Dr. Curtis Mattson has over ten years of experience in psychological evaluations with children, teens, and adults. His assessment experience focuses on learning disabilities and dyslexia, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), pre-surgical evaluations, neurocognitive disorder screenings, and a wide range of personality-based testing for diagnostic clarification and treatment planning.
Dr. Mattson is a licensed psychologist who lives and works in Southwest Missouri. He specializes in psychological evaluations and addiction treatment. He is a former president of the Missouri Psychological Association and has published multiple articles and book chapters on personality assessment, pain psychology, and addictions. His work focuses on assessing personality, cognitive functioning, learning disorders, and pre-surgical evaluations.
EDUCATION
Dr. Mattson graduated from Kickapoo High School in 2000. He then went to the University of Missouri – Columbia and graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Sociology. After graduating from Mizzou, Dr. Mattson moved back to Springfield and completed his Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology from the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology. He completed his pre-doctoral internship with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Florida and then did an 18-month post-doctoral residency at Kent State University.
EXPERIENCE
During Dr. Mattson’s undergraduate studies, he volunteered as a research assistant and gained valuable experience learning about personality development, assessment, and contemporary models of emotion. During graduate school, he focused on forensic and neuropsychology, particularly on personality and cognitive assessment. In addition to his academic studies in graduate school, Dr. Mattson was employed at a neuropsychological practice, Neuropsychological Associates of Southwest Missouri, where he first met Dr. Cline. While at the neuropsychology practice, Dr. Mattson used his master’s degree to provide addiction treatment services to the Greene County Drug Court and gained valuable experience with psychological assessment and interpretation.
After completing his academic coursework, Dr. Mattson did his internship with the Bureau of Prisons. He worked with federal inmates on issues related to substance abuse and recovery and re-entry programs and maintained a caseload of inmates seeking psychological treatment while in custody. After his internship, Dr. Mattson completed a post-doctoral residency at Kent State University. He helped manage the personality assessment research labs and provided instruction and oversight to the Kent State graduate students who were completing their psychological assessment and report writing curriculum. While at Kent State, Dr. Mattson provided pre- and post-trial forensic assessments for the Summit County Felony Courts.
After moving back to Missouri in 2011, he was briefly in private practice before joining a community mental health agency, where he carried a small caseload of therapy patients but spent most of his time completing psychological assessments for adolescent and adult patients. In 2015, Dr. Mattson joined the psychological services team at CoxHealth, focusing on risk assessment and evaluations related to medical decision-making.
TEACHING
Dr. Mattson is a life-long learner and loves opportunities to teach. He has been an adjunct faculty member at Missouri State University since 2016, teaching classes on Research Design, Statistics, Personality Psychology, and the Psychology of Addictions. At CoxHealth, he provides in-service education and training on the mental health aspects of healthcare, integrated healthcare, and employee wellness.
CURRENT FOCUS AND INTERESTS
Dr. Mattson evaluates children, adolescents, and adults for concerns related to cognitive problems (including dyslexia, other learning disorders, dementia screenings, and others), diagnostic clarification to assist in treatment planning and optimization, and pre-surgical evaluations. Away from his work obligations, Dr. Mattson enjoys coaching youth sports, scuba diving, and spending time with his family.
