We here at Highlands had the great fortune of sitting down with Michael Cerreto, a devoted Highlands Certified Consultant, to discuss the success of his practice, A Talented Mind Clinic. He has served as a Highlands Consultant for more than 10 years and has successfully created several service offerings that center around the Highlands Ability Battery. What we enjoy most about Michael is his no-nonsense approach to business and his passion for helping young adults understand their true abilities.

Meet Michael

Michael Cerreto A Certified Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapist, Certified Sports Psychology Counselor, Organizational Psychology Consultant, and Owner of A Talented Mind Clinic in Midlothian, Virginia. He graduated from American University and the NTL Institute of Applied Behavioral Science with the program’s highest academic designation of Distinction. He has received numerous certifications including Certification In the Practice of Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CPCRT) through the Society for Cognitive Rehabilitation, Netherlands, and in Brain Injury Family Intervention (BIFI) through the Virginia Commonwealth University Traumatic Brain Injury Model System.

How Michael Uses The Highlands Ability Battery

Over the years, Michael has worked with a variety of organizations and individuals in his private practice, but currently, his focus lies with young women embarking on the life-changing college experience. Through his CollegeSuccess program, he reaches both students and parents during a five-week program that fills in the blind spots that often occur during the college decision-making process.

Michael said, “It is about helping students use the knowledge about their natural abilities to pick the right major and college environment that fit them the best. They also explore how ready they are to live away from home and manage their own lives. Acquiring this personal knowledge before they step foot on a college campus is critical to their long-term success, and Highlands helps them get there.”

Why He Chose Highlands

“For years I had been testing children with learning disabilities,” he explained. “I saw over and over again how children are labeled by their deficits and I thought ‘Why do testing programs assess disability, but none test strengths?’ That’s when I found Highlands, which does identify strengths and is relevant to so many situations.”

“Part of what Highlands does is give parents and students a common language to talk about what the student is good at. This is important because for many years they have been having discussions about what the child is not good at.”

Michael went on to explain that typically the language available to us to describe our teens includes terms like lazy, quirky, and procrastinator for example. With Highlands, the practitioner can get behind those labels and find positive terms to describe the student.

What happens next is a chance for the student to choose a major and choose a career she is actually talented in.

“Most young adults are forced to fit a mold during K-12, but as an adult that mold is optional.”

To learn more about Michael and his CollegeSuccess program visit www.atalentedmind.com.