About Dr. Richard "Rick" Costa
Dr. Richard “Rick” Costa obtained his doctorate (Psy.D.) in Clinical Psychology from the Georgia School of Professional Psychology in Atlanta, Georgia and is a Louisiana and Utah Licensed Psychologist with a specialty in Clinical Psychology. He is also an approved Florida telehealth provider offering virtual counseling sessions to Florida residents. He completed his predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry where he received generalist training providing mental health services to children, adolescents, families and adults. During his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Costa also completed the prestigious Irving Harris Infant Mental Health Fellowship at LSUHSC and is certified as an Infant Mental Health Specialist. In addition, Dr. Costa obtained a post-graduate Master of Science degree (M.S.) in Clinical Psychopharmacology from Alliant International University, California School of Professional Psychology and is a Louisiana Licensed Medical Psychologist. Review Dr. Costa's curriculum vitae to learn more about his clinical training and experience click here: (to review Dr. Costa's current CV).
Dr. Costa serves as a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at LSUHSC Department of Psychiatry, teaching and supervising predoctoral psychology interns, postdoctoral psychology fellows, psychiatry residents, and medical students. He is a psychoanalytic fellow at the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center and an affiliate of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. He has co-authored and presented scholarly research on topics in rural trauma and complex trauma, ADHD, HIV, epilepsy and cardiovascular health, and natural disasters. He lectures widely on topics related to trauma, complex trauma, PTSD and Posttraumatic Growth, natural disasters, anxiety/depression, bullying prevention, multicultural counseling/competency, clinical psychopharmacology, as well as attention problems, ADHD/ADD, anger management, and disruptive behavior.
Dr. Costa provides a wide range of psychological assessment and treatment services with a focus on assisting individuals achieve their optimal level of functioning. He uses an interpersonal approach that is insight-oriented with an emphasis on empowering the client who, as the expert in his or her own life, is able to find appropriate solutions while using the therapist as a facilitator in the healing process. In addition to an interpersonal/psychodynamic approach, Dr. Costa also employs cognitive-behavioral (CBT), solution-focused, family systems, and child-parent psychotherapy techniques in his work, tailoring his interventions to the unique needs of the individual client. In addition to his therapy practice, Dr. Costa has extensive experience providing outreach, consultation, assessment, and treatment services to school-aged children and adolescents as well as adults, including testing for school admissions, testing for ADHD and/or learning disabilities, and testing related to accommodations on national entrance exams (ACT, GRE, SAT, LSAT, etc.). Dr. Costa lives and practices in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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