Who we are
The Non-Epileptic Seizures Intervention Clinic (NESIC) is a specialized clinic within the Neurobehavior Program at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago . We provide an extensive evaluation and offer treatment to individuals with a diagnosis of Non-Epileptic Seizures (NES).
Our staff includes a multidisciplinary team of professionals ( neuropsychiatrists , psychologists, neuropsychologists and licensed clinical social workers) with specialized training in evaluating and treating individuals with conditions such as non-epileptic seizures.
The core staff involved in the evaluation and treatment of individuals with NES in our clinic include :
Gaston Baslet, M.D. – Neuropsychiatrist – Medical Director of NESIC
Angela Roiko, L.C.S.W. – Social Worker – Clinic Coordinator
Eric Prensky, Ph.D. – Clinical Psychologist (Health Psychology)
Neil Pliskin, Ph.D. – Neuropsychology – Director of Neuropsychology
Our Treatment
Approach & Services
Our goal is to provide our patients with comprehensive diagnostic services and effective treatments for non-epileptic seizures and related conditions. We are an educational resource for patients, family members and the community. As part of a teaching and research university, it is part of our mission to conduct research regarding non-epileptic seizures to help improve prevention, understanding, diagnosis, and treatment.
Our range of services include:
Comprehensive diagnostic approach, including evaluation of related psychiatric and/or neurological conditions
- Discussion of diagnosis and treatment options with multidisciplinary team, patient and family members
- Collaboration with your neurologist
- Referral for further tests to clarify diagnosis, when necessary
- Psychotherapy services
- Medical Management of related psychiatric conditions
- Neuropsychological Evaluation, when appropriate
Our services are outpatient-based and for adults (18 years old or older) only.
What does the
evaluation and treatment consist of?
- Initial telephone contact:
Usually our patients are referred by their epileptologist or neurologist. Our appointment line is (312) 355-6347 or you can e-mail us at nesic@psych.uic.edu. Once we establish contact, we do a telephone interview where we take relevant demographic and clinical information, which includes:
- Your name, date of birth, name of contact person, address, phone number
- Insurance information
- Name of the referring physician, address, phone number, fax number
- Reason for referral (usually the referral is for evaluation and treatment of NES, but we need to know if your physician had other specific concerns or questions)
- If there is a history of epilepsy, psychiatric or mental health problems, other medical problems, we will need the contact information of your treatment providers.
- Medical Records:
We need to have your medical records before
your appointment. Our evaluation cannot be completed without the review of this documentation since the diagnosis and treatment recommendations will be based on the information that we obtain from you during the evaluation but also will be based on the tests previously completed by other treatment providers.
The following is a list of records that we typically request from patients prior to their appointments.
- Referring MD Progress Notes
- Medication list/history
- Blood Work
- Video EEG (CD when available and Report)
- Routine EEG
- Ambulatory EEG
- Brain Imaging Report (CT, MRI, SPECT)
- Sleep Study ( Polysomnography , MLST)
- Tilt Test
- Neuropsychological Testing
- Psychiatry Evaluation and Progress Notes
- Neurology Evaluation and Progress Notes
- Other tests that might have been done
You might not have had all these tests done, but the ones you did, we will need to review. These records should be faxed
ATTN: Angela Roiko, L.C.S.W. (312) 413-7856
- Initial evaluation:
On the day of the evaluation, we ask you to come 30 minutes early to complete necessary paperwork. The evaluation itself consists of two 90-minute interviews, one with a social worker and one with a physician; occasionally these might be merged into a 2 to 2.5-hr interview done by a physician. Each interview will cover different aspects of your problems. The interview with your physician will include a basic neurological exam. If you think it is helpful and it makes you feel comfortable, a relative may accompany you to the appointment. This is particularly helpful if some of your events are witnessed by this relative and you think their report can provide a more accurate description of what happens during the event.
We will ask you to complete some questionnaires during the evaluation.We may ask to obtain information from other treatment providers during this evaluation.
- Feedback session:
After your initial evaluation and assuming all your relevant medical records have been received, we will set up an appointment in one or two weeks to discuss our impressions and recommendations. This gives us time to discuss your case in a multidisciplinary conference and gather information from your treatment providers (including your referring neurologist). More time might be necessary if we need to receive a specific test result which results could change our recommendations.
During this feedback session we will explain the diagnosis and recommend treatment.
- Treatment recommendations:
Treatment recommendations will vary from patient to patient. It is impossible to offer a generic version of what our recommendations consist of because they are tailored to the needs of each individual we evaluate. These recommendations may include a combination of the following services: individual psychotherapy to address NES and comorbid psychiatric conditions if present; medication evaluation to treat comorbid psychiatric conditions; referral for neuropsychological evaluation; referral for further evaluation and treatment of specific medical conditions; further studies (neuroimaging , EEG, blood tests, etc) to help solidify the diagnosis; referral for treatment of some comorbid psychiatric conditions that might not be our area of expertise. As explained above the psychotherapy intervention will be tailored to the patient's needs and will be based on the patient's strengths. Not all patients might benefit from all types of interventions. We will discuss the specific interventions that could be helpful during the feedback session.
- Duration of treatment:
It is difficult to answer this question since it will depend on each patient's particular needs. We aim to offer a short-term intervention (15-20 sessions) in terms of psychotherapy; medication interventions can last longer especially when considering continuation and maintenance periods of treatment.