Psychological Experts in Divorce Actions

Emotionally charged issues abound in matrimonial practice, especially in custody disputes. Expert testimony can have a dramatic impact on the outcome of a case, and when matters are highly sensitive or sensational the seeming objectivity of an expert can be dispositive. To effectively reinforce or question that testimony, certain specialized knowledge is essential. Scientifically accepted standards and theories are constantly evolving. Keeping up with the data had been a challenge, but one integrated resource has made it simple.

Psychological Experts in Divorce Actions, Sixth Edition pulls all the research together into the definitive guide to understanding the role of psychological evaluations in divorce and custody actions. Focused on providing the best approach to protecting your clientand#8217;s interests, this work explains all the leading testing instruments, what conclusions may be drawn and how to challenge or support those conclusions. In addition to offering effective examination and cross-examination strategies, it assists you in handling the gamut of psychological factors that affect clients in divorce and custody cases.

Authors Marc J. Ackerman, Ph.D., Andrew W. Kane, Ph.D., Jonathan Gould, Ph.D., and Milfred D. Dale, Ph.D., are licensed psychologists who have been involved in hundreds of custody cases. Drawing on their extensive experienceand#8212;testing parties to a divorce and treating psychological patients in the clinicand#8212;and as psychological experts in the courtroom, they identify the most important psychological evaluation research used in divorce and custody decision-making and distill the information into clear terms lawyers can readily apply. They also examine vital issues including:

• Ethicsand#8212;confidentiality, privilege, duty to warn or protect (Tarasoff), sharing raw data, test integrity
• Sexual abuseand#8212;bona fide or fabricated allegations, psychological effects of sexual abuse, profiles of abuser and abused
• Testingand#8212;personality tests (including MMPI-2, and the new MMPI-2-RF, Rorschach, Millon, TAT); intelligence tests (Wechsler scales, Kaufman scales, Stanford Binet); custody tests (ASPECT, PCRI, PASS, BPS); and many more
• How divorce affects familiesand#8212;custody, placement, age and gender differences, grandparents, sexual preference, psychological problems