Position:

Professor
Director, Forensic Psychology Area of Emphasis, Ph.D. program
Research Group Advisor, Adult Forensic Psychology

Contact Information:

cweaver@paloaltou.edu

Other Positions:

Associate Professor

Programs:

Ph.D.

Education:

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Louisville (2004)
M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Louisville (2002)
B.A., Psychology, West Virginia University (1996)

Biography:

Dr. Christopher Weaver is an Associate Professor at Palo Alto University, and Director of PAU’s Forensic Psychology Program. Dr. Weaver received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Louisville, and has held research and clinical positions (pre- and postdoctoral) at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University. He has published in the areas of psychopathy and violence risk assessment, and more recently in the areas of substance abuse and psychological trauma. His publications also include co-authored books in law & mental health and psychopathology. Dr. Weaver’s current research focuses on the role that trauma and substance use play in criminal offending, the assessment of dissimulation in PTSD assessment. He is also conducting a funded training and research program designed to increase police officer effectiveness in working with people with mental illness.

Active Research:
PAU Police Apps Survey

Areas of Interest:

Assessment of malingered PTSD, contributions of PTSD to criminal offending, and psychopathy/PTSD co-occurrence

Selected Publications:

Selected Books:

Meyer, R. G., & Weaver, C. M. (2013). Law and mental health: A case-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Publications.

Meyer, R. G., Chapman, K., & Weaver, C. M. (2008). Case studies in abnormal behavior (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Meyer, R. G., & Weaver, C. M. (2007). The clinician’s handbook: Integrated diagnostics, assessment, and intervention in adult and adolescent psychopathology(5th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Selected Articles:

Weaver, C. M., Joseph, D., Dongon, S. N., Fairweather, A., & Ruzek, J. I. (2013). Enhancing services response to crisis incidents involving veterans: a role for law enforcement and mental health collaboration. Psychological Services, 10(1), 66-72.

Weaver, C. M., Trafton, J. A., Kimerling, R., Timko, C., & Moos, R. (2013). Prevalence and nature of criminal offending in a national sample of veterans in VA substance use treatment prior to the Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom conflicts. Psychological Services, 10(1), 54-66.

Huh, J. T., Weaver, C. M., Martin, J. L., Caskey, N. H., O'Riley, A., & Kramer, B. J. (2012). Effects of a late-life suicide risk--assessment training on multidisciplinary healthcare providers. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 60(4), 775-780.

Weaver, C. M. (2008). The need for responsibly pursuing work in juvenile psychopathy. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 8(2), 198-211.

McNiel, D., Chamberlain, J., Weaver, C. M., Hall, S., Fordwood, S., & Binder, R. (2008). Impact of clinical training on violence risk assessment. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(2), 195-200.

Weaver, C. M., Meyer, R. G., Van Nort, J. J., & Tristan, L. (2006). Two-, three-, and four-factor PCL-R models in applied sex offender risk assessments.Assessment, 13(2), 208-216.