what is forensic psychology?

What is Forensic Psychology?

Forensic psychology uses scientific based methods to help the court system answer legal and psychological questions about clients engaged in litigation.  The forensic expert conducts interviews, administers psychological testing, reviews documents, and gathers additional information to make recommendations to the court.  The forensic expert also appears in court to provide testimony.

Why Choose Dr. Gomberg & Associates

The expert you choose to conduct a forensic or psychological evaluation is one of the most important decisions you will make.  This person should be an unbiased evaluator who remains completely and solely focused on what is best for the children in custody cases, or what possible solutions make sense for you and your family.  I understand that this is one of the most stressful times in your lives and I am dedicated to the highest standards of professionalism to make this challenging transition as smooth as possible.

What is a Child Custody Evaluation?

A child custody evaluation is an in-depth evaluation of a family to help clients, attorneys, and judges determine what custody and parenting time arrangement will serve the best interests of the children.  The evaluator (sometimes called “the examiner”) does not make the final decisions about custody and parenting time. That is up to the clients and ultimately the judge.  During the evaluation the examiner will interview the primary caregivers, the children, and will observe each of the primary caregivers with the children.  The evaluator will also interview any other adults who have primary caretaking responsibilities for the children (e.g. grandparents or significant others living in the home).  The clients have usually prepared documents to present to the court (called pleadings/motions/certifications) and these will be reviewed as well.  The parents will typically undergo psychological testing and provide medical records, psychological records for themselves and the children, and names of people who can provide information about the relationship between the parents and the children.

Once all of the data is collected, the examiner will prepare a report with recommendations that can be used by the family court judge, the attorneys, or the clients to help settle the case, or litigate the case before a family court judge, who will make the final decision.

A properly conducted child custody evaluation will comply with the guidelines set by our professional organizations (The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts - AFCC, The American Psychological Association - APA, and the New Jersey Board of Psychological Examiners).  

Mediation/Therapeutic Mediation

Mediators facilitate agreements.  The mediator is a neutral party and cannot be called to testify in your case.  What happens in mediation stays in mediation.  As a therapeutic mediator, the expert has more leeway to engage clients in a therapeutic process and offer interventions that might help overcome emotional obstacles to achieving an agreement. 

Reunification Therapy

This directive shorter term therapeutic process is used to repair and restore the parent/child relationship and bond after an estrangement or alienation.  In these cases, the entire family is considered to be in crisis and, therefore, all members of the family will be engaged (either together or individually) to maximize the possibility of a successful outcome.

Parent Coordination

In higher conflict families, parents continue to have struggles after the divorce has been settled and the parenting time arrangement agreed to (or imposed by the court).  The parent coordinator (PC) helps parents implement their parenting time plan.  The PC will use a problem-solving approach to resolve issues as they arise and will offer written solutions to the conflict.  These solutions can either be accepted or brought to the court if the dispute cannot be resolved.  The parent coordinator does not have the power to impose their recommendations on the clients, only the court can do that.

Risk Assessment

This psychological evaluation determines the level of risk (if any) a client may have in a specific situation (e.g. parenting).  Risk is assessed by a number of factors both current and historical.  An in-depth evaluation will help determine what the level of risk is and offer solutions for resolving any problems that the client may have. 

Brief Focused Evaluation

This short term evaluation is designed to answer a specific question that the client, attorney, or court may have in a case.  For example, if one of the parties is disputing the need for psychological services for the child, the brief focused evaluation can help to answer this question.

Bonding Evaluation

In certain cases in which a child has been raised by a non-biological caregiver, but custody and parenting time is in dispute by the biological parent or relative, a bonding evaluation can help determine if the non-biological parent is a “psychological parent” to that child.  If so, it may not be in the child’s best interest to be separated from the “psychological parent” despite the biological parent’s rights to the child.  The child may be left with the non-biological caregiver and/or a plan to transition the child to the biological caregiver might be established.

Removal Evaluation

When a parent wants to move out of state with a child but the other parent is objecting to the move, the court has to make a determination about what is in the best interest of the child. A removal evaluation is designed to help the court make that judgement.  Quite often in such cases, custody and parenting time decisions also have to be considered, and the evaluator will make those recommendations as needed.

Attorney Consultation

The expert can be retained as a consultant to help the attorney prepare for trial, testimony of other experts, cross-examination, or review of documents. 

The testimonial expert will review a report issued by another expert, provide a report about the positive and negative aspects of the report, and give an opinion about whether or not the conclusions can be drawn from the evidence that was presented. The expert will not, however, provide an opinion about whether or not the conclusions are correct or incorrect.  The testimonial expert will not meet with the client or conduct an evaluation of the parties, but may be called to testify in the case to present their findings to the court.

Then non-testimonial consultant is retained by the attorney directly and will assist the attorney with all aspects of the case: examination of documents, critiquing other experts’ reports and conclusions, preparation for depositions or cross-examination.   Non-testimonial consultation work is confidential and falls under attorney/client privilege, and therefore, the non-testimonial expert will not testify in court.

Therapeutic Supervised Visitation

The expert will conduct supervised visitation with the goal of helping the parent and child develop their relationship through directive therapeutic interventions.