Empowering Veterans Seeking Mental Health Disability Benefits
Dr. Rick Van Haveren is committed to providing high-quality mental health disability exams for veterans. The focus is on ensuring a seamless evaluation process with quick report turnaround times, emphasizing a dedication to competence and fairness to those who have served our country.
Why You Need Mental Health Disability Exam
Independent Psychological Exams (IPEs) are conducted by psychologists who are not affiliated with the VA. Because these evaluations come from outside your regular healthcare providers, the VA may give their findings significant weight.
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Reports from Independent Psychological Exams are often key pieces of evidence considered by VA adjudicators during the decision-making process. For this reason, obtaining an IPE is frequently essential for a successful VA disability benefits claim.
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While documentation such as medical records and service history is generally the most effective in supporting your claim, other sources like Lay Statements, Witness Statements, or Buddy Statements can also be influential.
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Many service-connection claims are denied due to insufficient supporting documentation in the file. Therefore, gathering and organizing this evidence is a vital step in establishing service-connection. IPEs are especially valuable when there is a gap in evidence showing a direct connection between your service and current mental health symptoms. Medical opinions provided in IPEs help demonstrate this causation — the link between your past experiences and present symptoms — which is a key component of a successful claim. This link is known as the nexus.
About the Process
1. Schedule a pre-exam case consultation with Dr. Van Haveren
2. Schedule a 45-60 minute virtual/telehealth exam
3. Submit documentation for your claim
4. Complete the exam
5. Receive your report
Common disability claims include, but are not limited to, PTSD and other trauma-based disorders, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder/attacks, insomnia, mental disorders related to chronic pain, and substance use disorders.
Get Started with Services Today
600 US dollars
About Dr. Van Haveren
After completing a bachelor's in Psychology, Dr. Van Haveren earned a Master's degree from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL where he earned an Award of Academic Merit. His doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology was completed at Oklahoma State University (APA-Accredited). After completing a pre-doctoral internship at Kansas State University, he became a professor at Georgia State University while also completing the requirements for licensure as a Psychologist in Georgia (2000). Since then, he's maintained a private practice completing different types of psychological evaluations. This includes C & P/IMO, court-related substance abuse, ministry candidate, vocational, and pre-bariatric surgery psychological assessments. He also has served as an adjunct professor. He is PSYPACT Certified which allows him to provide psychological services in other PSYPACT jurisdictions in the US (https://psypact.gov/). Dr. Van Haveren is also a Certified Mental Performance Consultant through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (https://appliedsportpsych.org/).
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He currently holds the following disability-related certifications:
MDE General Certification Overview
MDE Military Sexual Trauma and the Disability Examination Process
MDE Medical Opinions
MDE Gulf War Certification Course
MDE Understanding Military Culture and Veterans
MDE Suicide Awareness and Prevention
MDE Lethal Means Safety
MDE The Veteran Experience
VBA MDE Assessing Deployment Related Environmental Exposures (WRIISC MOD)
MDE PACT Act: Key Terms & Medical Opinions for Examiners
MDE Mental Health Certification Course
