L. William Mulbry Jr. M.D.

Best Practices in Psychological Assessment—A Panel Discussion

Abstract
Mandated Assessment from judicial affairs and residential life are becoming more common at institutions of higher education. Counseling staff are being asked to provide these assessments and in a manner that ensures quality care for the student, safety for the greater college community and increased communication between the referral agent (judicial affairs, residential life, campus police, academics) and counseling staff. This seminar will offer some practical, best approaches for conducting mandated assessment of at-risk college students.

   Learning Objectives

• Identifying the types of behavior that are appropriate for referral for a mandated counseling assessment. These include suicidal actions, severe eating disorders, threats to others, inability to care for self (schizophrenia), extreme risk taking, aggression management, extreme alcohol dependence and domestic violence.
  
• Exploration of threat levels and how they can be applied to student behavior categories to better improve communication and standardize terminology (a comparison of NCHERM’s NaBITA threat model with the model suggested in Gene Desinger’s new handbook of threat assessment teams).
• Increase  understanding of how to make referrals in a manner which maximizes information exchange and clarity.
• Understanding the importance of applying HIPAA and new FERPA standards to communications between departments, with faculty and parents.
• Understanding how to notify parents during crisis situations and the pros and cons of having this notification come from judicial affairs/residential life versus counseling staff.
• Suggestions on how to better manage at-risk students who, after the initial assessment, remain on campus. Highlights on improving communication and consistency within the judicial and housing judicial system.
• Developing relationships with campus threat assessment teams and identifying the best strategies for improving communication between team members to ensure quality care for the student, increased safety for the campus community and legal defensibility for the college.
• Psycho educational programming options for mandated treatment. Example protocols will be offered covering suicide education, homicide/aggression education, domestic violence and sexual harassment.
• A review of common tools used in forensic assessment
• Overview and discussion of terminology and “common biases” found with judicial affairs and counseling staff to improve communication between departments.
  

Biography
Dr. Mulbry is the Fellowship Training Director for the Forensic Psychiatry Program at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina. He received training at Counseling and Psychological Services, the student counseling division of the Medical University. He is boarded in general and forensic psychiatry. His interest is primarily in the forensic psychiatric evaluation of criminal and civil competency. In addition to his work at the Medical University of South Carolina, he is a treating psychiatrist at Lieber and McDougall Correctional Institutes. Recent presentations include a panel discussion of “school shooters” at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Prior to his training in psychiatry, he practiced Hand and Microsurgery for many years.