Basic Diagnosis and Assessment of Maternal Mental Illness in the Forensic Arena
Presented by: Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD and Gina Wong, PhD
6 Hours / 6 CEs
On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training
This on-demand professional training program on Basic Diagnosis and Assessment of Maternal Mental Illness in the Forensic Area is presented by Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD, and Gina Wong, PhD.
Women are exceptionally vulnerable to psychiatric illness during the childbearing years, with more hospitalizations over this period than at any other time during the female life cycle. Because maternal depression looks characteristically different from what is generally understood about major depressive disorder, it is often misdiagnosed or ineffectively treated.
This introductory program is designed for mental health professionals from a variety of disciplines preparing to work or who are already working in forensic settings. A broad understanding of this specialized area of forensics within the context of current research and a scientific understanding of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are provided. This foundational program prepares professionals for assessment and diagnosis as well as a deeper understanding of serious maternal mental illness with a special emphasis on its connection to filicide.
The clinical presentation of the wide range of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders is addressed along with the factors that elevate risk. This program enhances understanding of the diagnostic tools generally used in assessment and diagnosis. Sociocultural attitudes and global perspectives on criminal charges and sentencing decisions are discussed. Case examples are used to highlight didactic material.
The information obtained for use in this program is evidence-based, empirically supported, and widely accepted as general practice in the field of maternal mental illness. Education around assessment and diagnosis is foundational in addressing the intersection between maternal mental illness and the criminal justice system.
Program Materials (not included with purchase)
Strongly Recommended
Wong, G., & Parnham, G. J., (Eds.). Infanticide and filicide: Foundations in maternal mental health forensics. American Psychiatric Association Publishing.
Foundational Texts: Recommended Resources
Barnes, D. (Ed.). (2014). Women’s reproductive mental health across the lifespan. Springer International Publishing.
Spinelli, M. (Ed.) (2003). Infanticide: Psychosocial and legal perspectives on mothers who kill. American Psychiatric Publishing.
Maternal mental Health and Its Application to Forensics: Training the Expert Witness series overview
More psychiatric admissions are around the childbearing years than at any other time in the female life cycle. Women’s reproductive mental health is a highly specialized field of study with an increasingly critical role in the arena of criminal justice. This four-program series introduces participants to the foundations of maternal mental health as it applies to forensics and women who are criminally charged for harm to their child/children. Each program furthers the current empirically based understanding of maternal mental health forensics as well as promotes accepted standards and protocols in this emerging specialty. This series advances fundamental clinical, legal, and sociocultural perspectives in addition to encouraging critical dialogue in this evolving field. Basic diagnosis and assessment, the expert witness's role in evaluation and report writing, and advanced training in expert testimony are included. Case analysis and discussion are integral parts of the didactic learning inherent in this program.
Programs in this series include:
- Basic Diagnosis and Assessment of Maternal Mental Illness in the Forensic Arena
- Role of the Expert Witness in Establishing the Relationship Between Maternal Mental Illness & Criminally Charged Behaviour
- Advanced Issues in Maternal Mental Health Forensics
- Advanced Training in Maternal Mental Health Forensics and Courtroom Testimony
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- 1 Identify three basic competency areas necessary to develop proficiency as an expert in maternal mental health forensics
- 2 Describe the impact of untreated maternal illness to birth outcomes
- 3 Describe the range of diagnoses that occur during the childbearing years, and their clinical presentation
- 4 Describe the factors that elevate risk for maternal mental illness
- 5 Describe basic diagnostic tools used to assess maternal mood and anxiety disorders
- 6 Describe the terminology used to describe maternal infanticide and filicide in the courtroom
- 7 Describe utilization of the DSM-5 to understand maternal mental illness in the courtroom
- 8 Formulate a differential diagnosis regarding state of mind in those women who are criminally charged.
- 9 Describe pertinent legal aspects of maternal filicide cases
- 10 Describe the wide range of attitudes and perspectives that affect how charging and sentencing decisions are made around the globe
Presented By
Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD Forensic Expert in the specialized area of maternal mental illness
Dr. Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D., PMH-C, LMFT practices in Los Angeles, California. She has been a forensic expert in the specialized area of maternal mental illness for over 20 years. She is frequently retained by legal counsel on cases of pregnancy denial and neonaticide, postpartum psychosis, and infanticide; as well as child abuse and neglect where a child/children may have been harmed. She is on the editorial advisory board for Forensic Scholars. Dr. Barnes has been specializing in women’s reproductive mental health for over 25 years and has widely published on all facets of women’s mental health around the child-bearing years. She published the guidelines for the assessment and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders for the Perinatal Advisory Council of Los Angeles. She is the editor and contributing author of Women’s Reproductive Mental Health Across the Lifespan, published by Springer in 2014. She is a past president of Postpartum Support International and currently sits on their Advisory council. In 2015, Dr. Barnes was appointed as the mental health consultant to the California Commission on the Status of Maternal Mental Health and in 2016 to the California Maternal Mortality Review Panel. She currently Chairs the Special Interest Group on Forensics and Maternal Mental Health for the International Marcé Society. In 2009, Dr. Barnes received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Eli Lilly Foundation for her extraordinary contributions to the field of maternal mental health and child-bearing-related mood disorders. She maintains a private practice in the greater Los Angeles area.
Presented By
Gina Wong, PhD Professor at Athabasca University
Dr. Gina Wong, Ph.D., is a Registered Psychologist in Alberta, Canada, and a professor at Athabasca University. She specializes in perinatal and reproductive mental health and has researched perinatal mood and anxiety disorders from narrative perspectives. She educates, consults, and trains in the field, which includes working with provisional psychologists to develop this specialization. Dr. Wong is the Vice-President of the Postpartum Support International Canada that launched on World Maternal Mental Health Day in 2022. She also specializes in maternal mental health forensics and serves as an expert witness in Canada. Dr. Wong is actively involved in developing a competency-based model in becoming a perinatal mental health expert witness. She has published 4 books which include editing Moms Gone Mad published by Demeter Press (Wong, 2012) and co-edited Infanticide and Filicide: Foundations in Maternal Mental Health Forensics published by the American Psychiatric Association (Wong & Parnham, 2021). Dr. Wong received the 2023 Media Award from the Psychologists’ Association of Alberta for exceptional contribution to portraying psychological knowledge to the public; the 2022 Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Leadership Award; and the 2022 Psychologist of the Year Award from the Psychologists’ Association of Alberta for her work in racial justice and perinatal mental health.
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.