Training Opportunities

BHDD Office of Mental Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in Forensic Psychology

The fellowship is divided into two six-month rotations, each providing extensive exposure to forensic evaluations. 

Criminal Evaluation Rotation

This rotation focuses on conducting forensic evaluations related to competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, and capacity to conform conduct to the requirements of the law.  This department receives referrals for the entire state, allowing exposure to evaluating men, women, adults, and juveniles with a wide range of legal and diagnostic issues.  More often than not, referrals contain requests for competency to stand trial as well as criminal responsibility/capacity to conform conduct evaluations, providing considerable experience answering all three psycholegal questions.

Fellows will have the opportunity to conduct several evaluations per week as well as to observe and/or assist with expert opinion and court testimony as available. These evaluations may also contain the assessment of malingering/effort and/or intelligence testing as needed.

When available, the opportunity to reevaluate a defendant after a period of competency restoration will be provided, as the restoration period is up to 180 days in South Carolina.  Additionally, while not the primary exposure on this rotation, experience with adult and/or juvenile violence risk assessment can be accommodated should the fellow have an interest in that area.

Civil Evaluation Rotation

“Sexually Violent Predator” (SVP) is a legal term used to describe a unique subgroup of sexual offenders, held civilly after their period of incarceration has ended, until deemed safe to be at large and not likely to sexually recidivate upon release.  These offenders are housed in mental health facilities for long-term control, care, and treatment.  The civil evaluation rotation provides the opportunity to conduct two types of evaluations with this population.

  • Precommitment Evaluations:
    • Prior to their commitment, individuals meeting a particular threshold are evaluated to determine if they meet criteria for commitment under the SVP Act. These evaluations assess the presence of a “mental abnormality” and the degree to which it affects a person’s emotional or volitional capacity that predisposes them to commit sexually violent offenses. Fellows will conduct these evaluations and observe and/or assist with court testimony related to their findings when appropriate. Evaluations consist of extensive diagnostic and risk assessment discussion.
  • Periodic Review Evaluations:
    • Once committed, SVPs are evaluated periodically to determine whether there is “probable cause to believe the resident’s mental abnormality or personality disorder has so changed that the person is safe to be at large and, if released, is not likely to commit acts of sexual violence.” Fellows will have the opportunity to conduct these evaluations and provide court testimony as required. These evaluations involve diagnostic considerations and the actuarial assessment of static and dynamic risk factors.

Both evaluations will provide training on the SVP evaluation process. This includes conducting a semi-structured interview, integrating information from the interview and collateral sources into the report, scoring and interpreting actuarial risk assessment measures (e.g., the Static-99R, the Violence Risk Scale—Sexual Offense Version) and other measures incorporated into the evaluation on a case-by-case basis (e.g., personality assessment, intelligence testing, malingering, psychopathy assessment), and formulating an opinion regarding the psycholegal question.

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Didactics and Other Trainings 

Extensive psycholegal education and training is provided throughout the year, nearly all of which is in concert with the forensic psychiatry fellowship. Each training area is designed to comply with the standards and expectations of the American Board of Forensic Psychology covering case law, ethics, and socio-cultural/ethnic factors related to performing forensic assessments.

 

  • General Topics in Forensic Psychology meets weekly and covers a wide variety of topics related to forensic psycholegal practice, to include ethics.
  • Landmark Case Seminar meets weekly and covers more than 100 of the major landmark cases in mental health law, to include cases unique/relevant to South Carolina.
  • Fundamentals of the Legal System Seminar meets several times and covers topics related to the legal system, to include the juvenile system, and covers standards for admissibility of expert testimony in federal and state courts.
  • Evaluators Seminar meets quarterly and covers topics related to the various nuances involved in forensic report writing and answering psycholegal questions in written and verbal means (e.g., testimony).

    Additional Trainings

    • Grand Rounds – are frequently offered on Fridays and cover a wide variety of topics related to the assessment and treatment of mental health issues.  Fellows will have the opportunity to present a topic of choice at a grand rounds during the training year.
    • Mock Trials – several mock trial experiences will be held during the fellowship year, providing the opportunity for voir dire, direct, and cross-examination.


    Supervision

    All aspects of the fellowship are designed to provide the required number of supervised experiences to meet licensure requirements in South Carolina as well as the expectations of the American Board of Forensic Psychology.  All experiences are under the supervision of the training director and licensed forensic practitioners.  In addition to the evaluations and various seminars, fellows will receive at least two-and-one-half hours per week of individual supervision with their primary supervisor as well as one to two hours per week of group supervision with qualified supervisors.

    Readings and

    Required Texts

    • Doren, D. M. (2002). Evaluating sex offenders: A manual for civil commitments and beyond. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
    • Melton, G. B., Petrila, J., Poythress, N. G., Slobogin, C., Otto, R. K., Mossman, D., & Condie, L. O. (2018). Psychological evaluations for the courts: A handbook for mental health professionals and lawyers(4th ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
    • Otto, R. K., & Weiner, I. B. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of psychology: Forensic psychology(Vol. 11). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
    • Packer, I. K. (2009). Best practices in forensic mental health assessment: Evaluation of criminal responsibility. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
    • Rosner, R. (2003). Principles and practice of forensic psychiatry(2nd ed.). London, England: CRC Press.
    • Witt, P. H., & Conroy, M. A. (2009). Best practices in forensic mental health assessment: Evaluation of sexually violent predators. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
    • Zapf, P. A., & Roesch, R. (2009). Best practices in forensic mental health assessment: Evaluation of competence to stand trial. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
    *The required texts will be available/provided to fellows during the fellowship year.