A guide to what a psychiatrist needs to know in order to prepare medico-legal reports and become an expert witness. This book covers the roles and responsibilities of the psychiatric expert witness in the context of case and statute law, administration, training and other practical matters, the medico-legal consultation and the structure and form of the expert report. Specific chapters deal with psychiatric reports in criminal, civil and family cases, as well as inquests, tribunals and other parts of the legal system. Preparation of reports for jurisdictions in the British Isles outside England and Wales is covered. It will be of value to trainee psychiatrists and recently appointed consultants who need a handbook to assist them as they acquire the training, skills and knowledge necessary to prepare expert psychiatric evidence for courts and other legal forums. This book is aimed at psychiatrists who wish to write medico-legal reports and become expert witnesses, but it will also be a useful resource for established expert psychiatric witnesses and the solicitors and barristers who instruct them.

Since the first edition was published, a lot of developments have affected the way in which the courts handle expert evidence. This edition remains faithful to the original and details the developments since its publication.

As this bestseller predicted, Trump has only grown more erratic and dangerous as the pressures on him mount. This new edition includes new essays bringing the book up to date—because this is still not normal. Originally released in fall 2017, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump was a runaway bestseller. Alarmed Americans and international onlookers wanted to know: What is wrong with him? That question still plagues us. The Trump administration has proven as chaotic and destructive as its opponents feared, and the man at the center of it all remains a cipher. Constrained by the APA’s “Goldwater rule,” which inhibits mental health professionals from diagnosing public figures they have not personally examined, many of those qualified to weigh in on the issue have shied away from discussing it at all. The public has thus been left to wonder whether he is mad, bad, or both. The prestigious mental health experts who have contributed to the revised and updated version of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump argue that their moral and civic "duty to warn" supersedes professional neutrality. Whatever affects him, affects the nation: From the trauma people have experienced under the Trump administration to the cult-like characteristics of his followers, he has created unprecedented mental health consequences across our nation and beyond. With eight new essays (about one hundred pages of new material), this edition will cover the dangerous ramifications of Trump's unnatural state. It’s not all in our heads. It’s in his.

Forensic Psychiatry is an essential interdisciplinary book that is ideal for all trainees in psychiatry, clinical and forensic psychology, and other forensic mental health disciplines as well as for those professionals who work with psychiatrists in a legal setting, particularly members of the legal profession, probation and the police.

Why do some psychiatric patients fail to get better, even when in the care of competent clinicians? Treatment-refractory conditions are all too common in everyday clinical practice. Treatment resistance occurs across the full spectrum of psychiatric disorders, incurring enormous emotional, economic, and social costs. In the United States, treatment of depression alone costs more than $40 billion annually, and as many as 40% of patients with depression have a treatment-refractory form of the illness. This groundbreaking clinical guide starts where standard textbooks end, focusing on clinical strategies to be used after all basic treatment options, such as medication and psychotherapy, have failed. In this book expert contributors address the sequential clinical steps in treating difficult-to-treat psychiatric patients by offering a blend of evidence-based clinical recommendations, detailed case vignettes, treatment algorithms, and -- when necessary to go beyond the reach of evidence -- the clinical wisdom of leaders in the field. The chapters in this user-friendly, practical guide are organized by major disorder. Each chapter offers concrete recommendations on what to do when the usual first steps in therapy are ineffective, including evidence for biopsychosocial treatments alone versus in combination, generic versus specific therapies, and literature reviews and the latest expert wisdom. A sampling includes The management of the complex and often refractory bipolar disorder, which involves replacing or combining lithium treatment with anticonvulsants or atypical antipsychotic agents with adjuncts such as benzodiazepines, thyroid hormone, and electroconvulsive therapy, but also -- above all -- with careful attention to the therapeutic alliance. The importance of combined therapeutic modalities for patients with schizophrenia -- especially given managed care's cost-cutting strategies, which deprive many schizophrenic patients of effective treatment modalities such as family therapy or early use of an atypical antipsychotic. Combination treatments for anxiety, with medications adjusted over time as symptoms wax and wane, and early and appropriate interventions to mitigate internal and external environmental stressors. The emphasis on common sense, optimism, a sense of humor, and an iron constitution as the most important tools for clinicians wishing to work with the most severely ill patients with borderline personality disorder. The importance of individual differences in biological vulnerability, emotionality and expressiveness, cognitive schemas and beliefs, prior traumatic experience, resilience, and coping strategies for successful treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Packed with up-to-date information of immediate relevance, this volume will prove invaluable in both classroom and clinical practice, for everyone from beginning interns and residents to experienced psychiatric and medical practitioners and social workers.

Contains all the principles and knowledge needed to expose bogus experts and junk science and to reduce inflated expert evidence to its proper valuation.

Mind, State and Society examines the reforms in psychiatry and mental health services in Britain during 1960–2010, when de-institutionalisation and community care coincided with the increasing dominance of ideologies of social liberalism, identity politics and neoliberal economics. Featuring contributions from leading academics, policymakers, mental health clinicians, service users and carers, it offers a rich and integrated picture of mental health, covering experiences from children to older people; employment to homelessness; women to LGBTQ+; refugees to black and minority ethnic groups; and faith communities and the military. It asks important questions such as: what happened to peoples' mental health? What was it like to receive mental health services? And how was it to work in or lead clinical care? Seeking answers to questions within the broader social-political context, this book considers the implications for modern society and future policy. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

"Mental health professionals comprise a nation of differences. Those differences do not necessarily make us weak; differences can serve as sources of creativity, strength, and progress if constructively harnessed. In this volume, we have tried to constructively harness the active interplay of these various tenaciously held views, to find the harmony among these diverse voices on EBPs in mental health. In terms of process, informed dialogue and respectful debate are surely the ways to progress. In terms of outcome, we should remember that the overarching goal of EBPs, however defined and disseminated, is to enhance the effectiveness of patient services and to improve public health"--Book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

The written report is central to the practice of psychiatry in legal settings. It is required of mental health professionals acting as expert witnesses in criminal cases, civil litigation situations, child custody proceedings and risk assessments. This book provides a theoretical background to psychiatric writing for the law and a practical guide to the preparation of the report. The first section addresses practical and ethical concerns, including the conduct of the forensic psychiatric evaluation, conflicts of interest, record keeping and confidentiality. The second section contains practical and detailed advice on preparing various types of report, including reports for use in criminal and civil litigation, civil commitment hearings and child custody proceedings. A final section covers special issues arising during report preparation including the use of psychological tests and the detection of malingering. This is an essential guide for anyone required to write a psychiatric report.

This project addressed the admissibility of expert evidence in criminal proceedings in England and Wales. Currently, too much expert opinion evidence is admitted without adequate scrutiny because no clear test is being applied to determine whether the evidence is sufficiently reliable to be admitted. Juries may therefore be reaching conclusions on the basis of unreliable evidence, as confirmed by a number of miscarriages of justice in recent years. Following consultation on a discussion paper (LCCP 190, 2009, ISDBN 9780118404655) the Commission recommends that there should be a new reliability-based admissibility test for expert evidence in criminal proceedings. The test would not need to be applied routinely or unnecessarily, but it would be applied in appropriate cases and it would result in the exclusion of unreliable expert opinion evidence. Under the test, expert opinion evidence would not be admitted unless it was adjudged to be sufficiently reliable to go before a jury. The draft Criminal Evidence (Experts) Bill published with the report (as Appendix A) sets out the admissibility test and also provides the guidance judges would need when applying the test, setting out the key reasons why an expert's opinion evidence might be unreliable. The Bill also codifies (with slight modifications) the uncontroversial aspects of the present law, so that all the admissibility requirements for expert evidence would be set out in a single Act of Parliament and carry equal authority.