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Expert-Witness-Psychologist.com
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Services ...
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Relevant forensic psychological examination areas include:
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- Employment1
[Sexual harassment, racial and gender discrimination, ADA
claims],
- Emotional
damages
[CR35 evaluations, including PTSD, depression, and other
psychological claims for 'emotional' damages], and
- Family
issues
[Custody, visitation, adoption, and termination of parental
rights].
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How is a forensic psychological opinion formed? In the workplace, or after an alleged tort or accident, the forensic psychologist may be asked to consider whether a claimed disability is valid, and whether it is also related to the workplace setting or tort. Is
a claimed impairment subject to the ADA mandate for accommodation? What is the validity and extent of tort related damage claims, such as emotional injury or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
By examining
areas of inquiry, including risk factors for misdiagnosis, misattribution, malingering, or motivation for secondary gain, a formulation of an expert opinion as to the validity, nature, and extent of the claims at
issue are made.
Psychological testing: Psychological testing provides invaluable potential for appraising function, intellectual potential, impulse control, emotional stability, interpersonal relating, reasoning, adjustment to new circumstances, and the domains of personality. The results of this appraisal can be thoughtfully integrated with other available clinical and collateral information, providing answers to such questions as:
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- Is there a disability?
- What is the disability?
- How disabled?
- Is this a case of malingering?
- What do the records and the available information reflect?
- Or, is this a case where the injury developed as a result of
– workplace discrimination or harassment?
- What is the sensitivity?
- How developed are coping strategies for the interpersonal
– challenges of daily life?
- What are possible causes?
- What is the prognosis?
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Malingering: One of the key components of a psychological exam, and one of the skills unique to psychologists, is ruling out the presence of malingering.
Malingering is a medical or psychiatric condition in which symptoms are fabricated, with or without the assistance of a healthcare provider.
Typically the plaintiff claims to have a series of non-existent problems. The healthcare provider may be unsuspecting, accepting the patient's complaints at face value.
On closer examination,
often with use of tests designed specifically to detect malingering, the psychiatric condition or injury that resulted from the incident is exaggerated for financial gain. There is a marked
discrepancy between the person's claimed symptoms and the medical or psychiatric findings.
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Child Custody Evaluations:
A child custody evaluation, as opposed to a CR35 evaluation, is typically ordered by the Court. Both parents, significant others, and the children, as well as available records and sources of collateral information are interviewed and reviewed following well established practice procedures of the American Psychological Association and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Psychological testing also plays a role, as it does in employment or CR35 evaluations, but the focus is on parenting capacity and strengths 'in the child's best interests' as opposed to a
determination of disability or malingering. More complete information and guides to resources regarding custody evaluations may be found by scrolling to the RESOURCES and PUBLICATIONS page.
Records review and CLE training: Your cases are too important to learn by poring through psychological texts that were written for psychologists. Will you have time to go to a conference? And, who there will explain to you what you need to know? At times a thorough review of another expert's work for the purpose of assisting in the examination of that expert may be more helpful to settling a case than is an independent evaluation.
When there is more lead time Expert-Witness-Psychologist.com can offer a variety of informative lectures, custom created to fit the needs of your firm's case focus, and hosted at your firm.
Our administrative staff will work with your continuing legal education coordinator to discuss the areas which you wish to focus your training in. This service has been offered to numerous South
Florida firms and is available to any firm in any jurisdiction in the United States. Presentations include the following:
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- Audience participation
- Examples from experience with actual cases
- Authoritative question and answer sessions.
- Clear, outlined, and appropriately referenced courtroom relevant handouts.
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1 http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/eeo/99/eeo34.pdf
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