What everybody expects to see in a forensic psychological evaluation is an appraisal of the damages to the children (if any) by competent people. In my case, that meant that the forensic psychologist, Berrill, should have interviewed the surgeon who placed Camille’s second implant, perhaps Camille’s speech therapists. Interviews? None.
Now for the “scientific content” of the forensic evaluation: the “diagnostic impression” from the MCMI-III test, which takes almost a visit to complete, tells that “Axis II” (there are three of these axes) is messed up. I have “prominent narcissistic personality features”, and sicko ex-wife “histrionic, narcissistic and obsessive- compulsive personality features.” What is the link between these lovely features and my relationship with my daughters? Go figure; see Dr. Phil or the psychic at the corner of the street.
Then, the clever interview trick, that you learn about later on. Berrill told the girls that if they were to feel uncomfortable during their interview with me, they just had to make a sign -touch their nose- and Berrill would stop their ordeal. My little one, Chloé, six year old then, had to test if Superman Berrill would indeed rescue them from their evil father. She touched her nose twenty minutes after the interview started. Investigating this discomfort with another visit? Duh.
Finally, the bouquet of the report: the customized recommendations. The relationship between father and children is damaged and more supervised visitations will do the trick to repair it. The opposite is exactly true: more supervised visitations with me, and unsupervised mother brainwashing of the girls will end up killing my relationship with them. Father should receive medical reports and children’s report card, and email communication between father and the girls should be encouraged. If there is a Berrill’s patient who got different recommendations from him, raise your hand!
Thank you, Dr Berrill!
I’m pretty familiar with the “forensic” (READ: social worker paid astronomical rates to produce psychobabble that encourages family court judges to tell you how the next 18 years are going to be spent with your flesh and blood). I dated a woman going through a bitter divorce in Manhattan for years and to the tune of near a quarter million dollars. She is from an affluent Italian-American family and her ex is from India. When the forensic “expert” – a black woman – referred to her ex as a “person of color” that “I can work with” on the phone, my then-girlfriend knew she was in trouble.
These social workers represent the absolute worst about modern trends towards psychology. Everything is a “complex” and every kid has the latest crap, whether it’s ADHD, ADD, whatever…it’s pure snake oil.
It’s bad enough that one has to be in front of some lawyer with a gavel (READ: Family court judge or judge advocate) who will control whether you spend 1% or 99% of your time with your kid(s), but to have some social worker paid tons of money to rant on about “issues” the parents and kids have just adds insult to injury.