Suicide is a tragedy, even more so in childhood. Childhood suicide can also feel uniquely puzzling. Why would a young person, with so many years of life ahead of them, want to end their life over seemingly minor problems? Although we can never fully know the mind of the deceased, a developmental approach can help us to understand some of the factors that distinguish adult and child suicide.

Epidemiology Consultation

Many of our clients have communicated that they are following WHO and CDC recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for many these may be sufficient. 

As you may already have discovered, however, universal recommendations often omit the specifics you need for prudent decision-making as you encounter individualized risks and unique needs. This is especially true because the natural history of this disease and its transmission haven't yet been fully charted. 

Dr. Sorrentino is a leading expert on sexual disorders (paraphilias).

An Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School, she serves as a Councilor on the executive governance committee of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, a member of the Editorial board of the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Associate editor of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Newsletter, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.  

Too many physicians and health care administrators labor under the illusion that the medical profession is immune to sex - and gender - based bullying, harassment, discrimination, and abuse.

Prosecutors in many jurisdictions find themselves facing larger caseloads and more cases involving child homicides, domestic homicides, and mental health defenses, often without sufficient training or experience. To assist agencies in serving the public, PD&A is offering the consultative services of experienced prosecutors who can support your prosecution of these difficult cases.

It’s hard to beat Avram Mack, M.D.’s credentials: His expertise is remarkable in both breadth and depth. Board certified in multiple psychiatric subspecialties, he is unique in being a leading physician in each of these fields. Dr. Mack is among a handful of experts in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (or “pediatric psychiatry”), and he has additional expertise in Addiction Medicine, Psychosomatic Medicine (or, hospital consultation psychiatry), Adult Psychiatry, and occupational injury and patient safety.

Contested wills, trusts, and estate plans are extremely expensive to litigate and can significantly erode the corpus of the estate while undermining the wishes of the testator. This is particularly true when late changes are made to an existing plan. Planning for the possibility of a will contest is both prudent and cost-effective.

Sadly, news reports regarding talented actor and singer Jussie Smollett have again thrust the topic of false allegations into public consciousness. False allegations are a regular, if uncommon, occurrence in educational institutions, workplaces, civil litigation, and the criminal justice system. Few make headlines, and when they do, they are often euphemistically described as “hoaxes,” which minimizes the risks and harms to the innocent that often result and the expenses and diversion of investigative resources they create.

The so-called hammer killer who fatally bludgeoned a Lakewood grandmother and three members of an Aurora family in the winter of 1984 started off as a burglar and evolved into a predator who crept into homes primarily to satiate his thirst for violence, says a former FBI profiler.

Dr. Newman is an expert on suicide risk assessment, hospital safety issues, and psychiatric issues in criminal cases.  As a fellowship-trained forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Newman has experience as an expert witness regarding post-discharge suicide, inpatient suicide, ligature risks, seclusion and restraint issues, psychopharmacology, violence risk assessment, malingering, criminal and civil competencies, criminal responsibility, and conditional release assessments.

NBC Dateline – Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz shares how to spot the warning signs for increased risk of violent behavior in those around you.

Dr. Daniel Martell, a forensic neuropsychologist at Park Dietz & Associates, and assistant clinical professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at U.C.L.A., says that even though neuroscience is starting to tackle problems that were once thought to be unsolvable, like how psychopathy can be effectively treated, it has a long way to go before it’s ready for widespread implementation.

These men lash out at women, but really women are an excuse for their failures, says Dietz, an M.D. who has testified or consulted on major cases from John Hinckley Jr. to Jeffrey Dahmer. “It’s easy to blame ‘the women who will go with anyone but me,’ ” he says.

Dr. Shelby is a trauma psychologist, with expertise derived from a career dedicated to the study, assessment, and treatment of trauma survivors. Dr. Shelby is an Associate Clinical Professor at UCLA’s Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in the David Geffen School of Medicine and was honored to serve as the 2017-2018 Drake Guest Professor and Distinguished Fellow at Kobe College in Hyogo, Japan, where she resided, taught, and conducted research.

The hedge fund star Bill Ackman had taken to a stage in midtown Manhattan and accused the company of being a pyramid scheme, waging $1 billion that the company was a fraud. Shares plunged. The media went wild and some 3,000 miles away, inside the company's Los Angeles headquarters, CEO Michael Johnson was shell-shocked.

Few inside the glass-enclosed bubble of Herbalife's HQ had even heard of Ackman, no less what he might be up to in calling the company out so publicly.

It wanted to fight back, but how?