Psychotherapy Services

Counseling services from a licensed psychologist are generally referred to as “psychotherapy.” At Cliff Valley, psychotherapy may include consultation, evaluation, diagnosis, and limited or ongoing therapy — to best fit your transition point. Psychotherapy has both benefits and risks. It can benefit you or a family member by resolving a specific problem, developing a plan for the future, strengthening relationships, or helping you understand and manage your feelings. Its risks are that you may experience a wide spectrum of emotions — common emotions, but they may be temporarily unsettling to you. For more information about therapeutic services for individuals, please review the Agreement for Psychotherapy and feel free to contact us if you have questions.

Many times, our clients are referred to us because of the need for forensic psychological services. Forensic psychology applies psychological principles to proceedings in the legal system. Our expertise includes evaluations and recommendations on custody (both legal and physical) for divorcing parents, parenting plans, child abuse evaluations and therapy, and visitation risk assessments. In the case of divorce, our services originate from either a consent order or a court order, and include evaluating each member of the family. Psychologists who practice in this area are considered a ’friend of the court,” providing needed objective and neutral opinion to help the court resolve a case. In other words, we are not an advocate for either “side.” Rather, we are called upon to deliver expert professional opinion relevant to the court’s needs. We have many years of experience in forensic psychology and court testimony and are among the leading professionals providing these services in the Atlanta area. If you’re a legal professional, please read more here.

In addition to court-ordered work with parents, we frequently work with individuals who are referred to us by legal counsel but who need individual therapy to help them work through marital and parenting issues, strengthen their parenting skills and relationships with their children, and plan for their children’s long-term future. Sometimes the therapy is for a child or children whose parents are divorcing.

Forensic Psychological Services

Forensic psychology is defined as the intersection between psychology and the justice system. It involves in-depth understanding of and experience in the application of the psychology “body of knowledge” to assist courts in making sound decisions. It also relies heavily on psychologists who are trained and experienced in serving as credible and authoritative witnesses in court.

Drs. Alexander and McGarrah have significant experience in forensic evaluations and expert testimony. A forensic evaluation can be requested by the court, attorneys, guardian ad litem, or an agency (such as the Department of Family and Children Services or an adoption agency). Forensic evaluations are conducted for a variety of reasons, including:

• Issues of child custody and visitation
• Parental fitness
• Allegations of abuse
• Trauma assessment
• Sexual harassment
• Other civil or criminal matters, including personal injury cases

An evaluation results in a formal recommendation to the court — it is not therapy and the participants are not patients.

In child custody and visitation issues, our duty is to make every reasonable attempt to serve as an impartial examiner, not as an advocate. Our obligation is to give an opinion as to the best interests of a child. This type of forensic evaluation requires a court order or consent order between the two attorneys. In almost all cases, we must include evaluations of each member of the family, including stepparents or potential stepparents, as well as the children.

Our experience serving as respected, credible professionals providing expert testimony goes back 30 years, to the beginning of our practices. We have worked with dozens of legal professionals in almost every court jurisdiction in the Atlanta metropolitan area, other areas of Georgia, and outside the state. Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss our services and how they may be appropriate for your client’s situation.