Via Zoom
Therapists are frequently asked to provide testimony about their services and opinions regarding individuals, couples, children, and families with whom they have worked. Attorneys, evaluators, and/or the courts want to know if therapy was effective, if there were signs of domestic violence, what were the diagnoses, and other salient factors.
Clients may or may not want you to testify. You may or may not want to testify. Whether or not you choose to provide testimony, there is almost certainly an impact on the therapeutic relationship. Join Fran Schopick and Tracee Parker to explore the types of testimony that therapists might be asked to provide, the implications of providing testimony, and the basic skills of testifying when required.
As a result of this workshop, participants will:
· Understand the three types of testimony that may be requested of therapists in family court.
· Be able to develop and prepare for a thoughtful response to testimony requests from clients and others.
· Have a basic knowledge of how and how not to respond to questions while providing testimony.
About the Presenters:
Frances Schopick, JD, MSW is an attorney with an extensive background in clinical Social Work and psychiatric research. She served on the Psychiatry Faculties at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA to research the underlying contributors seen in people with mood, personality, and psychotic disorders. She worked clinically with perpetrators as well as survivors of domestic violence and coercive control. Her experience has given her insights into the dynamics of high conflict families as well as the complex and nuanced challenges posed to the counselors who work with them.
Now an attorney in WA State, Fran represents health care providers undergoing Board investigations. To help licensees avoid such complaints, Fran develops Disclosure and Informed Consent resources tailored to individual practice, so that providers can simultaneously minimize counselor risk and maximize client care. Fran provides legal consultation to agencies, counselors, and other healthcare providers working with individual adults, children, couples, and families, often in “high conflict” situations. Fran speaks nationally on the importance of well-administered Informed Consent as well as the many factors that can affect clinical care.
Tracee Parker, Psy.D. is the Justice for Families Project Manager at the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence, where she has co-authored (with Dr. Anne Ganley) Intimate Partner Violence Impact Assessment – A process for collecting, analyzing, and presenting information. Her background includes domestic violence advocacy, supervised visitation for domestic violence cases, domestic violence perpetrator treatment, training and consultation, mediation, nonviolent conflict resolution training, and expert testimony. Her doctoral research focus was post-separation battering via access to children and working with men who batter. Dr. Parker is also adjunct faculty at Seattle University in the Social Work Department where she teaches a 10-week course entitled, Domestic Violence in the U.S.
Earn 2 Ethics CEUs from WA State Society for Clinical Social Work
For questions and accommodations requests, reach out to Nykki nykki@endgv.org