Writing Forensic Reports: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals

Despite the extensive technical literature on forensic mental health, there is a lack of practical guidebooks dedicated to generating clear and persuasive forensic mental health reports. Greenfield and Gottschalk present this practical handbook to address this critical need.

This comprehensive guide outlines the proper format for forensic reports, contains multiple examples of full and partial reports, and is organized in a user-friendly, "how-to" style to accomplish its goal. The case overviews of full criminal reports, full civil reports, and civil summaries cover important topics such as domestic violence, malpractice, personal injury, malingering, and more.
Key features:

• Full-length report samples with step-by-step guidelines explaining how each section of the report is done
• Designed to assist the novice, trainee, and seasoned forensic mental health practitioner
• Extensive commentaries and discussions following each case overview to convey how the report served to help resolve its case
• Extensive reference lists and appendices containing key terms, additional journals and periodicals, Internet resources, and assessment tools

Daniel P. Greenfield, MD, MPH, MS, is an attending physician and Clinical Professor, at NJ Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center, Seton Hall- School of Graduate Medical Education, and Montefiore Medical Center.

Jack A. Gottschalk, JD, MA, MSM, is a best-selling author and a frequent television and radio guest. A lawyer and former prosecutor, he has appeared on Court TV and was the host of a cable TV show, Legally Speaking. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Stillman School of Business of Seton Hall University.