EDUCATION:
BA 1974, MA 1980 Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
LICENSURE:
1. Current Limited Licensed Psychologist
(permanent Master's level), since 1981.
2. Licensed Master Social Worker (highest level) State of Michigan,
since 1983.
FORENSIC EXPERIENCE:
2/95 - presently I have a full-time private practice at Brock Counseling and Evaluation in
Wyandotte. The vast majority of my cases at this time are:
·
Court Ordered Psychological Evaluations and Recommendations for Custody (approx. 400 done to date)
·
Taped forensic interviews of children suspected of being abused
·
Mediations
·
Parenting Coordinator Appointments
·
Driver Assessment and Appeal Division Evaluations
·
Domestic Violence Evaluation and Treatment
·
As part of these evaluations, I have often had to assess the credibility of
allegations of physical or sexual abuse. The most important aspect of this task is to obtain a
proper, videotaped forensic interview with the child, alleged perpetrator, and complaining party,
and to follow the chain of evidence in order to determine the degree of contamination.
·
More recently, I have done case preparation or treatment in a few criminal
cases. I have done substance abuse evaluations since 1974,
and have found that the most useful information in these cases is usually provided by persons other
than the substance abuser; typically consisting of a cluster of psychosocial symptoms which are highly
indicative of substance dependence.
NON-FORENSIC PRACTICE:
.
I still do a small amount of General Practice work, Marital and Family Counseling, and work with Adolescents.
.
I also do the psychological evaluations for the City of Ecorse Police and Fire Departments.
.
1/85 - 2/95 Practice at Downriver Guidance Clinic, and with Dr. Young Kwon, Southgate, Michigan.
.
2/95 - 2/98 General practice at Evergreen Counseling Center.
.
1/77 - 1/83 Substance abuse therapist at Garden City Hospital and Hegira Alcohol Treatment Center, wrote and conducted didactic sessions
on the Disease Concept of Alcoholism, group and individual therapy.
OTHER EXPERIENCE:
Academic advisor WSU 1975‑1977, pro baseball player, 1965 and 1968. Military Police, US Army 1966‑1968
(honorable discharge).
PERSONAL:
Born 9/20/46, 6' 3", 210 Ibs. Good health. Single, Adult daughter.
PUBLICATIONS:
From March 2000-present I have written a monthly article for:
THE DETROIT LEGAL NEWS; AND THE OAKLAND COUNTY LEGAL NEWS.
The following articles are a partial list of topics covered in monthly articles published over the last few
years regarding treatment, forensic work, and related subjects in these publications:
Professional Case Preparation
More and more scientific evidence, or quasi-scientific evidence, is being presented in the court, and the courts
tend to place a high degree of credibility in these reports, regardless of whether the report merits such credibility. In fact, courts
routinely allow evidence which both the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association have deemed is
unreliable. But how is one to distinguish between good and bad science..?
The Pitfalls of Expert Testimony
Recently the Michigan Supreme Court rules committee voted to recommend seriously limiting the nature and amount of testimony that could
be given by an expert witness…This is a good thing…Unfortunately, the new rules regarding who can testify in the court, or the limits of opinions expressed by
these experts, will not change the most grievous errors made by members of our profession…
Why Forensic Interviews Favor the Accuser
Protocol is not followed from the beginning interview, which often consists of leading questions by parents and rarely
includes a narrative, which is the best form of evidence in these cases…Forensic interviews never end: the accuser can keep making allegations
until they find someone who believes them...
The Pitfalls of Expert Testimony
Recently the Michigan Supreme Court rules committee voted to recommend seriously limiting the nature and amount of testimony that could
be given by an expert witness…This is a good thing…Unfortunately, the new rules regarding who can testify in the court, or the limits of opinions expressed by
these experts, will not change the most grievous errors made by members of our profession…
When Abuse Allegations Are Valid
...It is generally agreed among mental health professionals that sexual abuse is more damaging than almost any
other abuse that can be inflicted on a child, short of permanent physical disfigurement or debilitating injury…Both men and women who have been sexually
abused experience profoundly damaged self-esteem. They tend to blame themselves, feeling deeply guilty and ashamed, thinking they must have done something wrong to bring on the abuse…The victim’s
sense of boundaries is profoundly affected. In most cases they have been exploited by someone whose job it was to protect them, totally violating their sense of security and safety....
Diagnosing Substance Abuse in Forensic Cases
The two most useful instruments for diagnosing alcoholism and alcohol abuse are 1. The reports of significant others, and 2. The psychosocial construct of
symptoms associated with the condition. Family members often give information confirmatory of abuse and/or alcoholism, even though they may not realize at the time. Such symptoms are...
Nurture vs. Structure
Rarely can it be said of an entire society that everyone missed the boat. Even when it is said,
it is rarely the case. Yet there are some ideas that take hold of a culture that are very wrong and do great harm, but no one seems to get it—at least at the time.
To say that I have discovered such a case of universally accepted error seems even to myself to be presumptuous, yet I believe it to be true…
The Need to Discern Valid from Invalid Scientific Evidence
...Medical and/or other scientific evidence decides an increasing number of legal cases;
especially abuse cases in which the children are not old enough to testify themselves. It seems unlikely, however,
that the state will follow the AMA recommendation that every effort be made to hire objective experts, preferably having them selected by the court. To do so is not the customary method of
proceeding in our adversarial system. Moreover, it takes power out of the hands of the attorneys on both sides
of the case to influence the outcome. Judges, who are lawyers also, are unlikely to make a decision that they
would perceive as limiting the ability of attorneys to present their case...
Ethical Issues and Relations with the Legal Profession
APA Guidelines For Child Custody Evaluations (Excerpts)…The Psychologist avoids multiple relationships. Psychologists generally avoid conducting a
child custody evaluation in a case in which the psychologist served in a therapeutic role for the child or his or her immediate family or has other
involvement that may compromise the psychologist’s objectivity…The psychologist does not give any opinion regarding the psychological functioning of any
individual who has not been personally evaluated…Code Of Ethics Of The National Association Of Social Workers (Excerpts) Conflicts of Interests…Social workers
should be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest that interfere with the exercise of professional discretion and impartial judgment…Social workers
should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients or former clients in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the
client...
Forensic Interviewing In Sex Abuse Cases: the State of the Art
In the book, Investigative Interviews of Children, the basis for the Michigan Protocol for Interviewing Children Suspected of
Abuse, the authors, Drs. Deborah Poole and Michael Lamb, report the following distinctions between forensic and non-forensic interviewing beginning at P.
106: "…Many professionals who work with children were trained primarily to provide services after the need for
intervention had already been identified…the underlying assumptions of therapeutic interviews often undermine or contradict those that guide
investigative interviews, and thus most authors warn against professionals assuming dual roles with individual clients…"
Parental Alienation
...The majority of these cases—at least the ones that result in legal action—involve a deliberate
attempt to remove the child from contact with the target parent for reasons that address the needs of the parent doing the alienating, rather than the
child. The motivation for this alienation is usually either the convenience of the alienating parent, or a willingness to use the children to inflict revenge on a hated ex-spouse...
Treatment Professionals Beware
...Much has been written on the legal and ethical reasons treatment professionals ought not to provide evidence in court. Essentially, the reasons are that in most
cases it is both bad psychology and bad law. Because a treating therapist develops a therapeutic alliance with his
client, the treatment professional is not equipped offer objective testimony. Furthermore, satisfactory evidence to support a treatment diagnosis is woefully inadequate under current
forensic standards...
Let the Children Have A Voice
...The question of whether the child will have a voice in such cases is an
important one. Most of the forensic psychologists that I have talked to believe that the children's opinions should
be offered to the court and the attorneys in the report. I agree. Which of us would feel that we had received due process if we were not
allowed in the courtroom and not provided with legal representation in a process that is ostensibly intended to serve our best interests?
The Strategy of False Allegations
...It is not hard to achieve the complete brainwashing of a child in these circumstances. The research on child development has
concluded that children between the ages of three and five years old cannot clearly distinguish what they remember from what they have been told they
remember. Actually, this information is not new; Jean Piaget, considered to be the father of developmental psychology, pointed it out anecdotally in Play, Dreams, and Imitation back in 1962
(when he) related a story of his own abduction from—and subsequent rescue by—his nanny. He reports having a very
vivid recollection of the incident. The only problem was that it had never happened; it turned out to have been a hoax, perpetrated by his nanny for the apparent purpose of ingratiating herself to
Piaget’s parents. Later in life she got religion and felt the need to confess the lie in a letter to his parents. So, Piaget had a vivid recollection of
something he later learned had never happened...
Sex Crimes, Forensic Truth and Videotape
...Despite the fact that the American Psychological Association position paper on the polygraph puts its
reliability at 61% (Or 11% higher than a random guess), attorneys, prosecutors, police and the general public continue to place a high degree of credibility
upon this measure of physiological stress responses to probative questions...
To Tell the Truth
... (Michigan) protocol does not require that the process be videotaped, although the research and supporting literature suggest that taping is desirable. Anyone who has taped this process is aware
that much goes on in an interview of this sort that cannot be captured in notes, and that taping is clearly the best way to get at and preserve the truth. Moreover, the literature (quoted
in previous articles) recommends taping the process at the earliest possible interview. This has several advantages: It cuts down on the number of necessary interviews, and hence the traumatic
impact, to the child being interviewed; it prevents distortion over time, which can and does occur as a result of repeated questioning about the same subject;
and it records the degree of interviewer influence...
Anger Management: Some Old Ideas About A Hot Topic
The ability to develop negotiation skills is essential to being able to meet one’s own needs in a socially acceptable manner.The “win-win” philosophy is a concept that anyone involved in
negotiations (like psychologists and lawyers) as part of their work takes for granted, yet it is a novel concept for many who have been raised in an
environment where there was always a winner who got what they wanted and a loser who rarely did. If a person can develop the notion that “both of us can get our needs met if we talk it out”,
they are less likely to resort to force out of fear that it is the only way to win. But as Dr. Abraham Low said, “Temper blocks insight”, so we need to “drop the temper, while expressing the
feeling (concern)…”
MRE 703, The Effects of the Rule Change on Expert Testimony in Family Court
...Legally then, there is still a gap between what is deemed to be ethical mental health practice by our own ethics codes, and what is permissible
testimony under law. And it is not that the law does not recognize the difference between treatment and investigation; the child protection statute mandates that investigations conducted by State
employees follow a protocol adopted by the State for such purposes. Unfortunately, the law does not yet cover all mental health practitioners working independently or in free-standing
clinics, so these investigations disguised as therapy continue to be legal for those who don’t know they are unethical, while they are illegal for those who
know the difference…Time for another rule change?
False Allegations of Sexual Abuse: What Can Be Done
...One insightful judge asked a treatment professional, who was testifying in a case in which I was involved, why the mother and child were doing treatment for a problem which had
to do with the father’s relationship with the child. The obvious answer was that what was going on was not treatment at all, but investigation. But a fair
investigation also involves an attempt to obtain information from all parties involved. Treatment professionals in these cases see themselves as having a responsibility to “crack the case” by
getting the child to admit the abuse that everyone knows happened. They often put enormous pressure on a child over an extended period of time to disclose, and children often cave in under
such pressure...
The Therapist As Advocate
...Judge William Giovan of the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County, Michigan has stated that the main reason for his campaign to revise MRE 703 was to get
rid of this meaningless, costly and time-consuming misuse of the Courts’ time and resources. If the mental health professional has a role in the Courts, it is as the Court’s expert who is there
to provide objective evidence. Providing a partisan argument is the lawyer’s domain...
Parental Alienation II: Why Common Sense Doesn’t Work
...It is only reasonable then, to reintroduce the child to the alienated parent gradually; perhaps initially through a supervised parenting establishment for an hour a week; then
through supervision by a trusted relative for longer periods of time; and then proceeding on to unsupervised parenting time.
By this time the child would have had enough face time with the alienated parent to reestablish the bond with this parent, and could make a
smooth transition to a regular parenting time schedule with a minimum of psychological trauma…Common sense would dictate this approach…(but) In this particular instance, involving both law and psychology,
the common sense approach has almost no chance of working. If we look beneath the surface, the reasons it doesn’t work are fairly
obvious...
Current Standards for Driver License Renewal Evaluations
The New SUBSTANCE ABUSE EVALUATION (ALCOHOL AND DRUGS) AND REQUEST FOR HEARING requests far more information than previously sought by evaluators handling
these cases. It also affords hearing officers the authority to reach conclusions about clients they have not done sufficient evaluation to assess, such as mental health diagnosis and its impact
on sobriety. Moreover, they may not be qualified to offer an opinion on the subject if they had. Since the opinions issued by these officers do not contain their credentials, or even their first names, it is hard to know
what they are qualified to determine. However, in addition to the information traditionally asked for in substance abuse evaluations, the DAAD is currently requiring...
Recovery Inc.: The Best Kept Secret I Know
...Most people are very familiar with the success of groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and the many spin-off groups that are based on the 12-step
model. What surprises me is that more people are not aware of the most effective support group I have found for treating anxiety and depressive neurosis, and even more serious forms of these
conditions. The group I am referring to is Recovery, Inc...
The Most Committed Wins (The Psychology of War)
I don’t know whether the war in Iraq is necessary or not …I am reminded of the words of Gandhi, when he
asked, “What person would not rather be ruled by a despot from his own country than a benign power from a foreign country?”…We are finding, and will continue
to find, our enemy to be highly resolved, and to have a level of commitment beyond our comprehension. I believe this is true because he is fighting for national autonomy, protection of his
religion and culture, and the right to control and profit from his own natural resources. These goals are powerful motivators…The psychology of modern warfare is basically quite simple; the most
committed will prevail in the end. Take away all the hype and posturing and I see no indication that we are any more committed in this war than we were in Korea, Viet Nam, Iran, Somalia, etc. Therefore, I have no reason to believe that
the outcome will be any different...
Acquiring Forensic Expertise
...Acquiring forensic expertise can be a very hazardous process, especially for someone who has no interest in participating in the courts to begin with. But there
are a few basic principles that are helpful to keep in mind in dealing with cases that either are all ready, or have a good chance of becoming forensic. When I am involved in such a case I make it
clear from the beginning just what my involvement is in the case. If I am the treatment professional in a marital case, I explain from the beginning that I take no notes in these cases
except as may be required by law (if, for example, one of my clients may be homicidal or suicidal and I have made a referral or have a duty to warn), that
I will decline to honor a request for information, and if escorted to court I will not give testimony…If I am involved in the case as a forensic expert I
make it clear that there is no confidentiality in such a case, and, given that both parties will have important information on the other side, even if I
promised confidentiality I would have no way of controlling who gets the report once it is out of my hands, and would only succeed in creating liability for
myself with such a promise...
The Pendulum or the Polarization?
...What seems to be different about America at this stage of our history is the unwillingness to acknowledge that the other side has a point, and, more importantly, that they
should be allowed to express it. Historically, it has been the right wing that is supposedly intolerant, with a narrow view of moral behavior and a liaise-faire, survival of the fittest insensitivity to the plight of minorities and the poor. But we now have a new term for the
intolerance of the left, called being “politically correct”, which is code for the notion that in blue America, and the blue sections of red America, free speech is not permitted if it conflicts with the stated positions of blue
America. This is particularly disconcerting because it is the left that has long held itself out as the champion of the disenfranchised, and which now seems to be seeking the disenfranchisement of anyone who disagrees with their views....
Seemed Like a Good Idea
...The underlying constitutional, psychological and pragmatic issues will be retained in any version of a grandparent visitation law that is passed. In passing such a law the state oversteps its boundaries and invades the personal space of fit parents by making it
necessary for them to go to court to defend their actions, and setting up the court as moral arbiter of parental behavior. It assumes insight it cannot possibly have and is unlikely to
objectively obtain about what their child needs. If we think the family courts are clogged with revolving door cases now, wait until we see the storm this will brew...
What Is the Prosecutor’s Motive?
"When I wrote it, nobody contemplated the mother cooperatively participating in the beating of herself to kill the unborn child. We’d simply change the law and
under those circumstances, the mother would be chargeable.” So Amber Hunt Martin quotes State Rep. Bill Van Regenmorter, R-Georgetown Township in her Feb. 7, 2005 Detroit Free Press
article entitled, Legislator Seeks Change in Prenatal Protection Act…Martin reports that Regenmorter plans to rework the law and present it to the House by
mid March for approval. However, getting approval for a revised bill will not be the slam-dunk that Regenmorter seems to think. Anyone who supports a woman’s right to an abortion is going to be reluctant to support a bill that in
anyway limits that right…To illustrate, Martin quotes Renee Chelian, executive director of Northland Family Planning Centers. ‘“I would definitely be looking to see any impact on a woman trying to
have a legal abortion, no matter what method is used,” said Chelian, pointing to women who induce their own abortions, such as with morning-after pills…’”
Therapy Court
Somewhere in America, today, somewhere in Michigan, or most likely, in several places in Michigan, court is in session. The presiding judge is not really a judge
and has no legal training. He is not even a lawyer, nor has he made any effort to study the applicable law. Nonetheless, there are no laws or (enforced) ethics codes preventing him from trying this type of case. It has not occurred to him, or even to much
of the legal community that it is wrong for him to do so, so why should he concern himself? He doesn’t even call this a court, but it is very much a court of law, and the stakes are very
high. At issue is the termination of parental rights...
What Forensic Psychology Has to Teach Us About Treatment
...Forensic research and practice have taught us that we cannot always count on the presenting parent to provide us with accurate information about the child or
his condition because the parent sometimes has a need to view the child’s problem in a way that is beneficial to them. We also have discovered that children are very susceptible to being led during
interviews by either parental coaching or interviewer bias, and that repeated or leading questioning will suggest to the child that their responses were not what the interviewer expected to hear; they are the “wrong” answers. The best evidence in forensic cases comes
from establishing a rapport with a child (as we would with any other client), and seeking a free narrative from the child concerning the events about which we are concerned. If this is true in
forensic work, it begs the question, is this not also a good idea in other forms of mental health involvement, specifically treatment?...
How Much Government is too Much?
...Moreover, has the State really improved Cassandra’s life by removing her from her nuclear and extended family? The State has not
succeeded in controlling the Cassandra’s outbursts, and my information is that they have found it necessary to use a degree of force to subdue the child forbidden to the parents. Can the State
really supply this child anything that her family and extended family cannot? There is a substantial body of literature which shows that children tend to fare much better in intact and
even single parent families than they do in foster care and State institutions, especially children who age out of foster care...
The Need to Adopt Forensic Protocol
On January 6, 2006 I proposed to the Board of the Michigan Association of Professional Psychologists (MAPP) that we, as an organization, adopt the State of Michigan
Governor’s Task Force on Children’s Justice and Family Independence Agency Forensic Interviewing Protocol. This protocol may be found at http://www.michigan.gov/documents/FIAPub779_13054_7.pdf. It was developed by
Central Michigan University’s Deborah Poole PhD, a nationally recognized researcher in the field of forensic psychology and, specifically, conducting children’s interviews, and a team of professionals working in various
capacities relating to the disposition of allegations of abuse in this State. This protocol is mandatory for police, prosecutors, protective services workers, and interdisciplinary teams including police, prosecutors and mental
health professionals conducting child interviews in suspected abuse cases for the State...
Evidence of the Need for a Rule Change?
...The loophole in the law, or contradiction between law and professional ethics/standards of practice, and case law/court rules and statute, which I envisioned at that
time, and which would allow bad evidence in regardless of all the safeguards put in place to insure that just this sort of thing would not happen, has become a reality. Someone must now
stand trial on the strength of nothing more than a parent’s allegation. I ask again, is it time for another rule change?
Evidence of the Need for a Rule Change II
...Everywhere in Michigan, the Child Protection Law mandates that police and prosecutors are trained to and must do forensic interviews in these cases following Michigan Protocol. Sadly,
police, prosecutors and the social workers who investigate these matters for DHS are required by law to practice proper forensic techniques, while other healthcare providers are not. Valid evidence
comes from these videotaped interviews,and they form the basis of criminal prosecution. The fact that there was no criminal prosecution suggests to me there is no such evidence. If,
despite this, a court action is allowed to go forward, then all it takes to make anyone face criminal or civil liability is a malicious or hysterical parent. That is not acceptable.
Blaming the Victim
Michigan law states clearly that an adult who has sexual intercourse with a person who is between the ages of 13 and 16 is guilty of 3rd degree criminal
sexual conduct. The law does not consider this a
“technicality” to be negated by a consideration of whether or not the sexual activity was consensual…The motivation for doing so is clearly not legal, but political…Children of this age are dealing with issues of self-esteem,
peer-group pressures (e.g., to use alcohol and drugs) and the desire to belong, and scholastic and career path choices. In addition to learning to deal with sexual feelings accompanying rapid
hormonal changes, there are other significant physiological changes taking place, including the development of the brain’s frontal lobe, which apparently does not keep pace with sexual development…Michigan’s statute is intended to give children a few precious years in which they may come to understand these responsibilities before they can be exploited by older
adults who do understand these consequences for the child, but selfishly disregard them in pursuit of their own pleasure. Our laws clearly say that this exploitation is criminal, and not
just a minor crime (or technicality if you will), but a felony...
Whores, Pimps and the Judiciary
Attorneys with whom I have worked as a forensic mental health expert sometimes like to needle me about being a whore. Of course, they say it with a good-natured smile, but we both know they mean it. Sometimes I let it go, but sometimes I smile good-naturedly and say,
“Well, it may be true that all the whores in our business are mental health experts, but all the pimps are lawyers.” They laugh, but of course, they know that I mean it too. In the relationship between the whore and the pimp, everyone knows that it is the pimp who has the power, and so it is in
the Courts. Pimps like whores because they can exercise power over them that they could not have in a healthy relationship. Whores, for one reason or another, have a need to be exploited. At worst, they are addicts or people who have emotional disabilities or believe they have no
other realistic choice. Of course, in our business it means that their opinions—and hence their integrity—are for sale…
Hypothetical Questions For Cross Examining Mental Health Witnesses In Sex Abuse Cases
Recently I was asked by an attorney in another state to provide some potential questions for cross-examining mental health experts in a sex abuse allegation case. The persons being interviewed were the treating therapist, whose recommendation was based solely on the mother’s allegation of abuse, and
someone who had been hired to do an “extended” post-forensic interview. Both of these tactics are still commonly employed by prosecutors or others involved in the forensic interviewing process when they are not happy
with the evidence obtained through legitimate means. The fact that this process of incorporating sexist and intentionally biased evidence into legitimate legal process is still routine should give anyone genuinely concerned about achieving due process for men accused of
these crimes the willies. It does me. Of course, these represent possible questions and could be reworded or rephrased to suit the needs of the case...
PUBLICATIONS IN THE MICHIGAN LAWYER’S WEEKLY
12/23/2002: Fit Parents Shouldn’t Have to Fight to Parent Own Kids
07/22/2002: What’sWrong with a Presumption of Equality?
03/12/2001: The Pitfalls of Expert Testimony
02/15/1999: Due Process: Good Psychology in Cases Involving Children
01/11/1999: Using Mediation during Child Custody Evaluations.
MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS NEWSLETTER
10/98: Ken Starr and Confidentiality
06/03: Treatment Professional Beware?
THE NEWS-HERALD NEWSPAPER
Self-Help Group is the Best Kept Secret
Tips for Parents: Suppress anger, Set Examples
Love Means Having to Say You're Sorry
Addictive Love Can Be Harmful, Not Romantic
Middle Ground ‑ Self-Acceptance is A Fine Line
Oedipus Story Is A Far Reaching One
There is No Values ‑ Free Counseling
Prevention is the Key to Drug Abuse
PRESENTATIONS:
2/12/2002 Seminar-Custody Cases and Evaluations. Presented with the Hon. Bill Callahan to the Dearborn/Downriver Detroit Bar Assn. Focus on recognizing and encouraging proper use of mental health forensic evidence in the courtroom.
June 2001 Presentation-What Fathers Need to Know About Parenting: To the Wayne County Head Start Male Conference, the focus of this conference and presentation was on raising male consciousness regarding the responsibilities and rewards to fathers of involvement in the parenting process.
12/8/2000 Seminar-Divorce and Child Custody Cases: Models of Behavior for Mental Health Professionals. Presented with the Hon. Bill Callahan, Judge of the 3rd Circuit Court, this seminar covered the concept of due process of law; how due process is suspended in child abuse cases;
the intrinsic understanding of human psychology inherent in due process; protocol for conducting child abuse interviews; distinguishing between parental needs and the best interests of the child; assessing credibility of child witnesses; the use of anatomical dolls; developmental limitations of children’s
recall; penalties for false allegations of abuse and why they are not enforced; and standards of practice. Handbook of Child Custody Evaluations made available for seminar.
1990 - Present multiple presentations on the above subject matter at various Downriver Schools, churches, and civic groups.
IMPORTANT SEMINARS AND ADVANCED TRAINING:
Ethics and Stress Management, Advanced Training Associates, 9/19/2008 Jackson MI. Update on current standards of ethical behavior for mental health professionals, as well as a discussion of stress management techniques for both treatment and personal use.
Certified Sex Offender Treatment Specialist, Training and Certification, National Association of Forensic Counselors, June 16-20, 2008 Ann Arbor Michigan. Seminar highlighted current strategies in treating perpetrators of sexual crimes, including use of the polygraph as a therapeutic tool and aversion therapy.
Parental Alienation, Dr. Joan Kelly PhD, 4/24/2008, Birmingham MI. The focus of this seminal was on the need to make distinctions between a child who is being deliberately alienated and one who has an aversion to seeing a parent because of that parent’s inappropriate behavior, or lack of interest or parenting skills;
including suggested treatment options for individual/family therapy.
Self-Destructive Emotions - MI Nicholas R. S. Hall PhD, 4/27/2007, Lansing MI. This seminar dealt the need to help the client identify self-destructive emotions and, though positive self-talk and other techniques, empower clients safeguard their mental health and not allow the negative emotions to create a downward spiral from which it becomes
increasingly difficult to escape.
Law and Ethics; Things a Clinician Needs to Know, Presented by Patrick L. DeChello PhD, on 9/9/2005. Discussion of Michigan Public Heath Code, national trends, and important case law relevant to how Mental Health Professionals conduct themselves in and out of the office; appropriate and inappropriate ways to relate to clients.
Difficult to Treat Clients, a seminar by Mary Clark PhD, sponsored by the Michigan Association of Professional Psychologists, 10/15/2004 on current techniques for treating eating disorders and chronic depression.
Comprehensive Substance Abuse Assessments, a seminar by Lannie McRill MA, on 11/26/2003 in the Penobscot Building, sponsored by the Michigan Bar Association, addressing the state of the art regarding substance abuse assessments, including a new patch that will test whether or not someone is using/abusing substances over a 30 day period, and
testing to determine toxic levels of legally prescribed substances to accurately assess whether these substances are being abused.
Mediation Seminar, a practicum hosted by Hon. Bill Callahan 5/6/2003 consisting of pro bono mediation of clients who desired this service and were not represented by counsel. Each participant performed a mediation and the experiences of the mediators, consisting of trained attorneys and mental health professionals, were later discussed in a group forum.
Domestic Mediation Training, presented at the Dispute Resolution Center of Central Michigan on March 5, 6, 13, 14, 15 of 2002. This seminar on facilitative mediation was presented by Zena Zumeta J.D., president of the Mediation Training and Consultation Institute and The Collaborative Workplace.
MIPA luncheon presentation by Kay Schwartzberg J.D. and Lyle Danuloff PhD entitled, Parenting Plans for Teens, 12/13/2001 in Birmingham at Andiamo Italia West Restaurant.
2nd Annual Rapid-Fire Topics in Family Law, Moderated by: Sandor M. Gelman, November 29, 2001 from 9-4:30 PM at the Double Tree Hotel in Novi Michigan.
MIPA luncheon presentation by Mary Whiteside PhD entitled Parenting Plans for Young Children During Separation and Divorce, 10/18/2001 in Birmingham at Andiamo Italia West Restaurant.
Sex and Violence in Divorcing Families: Assessment and intervention, by Kathryn Kuehnle, PhD, fall 2000, sponsored by Michigan Inter-Professional Association.
Child Custody Evaluations: A Seminar by James Bow PhD and WSU, October 1998.
e.g., Irreconcilable Conflicts Between Therapeutic And Forensic Roles, Stuart A Greenberg and Daniel W. Shuman,
Professional Psychology: Research And Practice, 1997, vol. 28, no. 1, 50-57; Dual Relationships In Psycholegal Evaluations: Treating Psychologists Serving As
Expert Witnesses, Grant L. Iverson, PhD, American Journal Of Forensic Psychology, volume 18, issue 2, 2000 p.79-87)
THE MICHIGAN PENAL CODE (EXCERPT) Act 328 of 1931 750.520d Criminal sexual conduct in the third degree; felony. Sec. 520d.
(1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree if the person engages in sexual penetration with another person and if any of the following circumstances exist: (a) That other person is at least 13 years of
age and under 16 years of age.
“[d]evelopmental mastery on simple and complex fluency tasks along with sustained attention and some inhibitory abilities occurred between 12-15 years of age. Tasks that called for use of problem-solving strategies appeared to tap more advanced levels of
neuropsychological development and complete mastery on these tasks occurred between 16-19 years of age. This finding confirms the claim that behaviors associated with the frontal lobe function follow a multi-stage process of development.”
A neuropsychological assessment of behaviors purported to frontal lobe functioning: a developmental perspective (ECDP Abstracts Overview).
Karin Cecilia Brocki
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