MEET OUR TEAM
Marc Harari, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Founder, Comprehensive Psychological Services, LLC
Dr. Marc Harari is a licensed psychologist and founder of Comprehensive Psychological Services, LLC in Columbia, South Carolina. He has more than 20 years of professional experience providing psychological, psychoeducational, forensic and neuropsychological evaluations to children, adolescents, and adults.
Dr. Harari primarily focuses on psychological assessment. He evaluates individuals with a wide variety of concerns, including ADHD, learning difficulties, emotional and behavioral concerns, and problems involving memory, attention, executive functioning, and other areas of cognitive functioning. He also conducts specialized evaluations for professional, employment, and forensic purposes to include law enforcement preemployment evaluations and fitness for duty assessment.
Dr. Harari's Approach to Psychological Assessment
Dr. Harari believes that a psychological evaluation should do more than provide a diagnosis or a collection of test scores. The goal is to understand the individual's pattern of strengths and difficulties and translate those findings into information that is practical and useful.
Every evaluation begins with consideration of the specific questions that brought the individual for testing. Dr. Harari then selects assessment measures based upon those questions and the individual's history rather than using exactly the same testing battery for every person. An evaluation may incorporate a clinical interview, standardized psychological and cognitive testing, questionnaires, academic testing, behavioral observations, and review of relevant records.
Dr. Harari places particular emphasis on integrating these different sources of information. Test results are not interpreted in isolation. Instead, they are considered in the context of the individual's history, current circumstances, observed behavior, and the original reason for the evaluation.
Understanding Your Results
Psychological testing can sometimes identify strengths or difficulties that an individual did not expect when beginning the evaluation. For example, someone seeking an ADHD evaluation may also demonstrate a particular learning difficulty, anxiety, problems with executive functioning, or significant cognitive strengths.
When this occurs, the purpose is not to unnecessarily assign additional diagnoses. Rather, Dr. Harari's goal is to provide the most complete and accurate understanding possible of the factors that may be affecting the person's functioning.
Following completion of the evaluation, findings are summarized in a written report that explains the results, diagnostic conclusions when appropriate, and individualized recommendations. Dr. Harari welcomes questions about the findings and believes that individuals should understand the reasoning behind the conclusions reached during their evaluation.
A Collaborative Process
Dr. Harari recognizes that standardized testing provides only one perspective on an individual. The person being evaluated brings important knowledge about his or her own history, experiences, strengths, and difficulties.
For this reason, individuals are encouraged to ask questions, provide relevant information, and identify concerns they believe are important to their evaluation. If clarification is needed regarding information contained in a report, clients are encouraged to discuss those concerns with the practice.
The objective is to produce an evaluation that is not only clinically sound, but also understandable and useful to the individual, family members, physicians, therapists, schools, employers, or other professionals involved in their care.
Education and Professional Experience
Dr. Harari earned his Ph.D. in psychology and completed an APA-accredited doctoral training program. His professional training has included clinical, forensic, and psychological assessment experience, including an internship through the University of South Carolina and subsequent professional work within South Carolina.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Harari has worked in clinical, forensic, educational, and governmental settings. His professional experience has included work with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, supervision and training of other professionals, teaching, psychological assessment, and consultation.
In 2005, Dr. Harari established Comprehensive Psychological Services, LLC in Columbia with an emphasis on providing comprehensive psychological assessment services to individuals and families throughout South Carolina
Dr. Nevelyn Trumpeter
Dr. Nevelyn Trumpeter is a licensed clinical psychologist in South Carolina. She has a B.A. from Washington University and an M.S. in Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She completed her doctorate in Clinical-Community Psychology at the University of South Carolina in 2015. Dr. Trumpeter’s graduate training experiences included conducting research related to the connection between mental health and physical health, teaching graduate and undergraduate psychological courses, and supervising practicum students at USC and in other settings. Her pre-doctoral internship training focused on conducting evidence-based therapy and assessment under the supervision of two private practitioners, including Dr. Karen Lake (Lake Psychological Services) and Dr. Marc Harari (Comprehensive Psychological Services). She continued her post-doctoral training at Comprehensive Psychological Services, with a heavy emphasis on general psychological assessments and forensic evaluations for family court cases. Dr. Trumpeter joined Comprehensive Psychological Services as an associate in August 2016.
Dr. Darren Woodlief
Dr. Darren Woodlief is a licensed clinical psychologist and associate at Comprehensive Psychological Services. He specializes in conducting a broad range of diagnostic evaluations for clinical and educational purposes and for treatment planning, including psychoeducational, ADHD, and mental health assessments, as well as autism and neuropsychological screenings. He earned a Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology and a Certificate in Graduate Study in Applied Statistics from the University of South Carolina. His graduate and postgraduate training included conducting research related to ADHD, mindfulness, and smartphone use and conducting psychological assessments in a variety of settings. Additionally, he has taught classes at the University of South Carolina related to psychopathology, psychological statistics, and drug use.
