Forensic Psychology is the application of the science and practice of psychology to questions and issues relating to law and the legal system. The word “forensic” comes from the Latin word “forensis,” meaning “of the forum,” where the law courts of ancient Rome were held. Thus, in Forensic Psychology the Court and attorneys are always involved. Most often there is a Court Order for an evaluation or for treatment. Sometimes an attorney will be preemptive, requesting an evaluation or therapy for the client prior to an upcoming Court Hearing.
Most mental health professionals avoid dealing with patients who are involved in any legal issue — they would rather have a root canal! Only a small minority of mental health professionals have the experience, competence and wherewithal to assist the Court in a useful and productive manner. I have over 35 years of experience in providing forensic mental health services. I have testified as an expert witness more than 400 times in State and Federal Courts, providing expert testimony in Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota and Arizona. I have testified in both Civil and Criminal cases and have served as an expert witness for the prosecution and the defense. In 2019, I was an expert in three murder cases, doing psychological evaluations in two cases and testifying at Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole in a Clemency Hearing for a death penalty case. I am a Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator (NCCE) and a Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator (NCPC) in the Professional Academy of Custody Experts (PACE). I provide a variety of forensic psychology services, including:
Custody Evaluations Statistically speaking, when parents divorce they usually come to an agreement about custody without having to present the case to a Judge. But sometimes the parents just can’t agree, and the Judge will therefore decide custody of the children. In Georgia, the Judge is authorized to Order a “Psychological Custody Evaluation” {see O.C.G.A. 19-9-3 (a) (7)}. As a custody evaluator I am considered a “Friend of the Court,” there to provide an objective and neutral professional opinion to help the Court rule on a case. The role of the psychologist is to make recommendations that are in the “best interests of the child.” Keep in mind there are two different types of custody. Legal Custody means a parent has the legal responsibilities and privileges of being the legal parent. For example, the parent can take the child to the doctor, travel out of state with the child, enroll the child in a school, etc. The Judge may give one parent “final decision-making authority” over one or more areas, but that doesn’t mean it’s not “Joint Legal Custody.” (The four areas are medical, education, extra-curricular, and religion). Physical Custody refers to which parent the child resides with at least 40% of the time. If both parents have the child(ren) at least 40% of the time, it is usually considered “Joint Physical Custody.” Unless parental rights are terminated for being an unfit parent, most of the time both parents will retain Joint Legal Custody of the child(ren); i.e., they are both the legal parents and both retain the legal responsibilities and privileges of being a parent. When parents argue over “custody,” they most often mean Physical Custody, not Legal Custody. Typically, a custody evaluation takes several weeks to a few months to complete. It is a long and tedious process. For a custody evaluation I conduct psychological testing on all family members, interview all family members several times spread out over weeks and observe the interactions of various combinations of family members. I review a lot of Court documents, affidavits, medical records, school records, letters, text messages, emails, etc. I interview “collaterals,” i.e., friends, neighbors, teachers, nannies, doctors, other therapists, etc. This take a lot of time. I try my best to give the best professional opinion I can, and that is what you want me to do! Just so you know, I most often have no real idea of what my recommendations will be until I sit down and write the custody evaluation report. Depending on the case, my custody evaluation reports are usually 35–70 pages long. I try to maintain an open mind throughout the entire process, simply taking down data and not analyzing it until I have enough to make a final determination. In other words, I try to not let any early perception bias the data collection. Attorneys and patients frequently ask for my “preliminary thoughts” about a case, but I don’t answer. The message here is: don’t ask! Attorneys often ask other attorneys if they have any experience with me. Some attorneys have actually told me they heard I most often recommend that custody be awarded to the mother. Other attorneys have mentioned they have heard I most often recommend the father have custody. These are both gross misperceptions! I always side with what I think is in the best interests of the particular child(ren), in a particular family, at that particular time. It’s a case-by-case determination. |
Yes, I have recommended some mothers have custody of their children, and I have also recommended for some fathers. So, one attorney may have heard about three cases where I supported the mother having custody in two of the three, and another attorney may have heard about three other cases in which I recommended the father have custody in two out of those three. Since I have conducted literally dozens of custody evaluations over the last 30+ years, a sample size of three cases is totally inadequate to predict my tendencies. I think the tendency you can count on is that I work hard, that I am conscientious and professional, and that I will give my very best effort to recommend what I believe to be in the children’s best interests.
Reunification Therapy When parents are separated or divorced, a child might refuse to visit the other parent for many different reasons. It could be the natural, logical consequences of a parent’s behavior; for example, if the parent has been mentally, physically or sexually abusive to the child. Other times, the child may still refuse any and all contact with the parent despite there being no evidence whatsoever of any type of abuse or neglect. This alienation may extend to the parent’s family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins), friends and even pets. It gets complicated when the children are teenagers; you can’t just pick them up and strap them into the back seat of a car. In this situation, the Judge may issue a Court Order for Reunification Therapy. Sometimes the problem is parental alienation. This happens when a parent, consciously or unconsciously, “poisons the well” (so to speak) and turns a child against the other parent through obvious and subtle methods. Bad-mouthing and criticizing the other parent in front of the child are obvious ways a parent may foment alienation. Acting like the child’s safety is at risk when with the other parent may seem more subtle, but it gives the message to the child that the other parent is irresponsible, not safe and cannot be trusted. A parent giving a six year old child a cell phone to call him or her “just in case” while that child is with the other parent implies that the other parent is incompetent and unreliable. The end result is that a child may take on the anger and rage of one parent against the other. Over a period of time, the child may feel that he or she must choose sides, that it is not okay to love both parents and that to show love and respect for one parent is to be disloyal and disrespectful to the other. Most of the time when a child is estranged from a parent, it’s a combination of many factors. Most of the time (not all) the estranged parent hasn’t been abusive, but he or she has made some significant mistakes in parenting. Most of the time (not all) the favored parent isn’t purposely and maliciously going out of his or her way to sabotage the other parent’s relationship with the child, but he or she isn’t helping either, reinforcing the child’s anger and disdain for the estranged parent. When parents make it all-or-nothing, black-or-white (abusive or parental alienation), the family gets stuck in this dysfunctional family pattern which can go on for years, even decades. I have a lot of experience doing Reunification Therapy. It is the hardest thing I do in my professional life, and it is often a thankless process. The vast majority of therapists won't touch a reunification case with a ten-foot pole. Frequently, no one is happy during the process. The only reason they are there is because the Judge ordered them to be. One parent or attorney may think I am proceeding too slowly, while the other may believe I am going too quickly or pushing too much. Both parents may think I am being too hard on them and not hard enough on the other and may question whose side I am on. The answer is that I am on the children’s side, not either of the parents’. I got into this business to make a difference in families' lives, and Reunification Therapy can produce life-altering results. I have seen excellent results with some families but have also seen some families with no positive results at all or with some improvement but less positive results than desired. In my experience, the cases that got the best results were when the estranged parent listened to me and clearly followed my instructions. The families where there were not positive results were the families where the estranged parent was too invested in proving the other parent was at total fault and that he or she was the innocent victim. In fact, they were so invested in proving their innocence they couldn’t take instructions from me. This pattern was not always the case, but it has happened enough to show a clear trend. At times I have to address head-on the obvious and subtle ways one parent alienates the child from the other parent, but this does no good if the other parent isn’t following my instructions. It doesn’t help to confront one parent if the other parent is “shooting himself or herself in the foot” (so to speak). So, the question often boils down to what do you really want more: (a) a relationship with your child or (b) vindication and proving the other parent is at fault? Too many times the parents' words say (a), but their behavior indicates (b). As a psychologist, I am interested in seeing people change. I want to see the relationships between parent and child be healed more than I want a parent to get vindication. I have never seen vindication bring reunification, and I have NEVER heard of a child saying, “Thanks to the Court Ruling, I can now clearly see how I was manipulated by one parent to hate the other parent.” It just doesn’t happen! The good news is that reunification brings about the possibility of eventual vindication. But you have to put the horse in front of the cart. It should be noted that I require a Court Order before I will conduct a Custody Evaluation or Reunification Therapy. The Court Order should specify exactly what is expected and who is responsible for payment. |