4 Hours / 4 CEs

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on Competencies in the Criminal Process is presented 
by Christopher Slobogin, J.D., LLM, in partnership with The American Academy of Forensic Psychology.

This program provides a comprehensive analysis of the law governing six competencies that arise in the criminal process: competency to stand trial, competency to plead guilty, and competency to waive legal representation, with a brief mention of competency to waive the insanity defense and other defenses. Although relevant research and assessment protocols are discussed, the focus of this program is the law’s approach to these issues.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  • 1 Describe the factors relevant to assessing competency to stand trial, plead guilty, and waive counsel.
  • 2 Carry out a competency evaluation that addresses the fundamental issues relevant to the courts.
  • 3 Select a competency assessment instrument appropriate to legal needs and time constraints.
  • 4 Create a treatment plan to restore competency that addresses issues relevant to refusal of medication.
  • 5 Critique a competency report’s allegiance to competency criteria.

  • Intended Audience

    This training is intended for mental health and allied professionals who want a comprehensive understanding of the legal frameworks and competency issues within the criminal justice process. It is particularly relevant for those specializing in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, or legal-psychology consultation, as well as professionals involved in the intersection of mental health and the law.


    Examples of Relevant Professionals:
    • Mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors)
    • Forensic psychologists
    • Clinical psychologists
    • Legal-psychology consultants
    • Allied professionals involved in the criminal justice system

  • Experience Level

    This training is appropriate for licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals at various stages of experience with forensic competency evaluations.

    • Beginner: Participants new to forensic mental health or competency evaluations who seek foundational knowledge of legal standards and assessment factors for competency to stand trial, plead guilty, and waive counsel.

    • Intermediate: Participants with some experience in forensic assessment who wish to deepen their ability to conduct competency evaluations, select appropriate assessment instruments, and develop treatment plans addressing complex legal and clinical issues.

    • Advanced: Participants with substantial forensic experience who aim to refine their skills in critiquing competency reports, addressing nuanced legal criteria, and integrating advanced research and protocols into practice.

  • Practice Setting

    Professionals use this training in legally integrated clinical environments that interface directly with the criminal process, conducting evaluations, testimony, and consultation across secure inpatient, outpatient, and consultative settings. Work is multidisciplinary and court-facing, centered on legal standards for competency to stand trial, plead guilty, and waive counsel (with brief attention to waivers of insanity and other defenses), and suitable for licensed and pre-licensed providers at all experience levels.


    Examples of Practice Settings:
    • Court-based forensic evaluation clinics
    • Jails, prisons, and detention facilities
    • State or federal forensic psychiatric hospitals
    • Hospital-based inpatient or outpatient forensic services
    • Community programs aligned with courts and diversion initiatives
    • Private forensic consultation and evaluation practices
    • Mental health/problem-solving courts and court-ordered treatment programs
    • Probation/parole collaborative units and pretrial services

Presented By

Christopher Slobogin, J.D, LLM Director of Vanderbilt Law School’s Criminal Justice Program

Christopher Slobogin has authored more than 200 articles, books, and chapters on topics relating to mental health law, criminal law and procedure, and evidence. Named director of Vanderbilt Law School’s Criminal Justice Program in 2009, Professor Slobogin is one of the five most cited criminal law and procedure law professors in the country over the past five years, according to the Leiter Report. Particularly influential has been his work on mental disability and criminal law, appearing in books published by the Cambridge, Harvard, and Oxford university presses and several top-notch law reviews. Slobogin has served as reporter for American Bar Association task forces on the Insanity Defense and on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty, and has served as chair of both the ABA’s task force charged with revising the Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards and the ABA’s Florida Assessment team for the Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. In recognition for his work in mental health law, in 2016 Slobogin received both the American Board of Forensic Psychology's Distinguished Contribution Award and the American Psychology-Law Society’s Distinguished Contribution of Psychology and Law Award; only a total of five law professors have received either of these awards in their 30-year history, and Slobogin is the only to receive both awards. He has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, the Today Show, National Public Radio, and many other media outlets, and has been cited in almost 5,000 law review articles and treatises and more than 200 judicial opinions, including five U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Slobogin holds a secondary appointment as a professor in the Vanderbilt School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry.

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Christopher Slobogin, J.D, LLM
We are proud to partner with

American Academy of Forensic Psychology (AAFP)

American Academy of Forensic Psychology (AAFP)

We are proud to partner with the American Academy of Forensic Psychology (AAFP) for this training. AAFP is a non-profit organization of board-certified forensic psychologists whose mission is to contribute to the development and maintenance of forensic psychology as a specialized field of study, research, and practice. The Academy does this by providing high-quality continuing education workshops, providing a forum for the exchange of scientific information among its members, and conferring awards upon outstanding students and practitioners in the field of forensic psychology.

Learn More About Our Partner

CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).



Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.