🎧 Crisis Negotiation: Negotiation with People’s Lives
We’ve all negotiated in situations that seemed like high stakes – asking for a job raise or bargaining with a rebellious teenager. But few of us
🎧 The Psychology of Violence
What causes someone to be violent? Are they born that way or is it a response to childhood trauma or adverse life circumstances? And how likely is
🎧 Police Psychology, Trauma and How Cops Cope
Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D. Being a police officer has always been a dangerous, stressful and rewarding job. Historically, for a number of reasons, many law
🎧 Domestic Violence Under Quarantine
While the impact of social distancing and self-quarantine is stressful for everyone, it can be life threatening for domestic violence victims. Since COVID-19 hit communities in
🎧 Recognizing and Preventing Adoption Scams
Few occasions are more joyous in a courtroom than the completion of a successful adoption. Most birth moms want what is best for their child and
🎧 Understanding Mind Control, Brainwashing and Destructive Cults
Cults are in the news. In June 2019, the leader of self-improvement cult NXIUM Keith Reniere was convicted of several felonies, including human trafficking and sexual
🎧 DNA and the Forensic Use of Genetic Genealogy
The Golden State serial killer Joseph James DeAngelo was finally caught in 2018. In addition to the public relief at this predator’s capture, part of the
🎧 The Psychology and Law of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, has become a household word, but it is a term – and a disorder – that is often misunderstood. In the
🎧 Can Children Be Psychopaths?
Few psychological terms carry such negative implications as the diagnosis of “psychopath.” We know, for example, that adults with psychopathy often leave a path of interpersonal
Living with Monsters in the Closet
We don’t know exactly how many American children grow up with a seriously mentally ill parent. We can get a rough guess by looking at the
Domestic Violence:Â When Your Friend is a Batterer
This month is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and, understandably, the focus has been on the victims – how to recognize an abusive relationship, how to
What Would You Do to End Child Abuse?
My first job out of graduate school was working with children who had been severely neglected or abused. It was with a nonprofit that had