Advanced Threat Assessment and Management

Presented by: Kostas A. Katsavdakis, Ph.D., ABPP

4 Hours | 4 CEs

This program focuses on threat assessment for targeted or intended violence. Content includes differences between threat assessment and more traditional violence risk assessment, data on affective (reactive) v. predatory (instrumental) violence, a theoretical typology of warning behaviors--accelerating patterns of risk in such cases--and some confirmatory empirical data, and specific findings from various domains of targeted violence, such as stalking, lone-actor attacks, radicalization, and domestic terrorism. The program includes a review of the relevant language, ethnic, cultural, and racial differences applicable to the process of threat assessment. Several structured assessment methods to manage threats across a variety of settings are reviewed. The program identifies emerging empirical research on threat assessment and reviews multiple management strategies tailored to the reduction of threats.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course you will be able to:

  • Describe key behavioral, emotional, and biological differences between reactive/expressive and proactive/predatory violence.

  • Describe the relevant components of an effective threat versus risk assessment protocol.

  • Describe and operationalize proximal and distal warning behaviors.

  • Describe a process of how to integrate relevant cultural, racial, and ethnic factors as well as language differences within a threat assessment protocol.

  • Describe available structured professional judgment tools for threat management and intervention purposes.

  • Describe key elements for threat assessment across contexts, such as stalking, and lone-actor, including domestic terrorism, workplace, and K-12 settings.

Presented By

Kostas A. Katsavdakis, PhD, ABPP

Kostas A. Katsavdakis, PhD, ABPP is a licensed psychologist and board-certified forensic psychologist, and he is an adjunct faculty member at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Dr. Katsavdakis evaluates defendants charged with violent sexual and violent non-sexual crimes, and he conducts threat assessments in workplace and related settings. In addition to his forensic work, he maintains a clinical caseload, treating both adults and juveniles.