Forensic Psychology Introduction

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY

Augusta University/East Central Regional Hospital

The Fellowship in Forensic Psychology is offered through a partnership between East Central Regional Hospital (ECRH) and Augusta University (AU). The fellowship has two full-time positions available each year. The 2022-2023 year will be our eleventh year and we are privileged to be part of the psychiatry department at Augusta University where a high priority is afforded to excellent clinical care and training.

ECRH is a state operated intermediate-security psychiatric hospital, while Augusta University is a large publically operated medical school. Located in Augusta, Georgia this fellowship program offers a year-long training sequence with a specialization in public sector forensic inpatient (i.e., completed at the hospital) and outpatient (i.e., completed with individuals who are incarcerated or on bond) evaluations. There are also opportunities to be part of various civil evaluations conducted through Augusta University and private practice. (e.g., fitness for duty, pre-employment for police officers). 

Fellows are given an opportunity to evaluate individuals who have been charged with a wide-variety of criminal offenses, including: murder, aggravated assault, rape, and child molestation. The fellowship offers specialized training in conducting competency to proceed to trial, criminal responsibility (insanity), and violence risk evaluations. Fellows who are interested will also have opportunities to conduct competency to stand trial and court-ordered psychological evaluations with juvenile offenders.

Fellows will have opportunities to conduct evaluations with diverse individuals covering major diagnostic categories, including: psychotic disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, substance abuse, malingering, and intellectual disabilities. At the hospital, there are two units that house 71 forensic individuals who are diverse in terms of age, race, and socioeconomic status. Clinical training experiences include conducting comprehensive assessments of competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility (insanity), and violence risk. Fellows will be given the opportunity to testify and to observe expert testimony provided by their supervisors. When a fellow is required to testify, they will be accompanied to court by their supervisor. During the outpatient rotation, fellows will conduct competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility evaluations with adult defendants who are either incarcerated or out on bond. Fellows will also be involved in annual civil commitment reviews, which are designed to provide the Court with an individual’s progress over the proceeding year and to make recommendations related to their appropriateness for continued outpatient commitment/conditional release.

Our forensic fellows are provided with extensive psycholegal education.  These educational opportunities include supervised forensic clinical experiences, involvement with a multidisciplinary treatment team, weekly seminars in mental health case law/forensic issues, and protected research time. Fellows who wish to be involved in treatment, can work this into their schedules during the inpatient rotations. In these ways, the fellowship embraces the tripartite model of education: clinical excellence, didactic education, and scholarship. Gaining advanced knowledge in forensic psychology requires exposure to a variety of criminal and forensic issues, training in case law, and didactic seminars. Each fellow should finish the year well versed in public sector criminal-forensic evaluations and gain knowledge grounded in scientific theory as it relates to criminal forensic psychology. Our previous fellows have gone on to obtain outpatient/inpatient forensic evaluator positions in several states, including Georgia, Colorado, Ohio, and North Carolina. Additionally, several of our previous fellows are currently Board-Certified in Forensic Psychology.