Sol Rappaport, Ph.D., ABPP
Sol R. Rappaport, Ph.D., ABPP is board certified in both Clinical Psychology and Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Specializing in forensic evaluations, forensic consultation and psychological testing, he has been appointed to conduct over 800 custody evaluations over the past 20 years. Dr. Rappaport has specific expertise in conducting evaluations with allegations of alienation, interpersonal/domestic violence, relocation, and special needs children. In addition to conducting psychological evaluations on children and parents in civil cases, Dr. Rappaport conducts criminal evaluations including Competency/Fitness to Stand Trial, Mental State at Time of Offense, and Downward Departure evaluations. He regularly testifies on a national basis and throughout the state of Illinois. Dr. Rappaport is the President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Illinois Chapter and is on their Board of Directors and Executive Board.
Dr. Rappaport also provides consultation services to attorneys and their clients at all levels of the litigation process. Dr. Rappaport reviews custody evaluations to help attorneys analyze methodology and provide guidance for trial preparation including assistance with deposition, and trial direct and cross-examination questions of witnesses. In other cases, Dr. Rappaport is asked to be an expert witness and testify regarding the methodological and problems associated with an evaluation that has been conducted. Dr. Rappaport has testified regarding the reliability of other custody evaluations. Dr. Rappaport also testifies as an expert witness on a variety of issues, including, but not limited to the proper assessment of, and research on alienation, relocation, grandparent involvement, overnights for young children, as well as many other topics.
Dr. Rappaport has been honored to present nationally to a variety of professional audiences on custody and other topics. He has been asked to speak to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), the American Bar Association (ABA), the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) and various state/local bar associations and state chapters of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He has spoken on topics related to custody evaluations including alienation, relocation, the impact of divorce on children, Autism in custody evaluations, the cross-examination of psychological testing, deconstructing child custody evaluations, as well as a variety of other topics. He has trained both attorneys and mental health professionals on the use of psychological testing in custody evaluations. He has also trained other mental health professionals in how to conduct custody evaluations. Dr. Rappaport has served on faculty of the Houston Family Law Trial Institute, the Oklahoma Bar Association Trial Advocacy Institute and the American Bar Association/National Institute for Trial Advocacy Family Law Trial Institute. Dr. Rappaport has been interviewed for the Wall Street Journal and has been a guest on radio shows.
In addition to his forensic practice, Dr. Rappaport is a co-founder of four therapeutic day schools; two for children and adolescents with emotional/behavioral difficulties, one for children and adolescents with autism, and one that has both a program for children and adolescents with emotional/behavioral difficulties and a program for students with autism. As a result, he also specializes in conducting and reviewing forensic evaluations involving children with Autism or other special needs. He also performs educational testing and risk assessments for local school districts and police agencies. Dr. Rappaport has trained psychologists from a variety of doctoral programs in psychological testing and violence risk assessments. Finally, Dr. Rappaport also is available to consult to schools on the development of programs for children with special needs.
Dr. Rappaport has numerous professional publications including recent articles in Family Law Quarterly and Family Court Review. Other publications include a book on the prevention of sexual abuse among developmentally delayed children and adolescence. He has also written peer reviewed journal articles, and completed other professional writings as well, including a chapter in an edited book published by JAI Press. Dr. Rappaport is currently co-authoring a book chapter on the detection of deception in child custody evaluations.