I am available to provide professional consultation and trainings.
When considering which type of consultation you are seeking, please consider whether or not you intend to disclose me as a witness, and/or whether you expect to call me to testify at trial. If you plan for me to provide testimony, then please be advised that I regard my role as assisting the court, and not as an advocate for either "side," regardless of who requested the consultation, and regardless of who is the financially responsible party. If you are seeking a "trial consultant" (see below) then I will not also agree to provide courtroom testimony in this role.
Examples of consulting roles include the following:
Testifying Role:
Work-Product Reviews: I can be retained to provide a "work-product review"; that is, a review of another examiner's report (and/or file). The purpose of a "work-product review" is to assist the retaining party, and the court, in understanding the strengths/limitations of the appointed examiner's work. Accordingly, I do not view my role in this capacity as being an advocate for either "side," but rather, to assist the court in understanding relevant issues of forensic assessment in a specific matter. As with any consultation, no forensic expert opinions will be offered regarding the specific case at hand; rather, a "work-product review" is limited to a review of the report and underlying procedures
[Also please note that a "work-product review" is not a second opinion evaluation. For a "second opinion," another evaluation must be conducted of all of the parties who had been previously evaluated. If the retaining party is seeking a second opinion, a separate fee agreement will be provided.].
Educational Expert (aka "Pure Expert" or "Attorney-retained expert"): I can be retained as an "educational expert" to the court. The purpose of an "educational expert" is to provide the court with "pure" expert testimony about a particular area of psychological expertise (e.g. child sexual abuse; "alienation" dynamics). Accordingly, I do not view my role in this capacity as being an advocate for either "side," but rather, to assist the court in understanding relevant psychological issues. As with any consultation, no forensic expert opinions can be offered regarding the specific case at hand; rather, "educational expertise" testimony is limited to testimony regarding the subject matter in general. [Also please note that "Educational expertise" does not include any forensic expert opinions.]
Non-Testifying Role:
Trial Consultant: I can be retained as a "trial consultant." This refers to any role I may have that will not include testimony, and is solely to assist the retaining party in understanding relevant psychological issues in the case at hand. The purpose of "trial consultation" is to assist the retaining party in preparing their case, and may include a work-product review or other file/record reviews, interviews/testing with evaluees, or other consultation services. I view my role in this capacity as assisting the retaining party. Please note that if you retain me as a "trial consultant," I will not provide testimony of any kind.
Other:
Professional trainings/presentations: I can be retained to provide professional trainings/presentations to organizations/groups/agencies, etc., on a variety of topics related to clinical and forensic psychology. Please contact me regarding your specific presentation or training needs (or for a copy of my CV, which includes a complete list of her professional trainings and presentations).
To request my availability, fee agreement, policy statement, or CV, please email dr.wheeler@yahoo.com