Psychological treatment expertise in care and family proceedings

Prof Daniel T Wilcox Clinical and Forensic Psychologist; Owner and Director of WPA Ltd
Dr Alan Kessedjian Registered Clinical Psychologist; WPA Consultant Associate

Within the context of Court proceedings psychologists undertake a range of tasks. However the authors consider that a clear distinction should be made between the roles of acting as an assessing and a treating psychologist. Specifically the authors consider that these two functions reflect different areas of expertise requiring divergent skills that nonetheless make valid contributions to Court proceedings. This paper is aimed at assisting those involved in such proceedings in more fully understanding the benefits of employing treating psychologists and recognising the role of their particular expertise. This the authors believe necessitates validating the treating psychologist’s input as fully as the assessing psychologist and recognising that whilst the former can identify areas of concern that impact upon Court decisions and relatedly treatment needs including the identification of relevant psychological features/conditions; the treating psychologist is best positioned to formulate the most effective ways to ameliorate these difficulties and can helpfully report upon the individual’s motivation and level of therapeutic...

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