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Expanding Your Practice Into Forensic Work
In the late ‘90s, I went through two
transitions. The first was law school, which I started in ’97, and the
second had to do with forensic practice. Between the late ‘70s, when I
realized that my clinical practice was strong and satisfying, until the
late ‘80s, when I grew increasingly resentful of the incursion of
managed care into the mental health system (I trained to be a
“professional” – not “labor”), I was very happy in my work as a
treater. I had little contact with the forensic world and that was
actually quite ok with me, as the hassles of dealing with the
adversarial world of forensics seemed too much to pull me in that
direction. 1
Starting a Custody Evaluation Practice, by Phil Stahl, Ph.D
Many
psychologists are frustrated by changes in the field and difficulties
with managed-care.
There is encouragement for psychologists to
diversify their work. Many psychologists are returning
to a
primarily fee-for-service therapy practice, some are moving into a sport
psychology practice,
and others are moving into the field of
executive coaching. A more natural transition for many
family
psychologists is into the field of child custody. Most psychologists
have been trained in
performing evaluations, and most therapists
have worked with divorced families. Psychologists are
used to
assessing family dynamics in order to help the restructuring family
adjust. It is natural to
assume that a transition into the field of
child custody evaluations should be easy. The purpose of
this
brief blog is to suggest some ethical considerations, training
suggestions, and reading that will
assist the family psychologist
who wants to get more involved in this burgeoning field. 1