International Psychological

 Services

Juliana Panova, Psy.D., Director

(847) 219-6795

OUR MISSION

International Psychological Services  (IPS) was founded with the main goal of  promoting more empathic and effective internationally sound, psychological services not only to native-born or naturalized citizens, but also to residents and recent arrivals in the USA and abroad.

Our basic assumption is that a problem, symptom, disorder, perception or behavior could be understood, assessed, treated or modified only in the cultural and experiential context of the particular client, consultee, or supervisee.  We are able to provide adequate and effective psychological services to multicultural populations because our psychologists are trained and experienced in working with such clients (in their native languages if need be), as well as in their respective mental health, legal, and other professional fields. Our goal is to transcend the traditional American psychological paradigm, which is often limited, inefficient and often unsuitable for working with clients who have different cultural backgrounds.

We employ, and integrate internationally sound psychological approaches and holistic paradigms that are culturally and scientifically proven to be effective. Thus, we are able to provide not only culturally sensitive services to our multicultural clients but also to offer a much broader range of efficient and holistic approaches to the general, immigrant, and international community.

We provide psychological services in the English, Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish, Hebrew, Polish, Serbian and Macedonian languages.

SERVICES

Assessment

We provide culturally sensitive, international psychological services to law practices, private individuals, public agencies and institutions. These can include attorneys, government agencies and the educational system within the United States and abroad. The services are provided by bilingual and multilingual licensed clinical psychologists with extensive training and experience in working with diverse clients and agencies.

It is a well known statistic that the members of minority ethnic groups are over-represented in the special education, legal, judicial and penal systems.  A rapidly growing number of multicultural clients need clinical or forensic psychological assessments regarding disability, worker’s compensation, divorce, civil and criminal suits, academic difficulties,  child custody, and immigration matters. 

Assessing and working with culturally diverse clients poses a challenge to clinical and forensic psychologists and potential legal and ethical issues. The function of a psychological assessment is to provide accurate, relevant, and comprehensive information about the overall psychological--cognitive and emotional--state of a client.  Based upon the results and clinical findings, the psychologist may need to testify and give recommendations for a particular treatment.  When evaluating a client, the psychologist needs to have the appropriate credentials and proficiency in diagnosing mental health problems and also in the use and interpretation of psychometric instruments appropriate to individuals from different cultural backgrounds.  When working with a client from a different ethnic background in addition to the above requirements, the psychologist needs to have extensive knowledge, understanding, and ability to work within the context of a particular cultural paradigm.  In translating and navigating between the two cultures, verbal and nonverbal languages and ways of communication a full and appropriate picture can be obtained.  When the culture, ethnicity, and language of the evaluator and the client are fundamentally different, the validity of a psychological assessment may be seriously compromised.

International Psychological Services provides in both the USA and abroad: 

• Culturally sensitive clinical and forensic assessments to individuals, couples, families, agencies and businesses,  using the clients’ native language when appropriate,
• Internationally sound and transferable consultation and training to individual clients, agencies, businesses, legal and educational system;

• Video and audio consultations,

Treatment 

Often culturally diverse populations--ethnic minorities and immigrants--have the biggest need for psychological services but are the last to be served. It is surprising that such a huge and rapidly growing multicultural population is largely ignored and neglected by many professionals and institutions in the U.S.A..  

Psychological trauma and subsequent mental and psychosomatic symptoms may result not only from the loss of the family, language, social status, and culture, but also from the difficulties of adjusting to a foreign country and culture.  This can be a special problem in a country as large and diverse as the United States.  It may often be perceived as an unfriendly and rejecting society.  As a result of prolonged distress, acculturation may be delayed or hampered and the ability to function is compromised.

The relational, emotional, and cognitive difficulties in acculturation are the main obstacles for most new arrivals and others in related circumstances.   With the right help, they would often be able to achieve their full potential.  

It is an unfortunate fact that multicultural patients are poorly served by the American Mental Health system (as indicated in the Surgeon General’s Report on Culture, Race and Ethnicity in Mental Health Services).  As a result those clients are prone to over-utilize emergency rooms and public medical health care settings, primarily due to deteriorated somatic symptoms of panic, anxiety, depressive disorders and psychosomatic conditions.  Therefore, an essential part of the work with such patients is the understanding of the symptom-formation process in a particular cultural context.  The broad professional skills required for work with such diverse populations involves good knowledge of the patient’s culture and ability to diagnose and holistically treat all the involved mental, psychosomatic and cognitive levels.  

International Psychological Services provides in the USA and abroad: 

• Culturally sensitive diagnostic assessment and treatments for the emotional difficulties, mental and psychosomatic symptoms and disorders to all our clients;
• Life coaching and skill training for accelerated and effective adaptation and achievement of personal and professional goals;
• Video and audio consultations.

 Training and Consultation

 The highly qualified and experienced clinical psychologists at the International Psychological Services  provide in the USA and abroad: 

• Training, presentations, workshops, and seminars to individuals, groups, professionals, agencies, and organizations working with multicultural individuals or pertinent objectives;
• Consultation and supervision to professionals in the mental health or educational field;

• Video and audio consultations