Dr. April Krowel has been revolutionizing neuropsychological and psychological assessment and psychotherapy in central Indiana through The Brain Center for the past five years.
The Brain Center opened in September 2019. “I never closed my doors during COVID and continued to provide services in person and my business flourished,” Krowel says. “From there, I hired my first two employees in 2020 and had to move to a larger office. I opened my third office in March 2023.”
Now with three centers that are thriving across central Indiana (Indianapolis, Fishers and McCordsville), Krowel plans to eventually merge all offices to function under one roof.
When Krowel started college, she was a history and theater major, but her trajectory completely shifted after the sudden deaths of some of her military colleagues. “Some of my military buddies were dying by suicide, so I changed my major to psychology and decided I would be a therapist,” she says. “From there, my first psychology professor, Dr. Kenneth Guttman, encouraged me to pursue doctoral studies and I laughed it off.”
Krowel ended up specializing in neuropsychological and psychological assessment, when a practicum placement did not work out while she was a doctoral student. “I ended up, very luckily, at IU School of Medicine doing neuropsychological assessments and fell in love with this field.”
At The Brain Center, Krowel uses her specialty to provide neuropsychological and psychological assessments to adults and older individuals, with a wide variety of neurological disorders, medical diagnoses and psychiatric conditions. She is very experienced with areas of dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease), movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, stroke, seizure disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, and psychiatric disorders.
Krowel uses a comprehensive and integrated approach to assessment that begins with a thorough intake interview, followed by testing. “My approach is comprehensive because I assess all functional domains,” she says. “It is integrated because I take what the patient and their loved ones/caregivers report, the test data, the referral information, any lab or brain imaging results, etcetera.”
Krowel strives to help patients understand the impact of a condition on everyday functions and to provide useful recommendations that address the concerns of the patient, family and referring provider. She also offers supportive consultation services for loved ones/caregivers who are caring for those with dementia or other neurodegenerative disease processes. “I offer a therapeutic consultation session to hear their concerns, and to offer suggestions to help them navigate caregiving and/or to provide assistance in behavioral and environmental modifications,” she says.
“I know my military experience influenced my career decisions and has shaped who I am as a mother, wife, boss and community leader,” she adds. “A large part of The Brain Center’s mission is to serve fellow veterans, whether through our VA contracts or by accepting TRICARE and CHAMPVA.”
The Brain Center also serves as a training clinic, where masters- and doctoral-level practicum students provide low-cost services to clients in need. Krowel credits her team as her greatest achievement with the Brain Center. “They are amazing, kind and dedicated to their work,” she says. “They genuinely strive to be better clinicians in order to do what’s best for their clients.”
