Forensic Psychiatry Services

What is Forensic Psychiatry?

Forensic psychiatry represents the intersection of mental health and the law. Forensic psychiatrists provide civil and criminal evaluations and consultations to attorneys, legal professionals and businesses for the purposes of:

Pre-trial psychiatric evaluations and forensic analysis Obtaining courtroom testimony
Post-conviction treatment and evaluation Serving as an expert witness
Working with mental health clinics in prisons
Determination of capacity or competence to write a will, make decisions, enter contracts, or stand trial
Workers compensation and disability evaluations
Fitness for duty in the workplace evaluations
Guardianship/conservatorship evaluations
Malpractice/standard of care evaluations
Evaluations required by professional boards
Records review evaluations

What is the Difference Between Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry?

The main difference is that the forensic psychiatrist focuses on forensic analysis – which centers around the individual’s mental health as applied to past and future behaviors and functioning in civil, criminal, legal and correctional settings.

Forensic psychiatrists can determine a defendant’s state of mind during the crime of which they are accused. This is because mental illness can affect an individual’s actions — information that is vital to the judicial process.

Forensic psychiatrists can aid attorneys, legal professionals, individuals and businesses in making determinations of fitness for duty or ability to work, disability evaluations, workers’ compensation, and risk assessment.

Our forensic psychiatrists provide consultations to individuals, families and attorneys to determine testamentary capacity which is the ability to write a will, ability to enter into contracts or make financial decisions, guardianship/conservatorship evaluations, as well as evaluation of malpractice and standards of care in psychiatric practice.

Prison can make existing mental illnesses worse, which is why forensic psychiatry often involves providing mental health services for those who are incarcerated.

In addition, forensic analysis may involve specialized outpatient treatment for those in the community who have previously been convicted of a crime.

Raleigh Psychiatric Associates Offers a Complete Array of Services Including Forensic Psychiatry

Our forensic psychiatrists are available to provide education, consultation, evaluation and records reviews to individuals, families, businesses, attorneys and legal professionals. We perform high-quality civil and criminal evaluations, consultations and expert testimony in legal proceedings on forensic questions.

For more than 40 years, our experienced psychiatrists and therapists have been dedicated to providing every facet of mental health care for

adults, children and adolescents. Because we concentrate on each patient as an individual, we offer a variety of treatment strategies which include both medications and counseling.

We’re proud to serve as psychiatrists to the Triangle area, including Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forest, Garner, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Morrisville, Apex, Durham and Chapel Hill. We can help you, whether you’re struggling with depression or severe anxiety.