As we all know, holistics emphasizes understanding people in their entirety. It is about prioritizing someone's background, culture, mental health, physical health, and so on equally with unconditional positive regard. However, holistics needs to be expanded further- specifically to past or current offenders apart of the criminal justice system who are often written off as bad people who could never change. Forensic psychology is one of the most popular specialties within psychology today. We see countless true crime documentaries, cold case files, serial killer documentaries, and even podcasts about it. As someone who is earning my doctorate in clinical psychology, my end goal is to become a forensic psychologist, whether that be conducting forensic assessments as an evaluator for court or as a treatment provider. Either way, holistics needs to be incorporated so that we do our diligence in assessing and treating someone appropriately. And, as a result, we uphold their constitutional right to a fair trial.
For this special episode, I thought I would bring on one of the most established forensic psychologists in the field. Dr. Lina Haji is a licensed clinical psychologist and licensed mental health counselor specializing in psychodiagnostic assessment, forensic assessment, dual diagnosis, serious and persistent mental illness, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and substance abuse treatment in Miami, Florida. Dr. Haji completed a master’s degree in forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Albizu University, and a doctorate in clinical psychology with a forensic emphasis from Albizu University. Her training includes inpatient and outpatient settings, private forensic practice, and an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship. She was trained at the master’s and doctoral levels in assessing and treating individuals ranging from mild psychiatric symptoms to those with serious and persistent mental illness, dually diagnosed patients, personality disorder patients, and psychopathy. Her clinical experience over the last 20 years includes working with mentally ill and dually diagnosed adults in inpatient and outpatient settings including correctional facilities, substance abuse rehabilitation centers, outpatient clinics, psychiatric hospitals, and private practice in four states, NY, NJ, CA, and FL. In addition, she has supervised master’s level clinicians, and post-doctoral residents, and served as clinical director for a 500-patient maximum-security correctional facility. Her ultimate goal as a psychologist, regardless of population, is to accurately diagnose and identify patient strengths and areas for growth in order to individualize treatment needs and goals better.
Our conversation is rich and like no other. We talk about state vs privatized prisons, the issues and implications of misdiagnoses in the criminal justice system, debunk myths and perceptions about inmates, problems with social media, forensic assessment, perpetuation of violence, getting stuck in the correctional system, self-accountability, the realities of forensic work, and the importance of social justice, policy, and advocacy work.
For More Information About Dr. Lina Haji:
Website: www.rise.psychological.com
Instagram: rise_psychological_services
YouTube: Rise Psychological Services
Other Helpful Forensic Resources:
APA Forensic Psychology Speciality: https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/forensic
The Forensic Psychologist Podcast with Drs Nicole M. Vienna and Lina Haji: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Hvsq410lZtjilboDAmqLf?si=286dbbfee9c34e1a
The Innocence Project: https://innocenceproject.org/the-issues/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpompBhDZARIsAFD_Fp_1n1QILcMTVNz7CLkRGBdU0k0xkJjF0MU9sTs9PDlEGninh4Ri0W8aAt_UEALw_wcB
