The Forensic Psychologist Podcast

A very important component of having a private forensic practice is to network and create lasting relationships with colleagues in the field. You must make sure your work is above board, accurate, and usable in a court of law because forensic psychologists are held to higher ethical standards than their clinical counterparts. In today's episode, I spoke with Dr. Brenna Tindall about how these elements assist with building a forensic private practice and becoming a forensic psychologist. In addition, we chatted about the following:

-Self-care and knowing your limits in forensic work

-Forensic practice business models (being a consultant and mitigation expert)

-The use of an engagement letter

-How to get referrals

Moses Castillo is a retired law enforcement detective. He decided to join law enforcement to help others and based on the trials of his childhood. A police detective’s primary objective is to get to the truth, advocate for the victim, and practice respect when engaging with the community. A detective must be confession orientated and methodical when investigating crime scenes as well as be proficient in report writing and interpersonal skills. Today, I talked with Detective Moses Castillo about the following:

-Why he chose law enforcement as a career and his journey.

-The detective’s role in a case.

-What was his work like as a child sexual abuse detective

- His retirement gig and role

- Advice to students interested in applying for a career in law enforcement

Episode 18: Competency to Stand Trial Evaluations with Dr. Roxanne Rassti is LIVE!

Competency evaluations are a large part of forensic psychology as they are a major crossroad between psychology and the law. Evaluating competency is assessing if a defendant is unable to understand the nature of the criminal proceedings or to assist counsel in the conduct of a defense in a rational manner as a result of a mental health disorder or developmental disability.

Today I spoke with Dr. Roxanne Rassti about:

-What are competency evaluations?

-What are the differences between juvenile and adult competency evaluations?

-Relevant statues/case law

-Approaches to competency evaluations

-Reporting on competency evaluations

-Experience working in state/forensic hospitals

-Ethical considerations as it pertains to competency evaluations

In this episode, graduate student, Caroline interviews Dr. Vienna about her career as a forensic psychologist for a school project.

They talk about:

- theoretical orientation

-populations worked with

-barriers encountered in early stages of the career

-balancing academic, work, and personal life

-changes needed in the mental health field

- the least favorite part of being a forensic psychologist

- favorite part of the job

-how to prepare for an assessment

-working with resistant or difficult clients

-maintaining positive mental health while being a forensic psychologist

-general tips and recommendations for someone who is starting in the field of forensic psychology

Child custody evaluations live in and are a product of family court. Child custody hearings are data driven collection missions by the court to determine the best interest(s) and outcomes of the child/children in precarious situations or environments. These types of trials are extraordinarily difficult and a main reason for this is because of fundamental personal differences and stipulations from state to state. Child custody evaluations occur when a judge is unable to make a sound decision about the child's future wellbeing based on information provided, and requests further assessment be done to better be able to make a decision. This further assessment is a child custody evaluation and is performed by a forensic psychologist. Today, I talked to Dr. Chris Mulchay about the following:

-What are child custody evaluations

-Why would you conduct a child custody evaluation

-How to conduct these types of evaluations

-Approaches to child custody evaluations

-When would you conduct a child custody evaluation?

-Best ethical and competent practices for child custody evaluations

-What kind of training/experience is needed to conduct these types of evaluations

Threat Assessment evaluations are a specialized area of forensic psychology that can be and often is confused or combined with other types of risk assessments. Threat assessments do not evaluate reactive violence, but predatory and planned violence and are the science of preventing preplanned or deliberate acts of violence. Behavioral pre- indicators such as poor decision-making skills, grudges, fixation, and history of violence are all factors forensic psychologists who specialize in conducting threat assessments look for.

Today, I talked with Dr. Stephanie Leite about a broad overview of threat assessments and

-What specifically are threat assessments?

-Myths surrounding threat assessments

-How threat assessments are different from violence risk evaluations

-Her approach to threat assessments

-What a threat assessment report looks like

-Types of training to get if you are interested in conducting professional threat assessments

Psychosexual Assessments are a particularly sensitive pillar of Forensic Psychology. Psychosexual assessments do not automatically equate to criminal activity as these assessments can be done in both family and criminal court. These assessments analyze sexual interest, and the likelihood of the assessed doing sexual harm in the future. Personality, cognitive thought processes, sexual history/behavior/ and interest, and risk factors are determining components in psychosexual assessments. Today I spoke with Dr. John Delatorre about Psychosexual Assessments and

- What are psychosexual assessments specifically

-Sexual development/deviancy information and case law

-Approaches to these types of evaluations

- Layout of what a psychosexual assessment looks like

-Where to get referrals

- Ethical Considerations

-Training needed

Upcoming training opportunity through The Forensic Mental Health Association of California (FMHAC) - Assessment for Violence: Key Concepts, Tools, and Practice.

Date: August 23, 2021

Location: Sacramento, CA.

Insanity evaluations are one of the hallmarks of forensic psychology. It is not a frequently raised defense because it can be extremely difficult to establish. Evaluators review records and other collateral information. Then they meet with the defendant to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the defendant’s thinking and behavior before, during, and after the offense. Sometimes this includes administering psychological and neuropsychological tests. Today, I talked with Dr. Michael Collins about insanity evaluations and

-training needed to perform these evaluations

-ethical considerations like managing bias

-a systemic approach to these kinds of evaluations

-why neuropsychological measures may be used

-advice to students or early career psychologist getting into this work

In this quick episode, I answer the top 3 questions I received from student listeners over the last month! Good questions and keep them coming.