Fitness for Duty Evaluations
Written by: Steven
Frankel, Ph.D., J.D. & Adam Alban, Ph.D., J.D.
So you’re a forensic psychologist who does fitness for duty evaluations and you have contracts with insurance companies, colleges, agencies and other organizations to perform evaluations of their employees. And, as is often the case, the contract you have, which was probably drafted by the other party, specifically states that the contracting company controls the records of the evaluations, such that you are not free to provide them to the evaluees (who are, after all, “evaluees” and not your “clients” – the contracting companies are the “clients”).
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