Professional Experience

Adhia & Associates, Forensic Psychiatrists

Expert Witness and Legal Consultant to Attorneys; with Psychiatry and Brain Injury Medicine specialist Sanjay Adhia, M.D. P.A.). Private practice. Houston, TX, California, and nationally. (2022-present)

• Forensic psychiatry
• Records review, medical and legal
• Independent medical examination (IME) assessment
• Reports of findings and conclusions
• Testimony

Avenue 360 Health & Wellness (FQHC clinic treating the homeless, LGBTQ patients, those with substance use disorders, those with HIV), Psychiatrist. Houston, TX.

Adult and Adolescent Psychiatrist. (2021-present)

• Psychiatric outpatient care, assessment and treatment of adult patients
• Psychiatric outpatient care, assessment and treatment of child patients (ages 6 and up)
• Treatment of conditions including, but not limited to, trauma, anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar, autism and oppositional defiant/conduct disorder

Pre-Medical Experience

All Faiths Receiving Home, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Case Worker for Child Protective Services (CPS) (2009-2011)

• Provided support for families reported to CPS, current foster parents and families who had recently been reunited with their children by CPS
• Assistance to families in areas of behavioral management of children, coordinated communication between families and CPS, schools, other involved parties, helped families address concerns raised by CPS in order to prevent removal of children
• Helped assess safety and home environment through frequent visits to children’s homes and reported findings to CPS management

Desert Hills Residential Treatment Center.  Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Caseworker for At-Risk Youth and Youth with Mental Illness (2007-2009)

• Caseworker services for children being discharged from RTC, children in the day treatment program as well as other children who enrolled in the program
• Helped families manage demands of navigating school, treatment programs, applying for government assistance as well as with behavioral issues arising in the home, school or other settings

Education

Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship and Practicum

University of California – UC Davis, Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Training and Practicum (2020-2021)

Trained in a wide variety of forensic assessments including

• Competency to Stand Trial (CTST)
• Not Guilty by Right of Insanity (NGRI)
• Fitness-for-Duty
• Disability
• Diminished Capacity
• Forensic assessment of children (Violence and Sexual Recidivism Risk Assessments)
• CTST and Sexual Violence Risk Assessments for California DSH Napa State Hospital
• Forensic Case and Records Review, training and practicum
• Use of psychological tests, competency assessment instruments and risk assessment tools (e.g, MFAST, HCR-20, ILK, TOMM, GCCT, CAI-R)
• Clinical care to inmates at Sacramento County Main Jail, Sacramento, CA

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and Practicum

University of California, Irvine – Irvine Medical Center, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Training and Practicum  (2018-2020)

• Managed patients in inpatient hospital and outpatient settings
• Supervised medical students: clinic and inpatient rotations
• 2 years of experience working in a highly diverse patient population including families across the socioeconomic spectrum with multiple cultures and backgrounds in Orange County, California
• Clinical psychiatric care, outpatient, for Orange County patients, including children involved with CPS, in the foster care system and in legal matters

University of New Mexico, Psychiatry Residency, Albuquerque, New Mexico

General Psychiatry Residency (2015-2018)

• Evaluated and provided medication management for patients in both acute inpatient and outpatient settings, while coordinating with community resources
• State Hospital psychiatric care evaluating patients in a rural Treat-to-Competency facility (2 days/month)

Doctor of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (2015)

B.S., Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico (2007)

Presentations

Video Games and Psychiatry (2015, 2018, 2019)

Education about how video games affect behavior in the home, reasonable playing time and use as a behavioral intervention/motivation tool for children

Mental Status Exam Basics (2019)

Basics of the psychiatric mental status exam to psychiatric techs and nurses at CHOC children’s hospital

Cannabis Use and Violence Risk: From High to Homicidal (with the UC Davis Division of Psychiatry and the Law) (2020)

How marijuana use can cause psychosis or exacerbate existing psychosis.  Discussed how marijuana use relates to NGRI pleas. Compared forms of marijuana and related THC contents.

Research

The Waitlist Project. UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and the Law, Mendes, K. Forensic Psychiatry Fellow (2020-2021)
Dr. Charles Scott and Dr. Barbara McDermott and forensic fellows in evaluating the quality of psychiatric diagnosis and care received by inmates on the admission waitlist for state hospitals. Inmates at multiple jail sites in the state of California were assessed with the goal of using the data gathered to influence public policy regarding psychiatric care in California’s jails.

Professional Affiliations

American Psychiatric Association
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law

Volunteer Service

Mobile Harm Reduction Outreach, Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless (2007-2011). Provided harm reduction education and education about drug treatment resources.