De Onderwijspsycholoog is Dutch for ‘The educational psychologist’.  The Educational Psychologist is: Tom Braams. He is a registered psychologist (in the Dutch BIG register). He has more than 30 years of experience in the field of learning disabilities. He wrote books about dyslexia and dyscalculia and is well known in the Netherlands as an expert on learning disabilities. The assessments are done by him personally. He is secretarially supported by his wife, Inge Braams-Zwolle. She will often have the first contact with you and possibly make arrangements.

I am specialized in learning disabilities. If you have (or your child has) learning difficulties, it can be very difficult to know for yourself what the causes are. You see and you hear things that do not match: you (or your child) can do certain things very well, you don’t (or your child doesn’t) seem to be dull at all. But why are there so much problems with learning or studying, with reading and spelling, with math’s or with writing essays or letters? This uncertainty can have a major impact on your life (or your child's).

As a very experienced psychologist I want to try to find out, with the help of an assessment, what exactly is the problem with you (or with your child). I want to get an overall picture of you or your child: not only of your/his/her weaknesses but also of your/his/her strengths and how all these qualities influence each other. I am not so much concerned with a diagnosis (although it is sometimes necessary), but with finding answers to your questions. I want to work with you to see how you can reduce your symptoms (or those of your child) or find the help that is needed.

You can expect to be treated with respect. We take time to listen to you so we can understand the situation from your perspective. We will offer advice in the form of strategies and provide approaches that will help you see things from a different perspective.
We will be able to do an assessment in English, with state of the art psychological tests. An extensive assessment report will be made in which we will give personalized advice. The report can be written in English, or as you wish in Dutch (with an English summary).
When a person is diagnosed with a learning disability (e.g. dyslexia, dyscalculia) we will provide you with a statement of special educational needs, which is up to international standards.

Generally, there is no need for a referral.  In the Netherlands, reimbursement options are very limited. You might want to check if your school, employer or insurance will want to cover some of the costs.

The costs of a psychological examination at De Onderwijspsycholoog depend on the time required to answer your questions. This can vary from € 750 for an intelligence test, to € 1500 or more for a complex assessment in which all kinds of help questions are asked. Before you make a decision to have an assessment made, we will inform you about the costs.

We have an office in the lovely old Hanseatic city of Zutphen, in the Netherlands. Zutphen is easily reached by car or train. When necessary, hotels are available in the vicinity. In special cases we can agree on a different place for the assessment (Kenya and Malaysia are countries on my bucket list 😉 ).

Please contact us by phone or email. We are happy to provide you with answers and to discuss problems and possibilities.