HEALTHY MINDS PSYCHOLOGY ASSOC.
✉ Email: admin@hmpsychology.com ☏ Phone: 770-375-8124 📠Fax: 770-559-5543
Dr. Laronta Upson Rush
Healthy Minds Psychology Associates // Clinicians// Laronta Upson Rush Ph.D.
Laronta Upson Rush, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist, Director
Dr. Rush is founder and Director of Healthy Minds. She specializes in psycho-educational and psychological evaluation to help identify the presence of neurodevelopmental disorders in children as well as learning and emotional/behavioral disorders in adults. She has well over a decade of experience in assessing symptoms related to learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, and developmental disabilities. Dr. Rush has particular interest and clinical expertise in the evaluation and diagnosis of dyslexia and other learning disabilities, ADHD/ executive functioning difficulties, as well as anxiety and mood disorders. Through her early career work as a School Psychologist, Dr. Rush has developed a broad base of knowledge of empirically supported, and developmentally appropriate interventions for common childhood problems, associated school based services/ accommodations, and works closely with parents as they navigate the special education, 504 accommodation, or Student Support Team (SST) process. In addition, Dr. Rush provides expert testimony for cases involving special education or other school-based services for children with disabilities and conducts psychological testing that is used to inform legal cases and settlements. Dr. Rush is an approved psychologist for metro Atlanta school systems to perform Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs). She also works closely with several special education attorneys to assist them in obtaining the best outcomes for their clients.
Dr. Rush earned her Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Specialist (Ed.S.) degrees from the Florida State University. She earned a Ph.D. in 2004 from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She completed an APA-approved pre-doctoral internship in New Orleans, Louisiana. Internship training, external rotations and post-doctoral training experiences were in school and independent practice settings where she specialized in work with abused and neglected children and adolescents and conducted psychological evaluation for individuals with history of complex trauma. Dr. Rush has taught several graduate and undergraduate courses in education, psychology, and child and adolescent development and worked as an adjunct professor. For over three years, Dr. Rush served as a public reviewer of grant applications with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the largest scientific organization in the world dedicated to research focused on the understanding, treatment and prevention of mental disorders. She has presented on executive functioning, ADHD, Dyslexia and learning disorders, school-based intervention and mental health research at several national and local conferences and community groups. Dr. Rush previously served as a Staff Psychologist at Georgia State University, The Regents Center for Learning Disorders where she conducted comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations with students and adults, provided clinical supervision and training for advanced, graduate level clinical psychology students, and participated in didactic trainings and clinical presentations. Dr. Rush currently provides clinical supervision and diagnostic training for pre-doctoral candidates enrolled in the Clinical Psychology program at the Georgia School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University. Professional affiliations include the Georgia Psychological Association (GPA), the American Psychological Association (APA), International Dyslexia Association (IDA), Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA), Children and Adults with ADHD (CHADD), and the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation. Dr. Rush lives in Dunwoody with her husband and son. You may contact Dr. Rush at DrRush@hmpsychology.com.