Workshop - Amanda Nielsen

Abstract

Neuropsychologists may be asked to assist courts in assessing the fitness of defendants to stand trial, but many embark on this work without a thorough grounding in the relevant legal and clinical issues. This workshop will provide assessors with valuable knowledge and skills in conducting this important and highly scrutinised work.  In this workshop we will look at the underlying legal principles informing fitness to stand trial and the current state of legislation and common law across Australia. We will place the neuropsychological assessment and report into its legal and clinical context. The workshop will place an emphasis on how to conceptualise the fitness criteria, with discussion about how to draw on functional information as an important source of data in considering fitness. We will spend some time considering threshold issues regarding the fitness criteria and how reading caselaw can inform your interpretation of thresholds. We will cover how to write defensible, relevant and useful reports in the forensic context, and consider how these differ from standard neuropsychological reports. Case examples will be provided, and there will be some discussion of how to give evidence in court as an expert witness. This workshop would suit clinical neuropsychologists considering working in this field. It will also be useful for experienced assessors wanting to increase their understanding of how the courts interpret the fitness criteria, in order to improve the utility and relevance of their assessments.

Learning objectives: Delegates will be able to:

1. Build an understanding of the legal frameworks in which fitness to stand trial assessments may be sought, and to understand when and how neuropsychological assessments may be useful in this process. To understand how the legal concept of fitness to stand trial can be approached from a clinical perspective.

2. Develop a thorough and informed understanding of how the fitness criteria operate in your jurisdiction and how they can be conceptualised, assessed and communicated by clinical neuropsychologists.

3. Develop an understanding of your legal and ethical obligations in conducting this work for courts.

Level: Intermediate to Experienced. This workshop will suit practitioners with established competence in assessment and communication who are looking to use their skills in forensic fields.

Facilitator: Dr Amanda Nielsen

Dr Amanda Nielsen is an endorsed Clinical Neuropsychologist and Forensic Psychologist. She studied law and psychology at The University of Melbourne before undertaking her clinical doctorate in clinical neuropsychology with a forensic specialisation. She has worked as a forensic psychologist and clinical neuropsychologist in Australia and the UK. She held the first clinical neuropsychology position at Forensicare, Victoria’s statewide service for the assessment, treatment and support of offenders with serious mental illness. Within Forensicare, her roles have included working as a unit-based forensic psychologist in a secure psychiatric hospital, as consulting clinical neuropsychologist for various units and programs including the Problem Behaviour Program (a statewide service for people engaging in problem behaviours such as violence, sexual offending, fire-setting and stalking), and for the Court Report program, providing forensic reports about offending and risk of recidivism. She is currently employed as a Clinical Neuropsychology Educator at Forensicare and she continues to contribute to the Court Report program, conducting assessments of fitness to stand trial and mental impairment, and providing supervision, mentorship and training in this area.

Keywords: Forensic, assessment, court