Fort Wayne Clinical and Forensic Psychology Services

Based In Louisville, Kentucky But Able To Travel For Service

Fort Wayne Forensic Psychology is a subspecialty of Psychology that focuses on Fort Wayne legal issues wherein mental health is a potential contributing factor.

Dr. Kaplan has experience in Fort Wayne sex offender evaluations, violent risk assessment, competency to stand trial, capacity, mitigation of sentence, juvenile bindover, and more. Dr. Kaplan provides Fort Wayne forensic evaluation in guardianship cases, accident/injury cases, and other situations where there is a question about an individual's mental health, emotional harm, or ability to care for oneself. She also offers a variety of parenting evaluations.  Dr. Kaplan uses evidence-based assessment methods and Fort Wayne psychological tests to provide a wide variety of psychological evaluation services in 46835, 46774, 46802, 46803, 46804, 46805, 46806, 46807, 46808, 46809, 46814, 46815, 46816, 46818, 46819, 46825, 46845.

Fort Wayne Criminal Forensic Evaluations

Fort Wayne General Psychological: An attorney or judge may request a general psychological evaluation in a case in which a person’s mental health is in question. The resulting report includes the individual’s current mental status, diagnosis, and recommendations.

Fort Wayne Competency Test: An evaluation to determine if a defendant is competent to stand trial in Fort Wayne, waive Miranda, plead guilty, confess or function adequately in the legal system. A forensic evaluation can determine if the defendant is able to cooperate with counsel, assist in his own defense, as well as make informed decisions about legal choices.

Fort Wayne Criminal Responsibility: Sophisticated Fort Wayne psychological testing is used to evaluate the presence of any psychological disorder, psychopathy, or personality characteristics that may have mediated rational decision making or interfered with judgment or perception.A comprehensive evaluation of the defendant’s mental state at the time of the offense can inform trial strategy and provide the judge or jury with critical information regarding legal responsibility.

Fort Wayne Mitigation of Sentencing: In the Fort Wayne sentencing phase of a trial, an attorney or judge may wish to know psychological information for the court to consider in sentencing, and in recommending probation or parole. Specifically, a comprehensive forensic report can affect sentencing to the extent that it addresses all relevant mitigating and aggravating circumstances. This can also include sentencing determinations in Fort Wayne Death Penalty Cases.

Fort Wayne Juvenile Bindover: In certain cases whereby an adolescent is accused of a crime(s), he or she may be tried in either a Fort Wayne juvenile court or in an Fort Wayne adult court. In such cases, the court can benefit from a forensic evaluation addressing the issue of amenability to the Fort Wayne juvenile justice system. The evaluation focuses on how likely the juvenile is to benefit from the added-services afforded by the juvenile system—aimed at rehabilitation and restoration—compared to the adult system, which overall is more punitively-oriented.

Fort Wayne Violence Risk Assessment: Aims to determine whether an individual has a mental disorder in Fort Wayne and the level of dangerousness, but not to determine whether an individual committed a specific offense.

Fort Wayne Psychosexual Testing: This is a complete psychological evaluation with an additional heavy emphasis on sexual development, values, thoughts, interests, and behaviors.

Fort Wayne Psychosexual with Risk Assessment: This examination is the same as a psychosexual evaluation in Fort Wayne with the addition of an assessment of the risk of committing a future sexual offense through the use of evidence-based actuarial risk assessment instruments.

Fort Wayne Civil Forensic Evaluations

Fort Wayne Parenting Evaluation: Due to a variety of circumstances, sometimes the court or a governmental organization (e.g., Children Services Agency) might question the type or amount of contact that a particular parent may have with his/her children. In those cases, a Fort Wayne forensic psychologist’s services may be secured in order to help answer specific referral questions related to parenting issues.

Fort Wayne Adoption Evaluation: Individuals or couples who are adopting in Fort Wayne need to have a psychological valuation to assess their emotional stability, and readiness to adopt and parent a child. Every Fort Wayne adoption agency has its own specific procedures surrounding the evaluation.  The psychological evaluation focuses on potential underlying psychopathology that might exist in either of the future parents (or the couple as a family system). Additionally, the quality of the marital relationship, intended child rearing practices, and motivations for adoption are explored.  This evaluation differs from a home study, which is typically conducted by a Fort Wayne social worker.

Fort Wayne Personal Injury: A psychologist’s expertise often is utilized by the Fort Wayne court in order to help determine whether mental injury exists and, if so, to what degree. An example includes Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (Fort Wayne PTSD), as a result of experiencing significant trauma. A personal injury evaluation may involve a clinical interview, record review, psychological testing, and contacting collateral sources in the case.

Fort Wayne Clinical Assessment

Fort Wayne ADHD Evaluation: These Fort Wayne evaluations typically include the following:

• Fort Wayne IQ and/or achievement testing to rule out a learning disorder and to assess cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
• Fort Wayne Tests of attention and other aspects of executive functioning. 
• Fort Wayne Psychological tests to examine for other Fort Wayne mental health problems that may be causing or contributing to the symptoms.

Fort Wayne Diagnostic Evaluation: Evaluations pertaining to many diagnoses, such as Fort Wayne Bipolar Disorder, Fort Wayne Autism (as well as the former Asperger's Disorder), Major Depressive Disorder, PTSD, Fort Wayne Anxiety Disorders, Personality Disorders, and Fort Wayne Schizophrenia.

Fort Wayne Learning Disorders, IQ, and Achievement Testing:  Typically referred to as Fort Wayne psychoeducational evaluations. Used to evaluate the presence of a Fort Wayne learning disorder or an intellectual disability. Achievement testing can help identify academic achievement level in various subjects and any necessary academic accommodations.

Fort Wayne Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Evaluation: The Fort Wayne autism assessment and diagnostic process for Fort Wayne Autism involves a thorough clinical interview in Fort Wayne, review of outside medical and/or academic records, and a testing battery that may include parental interviews and forms (if applicable), intellectual, and personality assessments.

Additional Service Testing in Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne Psychological Consultant: Psychologists may be hired by Fort Wayne attorneys to consult on a case “behind the scenes”. Examples include educating the attorney about a client’s mental illness, assisting in Fort Wayne jury selection or Fort Wayne cross-examination, or critiquing another psychologist’s evaluation report.

Fort Wayne Expert Witness: A Fort Wayne psychologist may be asked to testify in court in Fort Wayne as an expert. The evaluation report may be read out loud in open court, and the expert must answer questions about the report and what transpired during conversations with the respondent and any other involved individual. The Fort Wayne court expert may be asked to discuss their knowledge regarding the research in a specific area of psychology as it relates to the respondent. Psychological experts may also be asked to educate the court on a specific mental health-related topic.