Erica Brandling-Bennett, PhD, ABPP
Licensed Psychologist, Board Certified in Clinical Neuropsychology
Dr. Brandling-Bennett is a board certified clinical neuropsychologist specializing in the assessment of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional functioning in adults and older adolescents with known or suspected neurological conditions. She sees each person as an individual with their own unique social, emotional, and neurological influences, and is committed to helping her patients understand their personal profile of strengths and challenges in ways that are meaningful and actionable in their daily lives.
Dr. Brandling-Bennett brings particular expertise to the evaluation and support of individuals with epilepsy, including those whose seizures are not well controlled with medication alone and who are navigating the significant emotional toll that can accompany a difficult-to-manage seizure disorder. She has also spent over a decade working with individuals diagnosed with dementia and their families, providing not only accurate diagnosis and clear explanation of their condition, but ongoing support across the course of a progressive illness.
Caring for someone with a neurological condition is its own profound challenge, and Dr. Brandling-Bennett is deeply committed to supporting the caregivers of her patients as well. She understands that a diagnosis does not affect only the individual, and she works closely with family members and caregivers to help them understand their loved one's condition, navigate the emotional and practical demands of caregiving, and access the resources and support they need.
Her background in pediatric neuropsychology has evolved into a deep understanding of lifespan neuropsychology, spanning late adolescence through older adulthood. This perspective allows her to understand not just where a patient is today, but how their neurological condition may interact with the natural changes of aging and development over time.
Individuals with concerns about memory, language, attention, or problem solving in their daily lives are well suited to work with Dr. Brandling-Bennett. She conducts thorough clinical intakes, comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations, and detailed feedback sessions with patients and their families, ensuring that everyone leaves with a clear understanding of the findings and practical tools to support daily functioning.
Clinical Expertise
Epilepsy • Multiple Sclerosis
Brain Tumors • Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Dementia and Neurodegenerative Conditions
Memory, Attention, and Executive Functioning
Presurgical Neuropsychological Evaluation
Caregiver Support and Education
Lifespan Neuropsychology
(Late Adolescence through Older Adulthood)
What I Bring to Each Session
I truly enjoy getting to know each person who comes to me with questions about how their thinking and emotions may be affecting their daily life. Whether someone is struggling with attention, memory, organization, word-finding, or just feeling “not quite like themselves,” I believe the evaluation process should feel supportive, helpful, and even reassuring. My goal is not only to understand what may be going on cognitively and emotionally, but also to help people make sense of it in a way that feels clear, validating, and useful. I want every person to leave with a better understanding of their strengths, the challenges they may be facing, and practical recommendations that can help them feel more confident and successful at home, at school, at work, and in their many relationships.
As a therapist, I work to create a warm, collaborative space where people feel comfortable, respected, and genuinely heard. With more than 20 years of clinical experience, I draw from evidence-based approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness, while making each session valuable for each person’s individual needs. I have extensive experience supporting individuals and caregivers coping with anxiety, depression, stress, life transitions, and the emotional impact of neurological conditions including mild cognitive impairment, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and ADHD. I believe therapy works best when it feels like a partnership – one built on trust, compassion, curiosity, and even a little humor along the way.
How I Stay Centered
When I am not at work, I am with my family. I love spending time in the beautiful outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, running, hiking, skiing, and boating. Raising my two active teenagers, traveling with my husband, and enjoying time with my parents makes me feel grounded and reminds me of what is most important in my life.
Training and Background
Dr. Brandling-Bennett completed her Bachelor of Arts in psychology and neuroscience at Dartmouth College. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, which included an internship in clinical psychology at the University of Illinois, Chicago in the Department of Psychiatry. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology, with an emphasis in presurgical evaluation of patients with epilepsy, at the UCLA Semel Institute and Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, where she served as Chief Fellow of the UCLA Medical Psychology Assessment Center. She earned board certification in clinical neuropsychology in 2009. For over 12 years, she worked as the senior clinical neuropsychologist at the UW Medicine – Valley Medical Center Neuroscience Institute.
Dr. Brandling-Bennett is a board certified adult clinical neuropsychologist. She specializes in working with clients with a variety of known or suspected neurological diagnoses including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, brain tumors, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and dementia. She does comprehensive assessments of individual’s cognitive, behavioral, and emotional functioning as it relates to those diagnoses. She has a background in pediatric neuropsychology that has evolved into an understanding of lifespan neuropsychology from an individual’s late teenage years through to older adulthood. She sees each person as an individual with their own social, emotional, and neurological influences, and tries to help them understand their personal cognitive and behavioral strengths and weaknesses in a way that will allow them to be successful in their lives.
Dr. Brandling-Bennett is fellowship trained in working with patients who have been diagnosed with epilepsy and are struggling to manage their seizures and the emotional toll that has taken on their lives, particularly when their seizures are not well controlled with medication alone. She has also spent the past decade working with patients who have been diagnosed with dementia and their families, providing them not only with an accurate diagnosis and explanation of their condition, but also access to critical support over the course of their progressive condition.
Clients with concerns about their memory, language, attention, and problem solving in their daily lives would benefit from undergoing neuropsychological assessment with Dr. Brandling-Bennett. She will do a thorough clinical intake of each client’s neurocognitive and psychological concerns and use neuropsychological evaluation tools to empirically evaluate their neurocognitive strengths and weaknesses. During a comprehensive feedback session, she will then review the findings with clients and their families to help them better understand their daily struggles and frustrations, and she will provide them with valuable tools and resources to improve their daily functioning.
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