Beginning or Adding a Forensic Component to an Independent Clinical Practice

It is often difficult to begin to integrate a forensic component into an already established independent clinical practice as estimates of time allotment and other necessary areas may not be known. This workshop will cover such diverse items as: generating case referrals, needed expertise, learning court requirements including deadlines, flexibility with other scheduling demands, and record-keeping. A focus will be on differences between clinical and forensic psychology roles. We will discuss the areas you can control by consulting with lawyers along with those you cannot, such as court scheduling demands and how to deal with them.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will learn:

1. Three different ways to generate referrals for forensic cases.
2. A plan to systematically review one’s areas of competence in being an expert witness.
3. Identify the simple demands in most courts for experts such as dress, phone etiquette, time constraints.
4. Understand how to keep a legal record.

References:

Shapiro, D. & Walker, L. (2019). Forensic practice for the mental health clinician. New York: TPI

Walker, L.E., Shapiro, D.L. & Akl, S. (2020). Introduction to forensic psychology: Clinical & Social Perspectives. Second Ed. New York:Springer Nature