neuropsychology consultant at Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children (formerly Massachusetts Hospital School) since 1996. He began work in Spaulding in Boston in 1993 and later switched to Spaulding Cape Cod. He specializes in the interface of cognitive, neuropsychological and psychiatric issues. Dr. Klein taught Neuropsychology for 18 years in the PsyD program at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (now William James College), developed & taught the graduate course Nutrition, Brain & Behavior, chaired many doctoral projects and occasionally taught the course Biological Bases of Behavior in the School Psychology masters program. For over five years, he provided lectures and tutorials for Harvard medical students & residents on the stroke unit at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. For several years he taught the course Violence and the Brain in a masters level program on violence at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. He has also offered many talks for the general public and continuing education classes for psychologists.

Consistent with his broad background, his treatment approach is broad, integrated and holistic. At age 21, before obtaining his first bachelors, which was in Counseling Psychology, he began professional training at the Gestalt Therapy Institute of San Francisco and was often the only psychiatric emergency paraprofessional working the night shift at the Berkeley Free Clinic. Numerous experiences prior to graduate school that shaped his orientation included working on a locked acute psychiatric unit, running adolescent therapy groups, teaching thinking skills to inmates in a county jail, and working as an Educational and Career Counselor for the State University of New York system where he also taught Life Skills classes to high school dropouts, most on probation or parole. After a bachelors in Biology, and New York State preliminary teacher certification, he worked as a long term substitute teacher for a year. Following a masters in Educational Psychology and Statistics from SUNY Albany, he obtained a PhD with a sub-specialization in Adult and Child Neuropsychology from the Department of Clinical & Health Psychology at the University of Florida. While in school in Gainesville, he did assessments for a year in a maximum-security forensic psychiatric facility, worked extensively with anxiety disorders, studied anxiety in a psychophysiology lab, created and supervised numerous undergraduate research projects, developed a Taste & Olfactory Disorders Clinic in conjunction with the Dental School and treated oppositional defiant children with Parent Child Interaction therapy under the supervision of the developer of the technique. Dr. Klein then came to Boston for the neuropsychology internship slot at the Boston VA - New England Medical Center - Tufts University School of Medicine Internship Consortium where he also treated PTSD in the National Center for PTSD. He then completed a post doctoral fellowship with the Aphasia Research Center of the Boston VA - Boston University Department of Neurology and a Neuropsychology Asssitancement at McLean Hospital. His current academic interest is the nature of the self. In working with children he specializes in training parents in what he calls 'Playful Parenting Ploys.' If forced to briefly describe his orientation in working with adults, it is primarily cognitive-behavioral. With children, it is typically collaborating with parents to set up learning conditions to enable children to change behaviors, overcome fears and develop improved self-regulatory skills.

No services can be offered until both parents provide consent. (This is a legal requirement).

Playful Parenting Ploys

From time immemorial children, along with other juvenile mammals, have learned from play. Verbal instruction and Behavior Programs certainly have their place, but real Deep Learning that sticks is more likely to occur when parents learn the skills to set up Playful Ploys that enable children and adolescents to learn from Low Stress experiences. Having written up over thousands of Neuropsychological assessments over the years, each with specialized recommendations, Dr. Klein has spent a lot of time developing Playful Ploys to teach, among other things: respectful appropriate self-advocacy skills, losing graciously, delaying gratification, overcoming fears, overcoming perfectionism, turning off video games, transitioning unexpectedly, etc . This is not rocket science. Parents Can learn the principles & skills to enable kids to learn & change.

Request Dr. Klein's INSURANCE QUESTIONS CHEAT SHEET

NEXT STEP

1. If Dr. Klein is a good match for your needs, when there is an opening you will receive a Consent to Treatment secure encrypted online registration form.
2. After completing the Consent to Treatment you are on the wait list.
3. You will then receive directions to the VIRTUAL OFFICE & an appointment can be scheduled.
4. Initial scheduling is best done in real time, that is, by phone call.

ADHD or ADD ASSESSMENT
Working online I can determine if you meet diagnostic criteria & probably determine whether your difficulties are actually due to ADHD or something else such as stress, anxiety, depression, work overload or lifestyle factors (e.g., sleep issues). The online eval consists primarily of extensive interviews and questionnaires. This is most effective when there are other people able to complete questionnaires for me. Often the ability to get info about your childhood ADHD symptoms from a parent can be very helpful. However, there are tests that I can not administer working online which are sometimes helpful. Therefore, before considering me find out how far you have to travel & how long you have to wait for a full in person neuropsych eval. Contact me if the drive or wait is too long.

Re Medication: Dr. Klein does Not prescribe.

Medication can reduce some but often not all ADHD issues. Part of my focus is on strategies & lifestyle factors to reduce ADHD symptoms regardless of whether medication is used.