LIVE: Advanced Training in Maternal Mental Health Forensics and Courtroom Testimony

April 17, 2024  |  9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific

Register | $200 USD Purchase for a Group
Presented By Gina Wong, PhD | Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD
Gina Wong, PhD Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD

April 17, 2024
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific

4 Hours

$250 Registration | $200 Early Registration (through April 3rd)

Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD, and Gina Wong, PhD present a live professional training program Advanced Training in Maternal Mental Health Forensics and Courtroom Testimony. This is the fourth program in the Maternal mental Health and Its Application to Forensics: Training the Expert Witness series.

This program provides hands-on techniques and strategies for preparing courtroom testimony through analysis of case transcripts and written reports from instructors’ case files. Didactic and experiential learning is emphasized, as well as the significance of educating the judiciary about the fundamentals of maternal mental illness and its psychiatric underpinnings.

This advanced program is practice and experiential-based, including role-play, small group discussions, and didactic learning focusing on preparing expert witnesses for courtroom testimony in maternal filicide cases. All licensed mental health practitioners, including psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, and MFTs, are suitable for this training.

Maternal mental Health and Its Application to Forensics: Training the Expert Witness

Series Overview: More psychiatric admissions are around the childbearing years than at any other time in the female life cycle. Women’s reproductive mental health is a highly specialized field of study with an increasingly critical role in the arena of criminal justice. This four-program series introduces participants to the foundations of maternal mental health as it applies to forensics and women who are criminally charged for harm to their child/children. Each program furthers the current empirically based understanding of maternal mental health forensics as well as promotes accepted standards and protocols in this emerging specialty. This series advances fundamental clinical, legal, and sociocultural perspectives in addition to encouraging critical dialogue in this evolving field. Basic diagnosis and assessment, the expert witness's role in evaluation and report writing, and advanced training in expert testimony is included. Case analysis and discussion are integral parts of the didactic learning inherent in this program.

Programs in this series include:

  1. Basic Diagnosis and Assessment of Maternal Mental Illness in the Forensic Arena
  2. Role of the Expert Witness in Establishing the Relationship Between Maternal Mental Illness & Criminally Charged Behaviour
  3. Advanced Issues in Maternal Mental Health Forensics
  4. Advanced Training in Maternal Mental Health Forensics and Courtroom Testimony



    5. Program Materials

    The materials listed below are not included with the program purchase and must be purchased separately.

    Strongly Recommended
    Foundational Texts

Intended Audience

This live program is intended for mental health and other allied professionals.

Experience Level

This live program is appropriate for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level clinicians.

CE / CPD Credit

APA, ASWB, CPA, NBCC: Click here for state and other regional board approvals.

Presented By

Gina Wong, PhD

Dr. Gina Wong, Ph.D., is a Registered Psychologist in Alberta, Canada, and a professor in the Faculty of Health Disciplines at Athabasca University. She specializes in perinatal mental health and has a program of research focused on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and is an educator on the topi...

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Presented By

Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD

Dr. Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D., PMH-C, LMFT practices in Los Angeles, California. She has been a forensic expert in the specialized area of maternal mental illness for over 20 years. She is frequently retained by defense counsel on cases of pregnancy denial and neonaticide, postpartum psychosis, and ...

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Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this program you will be able to:

Describe the role of childhood trauma and its connection to altruistic filicide cases through case examples

Describe the implications of intergenerational trauma on attachment security and its relationship to impoverished brain development and lower executive functioning skills

Identify the symptom presentation and the demographic profile of women with unperceived pregnancies

Demonstrate an understanding of how the birth of a baby can act as a catalyst for criminal behavior that does not involve infanticide (e.g., kidnapping, homicide of other victims)

Describe the relationship between a woman’s reproductive history and later psychiatric illnesses that increases vulnerability to criminal behavior

Identify the differences in motivations between paternal and maternal filicide cases through evidence-based research and actual cases

Describe the media's role in public perception of maternal and paternal filicide cases

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Live Event Policy

Event Communications

Event Communications

All program information will be available on your dashboard after registration. When registering, use an email that is active and that you check regularly. We are not responsible for communications not being received; if you do not add caps@paloaltou.edu to your email safe sender list, our emails are likely to end up in your spam or junk folders.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellation Policy

Have a sudden change of plans and are unable to attend live? No worries, you will be given access to the on-demand version of the program once available.

Event Conduct

Event Conduct

Please conduct yourself in a professional manner throughout the event. Our goal is to make this as interactive an experience as possible for all who attend. We reserve the right to remove any participants who are disruptive or who act unprofessionally.

Develop a Specialty Area of Practice

Transforming mental health professionals into experts

Expert Instructors

Professional training developed and delivered by the field's leading experts

CE Credit

Earn CE credit for meaningful professional training that will elevate your practice

Convenience & Flexibility

Learn at your own pace, from wherever you might be!