The Courtroom Psychologist:
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May 2025
- May 1, 2025 Not Everyone You Dislike Is a Narcissist: The Misuse of Labels in the Courtroom
- May 1, 2025 Too Smart to Be Intellectually Disabled? Why Crime Scene Behavior Shouldn’t Determine Adaptive Functioning
- May 2, 2025 More Than the Crime Scene: How Forensic Psychology Informs Mitigation and Aggravation in Sentencing
- June 2025

The Crucial Role of Causation in Emotional Damages Assessments
Dr. Kathryn Ambeau emphasizes the importance of establishing causation when evaluating emotional damages in legal cases. Forensic psychologists must determine whether the psychological difficulties claimed by a plaintiff directly stem from a traumatic event, as this is essential for validating their claims in court. Unlike in criminal cases, where psychologists offer insights but do not make ultimate decisions, their role in emotional damages cases allows them to provide definitive opinions on the psychological impact of incidents. By employing clinical interviews and standardized assessments, psychologists like Dr. Ambeau help establish clear connections between trauma and psychological suffering, ultimately advocating for justice and support for victims.