Stanford University Psychiatry in Forensics on November 12th in Palo Alto, I am presenting on my involvement as a forensic psychologist in cases where I am called to evaluate and render expert opinion. In successfully working collaborative cases with psychiatry, I’ve learned the importance of multiple expertise in evaluating behavioral health from a medical perspective.

My own training began at Kaiser Permanente Psychiatry with children, adolescents, and adults who faced crisis which, if left untreated by psychiatry could have disastrous long term effect. I look forward to seeing my colleagues at Stanford in November.

This is a local news story that only brings sadness and pain to the reader, until one reads the part of the victim’s mother who doesn’t blame the accused, and suggests her daughter death is not ‘in vain’; rather, a loss that will promote awareness of teenage mental health issues. Now, regardless of what you may think of the accused’s actions, you can’t help but agree with the victim’s mother in promoting a higher understanding of an otherwise desparate and unpardonable act.

Kids kill kids by accident and, yes, on purpose. Some seem to understand the concept of death, and others can’t grasp it’s finality and unnecessary tragedy. We are reminded by this case of another occurring in 2011 with a then 12 year old in Fort Lauderdale, Florida who killed a 6 year old, asserting it accidentally happened while imitating pro wrestling moves. Another in the UK by a couple of older children who beat to death a toddler in Liverpool, and later released by law enforcement in giving them ‘new identities’. Whatever the circumstance, society bears the responsibility of both protecting itself from the outside-in while it looks at ways to make itself safer from the inside-out; meaning, providing treatment to it’s citizens in need.

In my assessment of this young man in Santa Cruz, I wonder how many others like him are out there needing help from those adults who can direct them to resources. I am happy to say that I have helped a number of pre-criminal and criminal teenage and child offenders find the treatment programs that work successfully with kids fitting this profile. There are a number of us ‘professionals’ out there willing to listen and direct families to resources that can help. If you are a parent, a teacher, a caregiver, a law enforcer, don’t hesitate in helping a teen get treatment. It starts with a call.

The child’s voice is an important consideration in the separating and divorcing families; however, what does that mean in pragmatics? The right to an appropriate and individualized education is both pragmatic and fundamental to the intellectual, social, and developmental growth of a child. In fact, the schooling of the child is likely a volatile subject for ‘parting’ couples to consider. Article 12 of the UN CRC intends to support the child when legal “best interests” are being determined.

My presentation in Vienna reviewed the US / UK presenter’s experience in family court as a forensic educational psychologist and the important considerations in recommending appropriate educational paths. Collaborative venues with mediators, custody evaluators, parenting coordinators, teachers, and special educators were highlighted in this presentation with legal backgrounds referenced to provide and summarize social science research benefits and cautions in listening to children’s and adolescents’ voices.

These methods help court participants in bettering the lives of children and adolescents. It would make Freud proud to hear the approaches to bettering children’s lives. Vienna was a  fabulous IALMH conference filled with the ‘best’ in the international industry helping youth and families working within legal systems. I am proud to have been invited to present. 

Of course, the ECP committee had to choose the hottest week in Milan for this international psychology conference. 30 centigrade with 90% humidity is like, well, sitting inside a car going through a car wash with the airconditioning turned off and the heat turned on ‘high’. Over 10,000 students and professionals attended this year, and plenty of interest on the topic of alternative outdoor therapy. Steven DeMille from RedCliff Wilderness and I presented on multimodal therapeutic outcomes using wilderess venue, monitored over time. The article was published last month in a NATSAP journal, peer reviewed.

As a presentation, it is clear that certain people ‘got’ the concept straight on. One of these a student “Ieva” from Lithuanian said, “Why, they don’t even know it’s therapy, it has no stigma.” Lars from Norway focused in on the BMI (body mass index) outcomes in recognizing as stress reduction correlated with stress reduction. Another student mentioned how her committee was having her look at something ‘unique’ for her dissertation study, and she is particularly keen on wilderness therapy.

By the end of the conference, the heat dissipated leaving memories of great connections with international psychologists who share a passion to find that ‘one thing’ that motivates change in youth. In this case, ‘wilderness’ therapy provides a treatment paradigm different from sitting in a therapist’s office and finding themselves in the hands of mother nature. And it works in detoxing for addictive disorders in ways suitable to move forward to other support treatment venues such as Caron programs in Pennsylvania or Florida.

As I sit here with my colleague and friend BPS President Jamie Hacker Hughes, Nottingham next May sounds much cooler and will be filled with music performances from some of us — or so I am told.

Best from Milano, one of the many international highlights this year.