LIVE: Introduction to Conducting Forensic Psychological Evaluations of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Individuals
August 22, 2025 | 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific
August 22, 2025
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Pacific
4 Hours | 4 CEs
Live Program via Zoom
Sara Boyd, PhD and Dee Farmer present a live virtual professional training program on Introduction to Conducting Forensic Psychological Evaluations of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Individuals in partnership with the American Academy of Forensic Psychology (AAFP).
This training covers considerations related to language and evaluator behavior regarding interviewing and writing reports about transgender and/or gender diverse individuals in the context of forensic mental health evaluations. The program provides practical recommendations and basic scripts for evaluators to speak accurately and appropriately to and about transgender and/or gender diverse evaluees during interviews and testimony.
The presenters will discuss commonly used tests in forensic settings, including personality/psychopathology-focused self-report measures, risk assessments, and trauma-related assessments, focusing on acknowledging the limitations of existing measures that use gendered norms, did not include or account for transgender people in test development samples, and/or may not provide adequate coverage of relevant psychological phenomena. There will be practical suggestions for how to choose, use, and describe formal psychological testing in reports.
Training Outline:
- Names & Deadnames
- Pronouns
- Inclusion of gender-related information in reports or external communications
- Example language for introductory sections of reports
- Common but inaccurate assumptions
- Everyone who is transgender and/or gender diverse wants medical interventions (and that cisgender people do not seek gender-affirming interventions)
- All transgender people fit into a gender binary, and we all have a binary “biological sex”
- Being transgender is a mental illness
- A person’s gender is relevant to the forensic referral question
- Being transgender is the result of psychological trauma
- The evaluator must know about the person’s genitals
- Issues in interviewing about sensitive issues
- Discussion of professional ethics codes related to testing and minority populations, research samples
- Discussion of MMPI-3, PAI, Static-99R, TSI-2, and considerations for use with transgender and/or gender diverse people
- Potential qualitative or hybrid qualitative/quantitative approaches to testing
- Informed consent for testing
- Suggested language for describing the use of formal testing in reports
- Relevance/scope of evaluation
- Harm of outing individuals to collateral sources, third parties, institutions, the public, etc.
- Allowing personal biases to influence opinions and practices
- Transphobia
- Becoming an advocate rather than offering a neutral and objective opinion
- Failure to appreciate structural, historical, and institutional factors when developing a conceptualization and opinion regarding a transgender and/or gender-diverse individual
- Transgender people are documented across cultures and time. Not a new phenomenon
- Oppression of transgender people is related to misogyny, homophobia, racism, colonialism, and struggles for bodily autonomy
- Psychologists and medical providers have played a role in pathologizing transgender and/or gender diverse people, and exerting social control via medicalization
- Survival crimes and over-policing
- Prisons, jails, and forensic hospital settings/PRTFs are nearly always hostile to and dangerous for transgender and/or gender diverse people
- Increased fear and anxiety about the treatment of transgender and/or gender diverse people in the U.S. and internationally, how this affects individual people and their decisions
- Incomplete informed consent procedures
- What to do when you discover that a facility or retaining attorney is violating a transgender and/or gender diverse individual’s rights.
- Evaluators practicing outside the scope of their competence.
- Other training opportunities
- Professional associations that focus on relevant issues affecting transgender and/or gender diverse people
- Joining local organizations to learn about policy and legislative advocacy
This training is intended for master's or graduate-level psychologists who conduct forensic psychological evaluations and/or work in correctional settings, from prison to probation, and community psychologists. This is an introductory training, but attendees will be asked to complete preliminary reading related to very basic etiquette (e.g., not deadnaming, using correct pronouns, not asking about genitals, referring to transgender and gender-diverse people as a group) to facilitate constructive participation.
Intended Audience
This live program is intended for mental health and other allied professionals.
Experience Level
This live program is appropriate for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level clinicians.
CE / CPD Credit
APA, ASWB, CPA, NBCC: Click here for state and other regional board approvals.
Presented By
Dee Farmer
Dee Farmer is a transgender woman who successfully sued at the federal district court level while she was incarcerated, alleging the prison failed to protect her, a protection that is guaranteed under the Eighth Amendment. Farmer v. Brennan was heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1994. The C...
Presented By
Sara Boyd, PhD
Sara Boyd, Ph.D., ABPP is a licensed clinical psychologist, board-certified forensic psychologist, and associate faculty at the Forensic Clinic of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, & Public Policy (ILPPP) at the University of Virginia. Dr. Boyd’s primary specialties include Intellectual and Developm...
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program you will be able to:
Describe appropriate language to use or account for when interviewing and writing reports about individuals who are gender diverse and/or transgender
Describe the limitations of commonly-used psychological tests in forensic settings, and suggest strategies for making decisions about formal testing
Describe practical and ethical considerations related to the role of gender in a forensic psychological evaluation of someone who is transgender and/or gender diverse
Describe knowledge of factors that may affect a transgender individual’s ability to disclose sensitive information in the context of a forensic interview
Live Event Policy
Registration for our live events is covered for one (1) person per purchase. If you would like to purchase for a group, please contact our group training team.
Event Communications
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Cancellation Policy
Have a sudden change of plans and are unable to attend live? No worries; you will be given access to the on-demand version of the program once available. Please note if you attend live, no access to the recording will be given.
Event Conduct
Professional conduct is expected during our live programs. Our goal is to make our events as interactive as possible for all participants. We reserve the right to remove any participants who are disruptive, act unprofessionally, or who we are unable to verify their purchase.
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Program Partner
American Academy of Forensic Psychology (AAFP)
We are proud to partner with the American Academy of Forensic Psychology (AAFP) for this training. AAFP is a non-profit organization of board-certified forensic psychologists whose mission is to contribute to the development and maintenance of forensic psychology as a specialized field of study, research, and practice. The Academy does this by providing high-quality continuing education workshops, providing a forum for the exchange of scientific information among its members, and conferring awards upon outstanding students and practitioners in the field of forensic psychology.
CE Sponsorship Information
Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.