Heather Macdonald, MA, PsyD

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Currently not accepting new clients

Works with Individuals, Teletherapy, and Youth & Children
WA License #PY60930931

My approach to counseling

My practice is exclusively focused on psychological testing. I use a collaborative approach to psychological testing and assessment. This means that I view the person I am working with as a co-evaluator in understanding the challenges they may face as well as using their own experiences to contextualize the test data. The goal of assessment is to increase insight and knowledge about how to cope with the identified issue. A psychological evaluation is usually conducted in 3 to 4 office visits. There is typically a 1-hour initial interview, while the testing portion of the evaluation is conducted in one to three sessions. A feedback meeting is then scheduled after the testing is completed to discuss the assessment findings and recommendations.

I have experience in working with

I have experience in conducting evaluations with children and adults who have a wide variety of identified concerns such as neurodevelopmental challenges, specific learning differences, trauma, ADHD (in children and adults), executive functioning difficulties, and mood issues. In addition, I specialize in conducting mid-career and pre-ordination evaluations for clergy.

Education

Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology, Pacific University
M.A. Psychology, Seattle University
B.A. Social Science, Chapman University

Professional Experience

Samaritan Center of Puget Sound, since 2019
North Shore Hospital/Neurodevelopmental Center, Salem, MA 2011
Danielsen Institute/Boston University, Boston, MA, 2012-2019
West Coast Children’s Clinic, Oakland, CA (Post-Doc), 2008-2010
The Children’s Center, Salt Lake City, UT (Internship), 2007-2008

Insurance Accepted

(Text needed for this condition: Not a Samaritan therapist, but has insurance providers selected.) This therapist takes direct payments only. Learn More...

Make an Appointment

Samaritan Center uses an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system developed by Valant for client intake and subsequent health records management. To set up your account and schedule your appointment, follow these steps, as directed by your therapist and prompted by Valant:

1. To begin the process, first contact the therapist by email or phone (listed on this page above) to schedule an initial conversation about fit.
2. When prompted by an email from Valant, set up your patient portal account using a validation code provided by your therapist.
3. Fill out your demographic/insurance information in Valant. Let your therapist know when this is complete.
4. When prompted by an email from Valant, complete our eSignature intake packet.

NOTE: All the above steps must be completed before your first session with your therapist.

Having trouble? Read Valant's detailed instructions for setting up and using your patient portal.
For additional assistance, email patientportalhelp@samaritanps.org.
Existing client? After your patient portal is set up, you can log in here.
First telehealth session? Read Valant's detailed instructions for Teletherapy.