Advanced Issues in the Assessment of Risk for Violence: Formulation
Presented by: Stephen D. Hart, PhD
20 Hours / 20 CEs
On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training
This on-demand professional training program on Advanced Issues in the Assessment of Risk for Violence: Formulation was developed by Stephen D. Hart, PhD in partnership with Protect International Risk and Safety Services. This badge-earning program can be shared digitally on platforms like LinkedIn or your resume and counts towards a certificate. Enroll in this program to earn credit towards Violence Risk Assessment Certificate and share your new digital credentials with prospective employers and colleagues.
The practice of clinical risk assessment and management has changed greatly in the last five years. Predicting harmful outcomes in clients continues to be the first line of response by busy practitioners trying to prioritize large caseloads of demanding and potentially at-risk clients. However, recent research makes it clear that reliance on prediction models to manage individual risk is unsafe. There are a number of reasons why this is the case. Risk prediction tools make a comparison between an individual client and a group of research participants with a known rate of re-offending; they do not predict harmful outcomes in individuals. Also, risk prediction does not facilitate risk formulation or individual risk management planning assessment using a risk prediction tool and does not encourage an understanding of why harmful outcomes are a possibility or the mechanism by which treatment, supervision, and monitoring processes can lead to managed risk.
Prerequisite: The prerequisite for this program is either the Foundations of Threat Assessment training program offered by CONCEPT or at least 4 days of foundational threat assessment and risk management training.
This program provides practitioners with a summary of the most up-to-date research findings relevant to violence and sexual violence, provides an overview of the most recent clinical guidance on risk assessment and management using a structured professional judgment approach, and gives practitioners the opportunity to advance their practice in respect of clinical interviewing skills, risk formulation, risk management planning, and risk communication through relevant exercises and case studies. Professionals who do not have a solid foundation in threat assessment and risk management may wish to register for the Foundations of Threat Assessment training program before registering for this Program.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- 1 Describe important historical movements in the violence risk field that led to the development of the HCR-20 Version 3
- 2 Describe the reliance on prediction models used to manage individual risk
- 3 Describe the research on the assessment of violence
- 4 Describe the research on the assessment of sexual violence
- 5 Describe the most recent clinical guidance on risk assessment using a structured professional judgement approach
- 6 Describe the process for case formulation
- 7 Describe the process for risk scenarios
- 8 Describe the process of risk management formulations
- 9 Demonstrate clinical interview skills and risk formulation to actual case analysis
- 10 Demonstrate risk management planning and risk communications to actual case analysis
- 11 Demonstrate the HCR-20 Version 3 to actual case analysis
Presented By
Stephen D. Hart, PhD, Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University
Dr. Stephen D. Hart obtained BA, MA, and PhD degrees in psychology at the University of British Columbia. He has been on faculty in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University since 1990, and has held the rank of Professor since 2001. He also served as a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Bergen in Norway between 2000 and 2021. His expertise is in the field of clinical-forensic psychology, with a special focus on the assessment of violence risk and psychopathic personality disorder. He has co-authored more than 250 books, chapters, and articles. He has served as editor of two scientific journals; a member of the editorial board of eight journals; and ad hoc reviewer for more than 40 journals. He has served as an executive committee member of several professional organizations, including President of the American Psychology-Law Society and the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services. He has received various distinctions for his professional work, including the Career Achievement Award from the Society of Clinical Psychology, the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Research Excellence in Psychology and Law from the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, and the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. He maintains an active practice in violence risk assessment. He has consulted with government agencies from more than 25 countries; led more than 500 training workshops around the world; and given expert evidence before courts, tribunals, inquests, review boards, and parliamentary committees in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Training Outline
Key topics covered in this training include:
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Assessment
Participants learn about the assessment of violence, risk assessment, and case formulation -
Research
Participants learn about recent research in clinical guidance using the SPJ and violence risk, which lead to the development of the HCR-20 Version 3
Earning a Certificate
This is a badge-earning program, which means it will help you earn a certificate that can be showcased on digital platforms like LinkedIn.
We are proud to partner with
Protect International Risk and Safety Services
We are proud to partner with Protect International Risk and Safety Services for this training. Protect International's threat assessment professionals are internationally recognized experts that have developed some of the world's most widely used and best-validated threat assessment tools. Protect International provides services and products related to violence risk assessment and management, also known as threat assessment and management. Protect International services and products include threat assessment training and support, case assessment and management, legal consultation, policy review and development, and program evaluation and research; along with threat assessment manuals, worksheets, licenses, and software applications for those tools.
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.
American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.
Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.
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.