Williams Forensic Mental Health Services

Dr. Martin Williams is an experienced forensic psychologist who has never failed to qualify as an expert witness in court. He has testified in Federal and State Courts in criminal and civil matters, including emotional damage cases, as well as before Administrative Hearing Officers in immigration, security clearance and regulatory board matters. He conducts fitness for duty evaluations for licensed professionals facing administrative accusations and has testified in many standard of care matters. Dr. Williams is a court-appointed criminal evaluator in multiple California counties for competency to stand trial and insanity defense, and is licensed in both California and Virginia.

Services

Dr. Martin Williams offers the following services:
Objective evaluation of emotional damage claims for both plaintiff and defense. Evaluation and testimony regarding fitness for duty, fitness to practice (for license holders), fitness to parent and fitness to hold a security clearance. Evaluation and testimony regarding competency to stand trial and insanity defense. Standard of care testimony in psychotherapy malpractice matters.

Areas of Expertise

Additional Expertise:

Sex Therapy, Disability, Managed Care & HMOs, Psychotherapy Standard of Care, Psychotherapy Malpractice, Housing Discrimination, Police Board of Rights Hearing, Priest Abuse, Date Rape, Child Molestation, NGRI.

Profile

Dr. Williams is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley where he obtained his doctorate in psychology. Dr. Williams previously had graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from UCLA, with Highest Honors in Psychology. He has been a licensed psychologist in California since 1976 and has never been subject to any disciplinary proceeding. Dr. Williams practiced as a clinical psychologist and manager at The Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Clara, California for 27 years. At Kaiser, Dr. Williams treated a wide range of individuals, including those with “dual diagnoses”—individuals who suffered from a substance abuse diagnosis in addition to a primary psychiatric diagnosis. Dr. Williams was chair of the Psychiatry Department Peer Review Committee at that medical center for 11 years. For the final three years of his time at Kaiser, Dr. Williams managed the Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program (IOP), a day-treatment program for individuals with severe mental illness, including those with co-occurring substance abuse problems. Subsequently, Dr. Williams was employed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Board of Parole Hearings, evaluating life-term inmates for parole suitability.

Dr. Williams is licensed in California and Virginia. Dr. Williams is a consultant to the Hostage Negotiation Team of the Campbell, California Police department and serves on the Oversight Committee of the Lawyer Assistance Program of the State Bar of California.

Dr. Williams has testified 241 times and has never failed to qualify as an expert witness.

Areas Served

All States

Professional Experience

Dr. Williams has testified 241 times as of March 2022. He has over 80 professional publications and presentations to professional organizations.

Licenses

California Psychologist PSY 4642
Virginia Psychologist 810005269

Legal Experience & Services

Expert Testimony in Criminal Court

Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial: Dr. Williams uses a standardized competency measure, the ECST-R, which carefully and systematically walks the defendant through his or her understanding of the various aspects of the courtroom process, assesses his or her ability to cooperate with the attorney in an effective manner, and assesses for feigning incompetence. The ECST-R is predicated on the Dusky standard.

Evaluation of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: Dr. Williams evaluates defendants for the insanity defense, being mindful of both the M'Naughton and ALI standards. In addition, according to its relevance to the jurisdiction, Dr. Williams can offer testimony regarding Mental State at the Time of the Offense as well as Diminished Capacity in jurisdictions where this is considered acceptable expert testimony.
Psychological mitigation of criminal charges: A psychological evaluation of a criminal defendant can be an important aspect of a plea negotiation. In many cases, the individual charged with the crime does not fit the expectable profile of the offender and may not warrant the same disposition. A thorough psychological assessment can assist the district attorney in understanding the defendant's motivation for the crime and likelihood of re-offending. In other cases, mitigation is not appropriate. Dr. Williams has assisted criminal defense attorneys in helping their clients understand the difficulty of their cases, the likely viewpoint of the jury, and why a trial should be avoided.
Evaluation of Recidivism Risk: Dr. Williams uses standardized measures to assess the risk of reoffence and of violent reoffence. Dr. Williams employs the following measures to make these determinations: LS/CMI (recidivism risk), HCR-20 (violence risk), PCL-R (psychopathy and violence risk) and the Static 99R (risk of sexual reoffense). All of these measures are valid predictors of their respective target criteria.

Evaluation of Sexually Violent Predators: California law provides for psychological evaluations to determine whether an individual is a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) as defined by Welfare and Institutions Code Section 6600. Typically, the centerpiece of such an evaluation is a determination of the cause of the individual's prior sexual offenses. If the offenses were the result of a mental disorder, the individual may be legally defined as an SVP, but, if the criminal offenses were not the result of a mental disorder, the SVP statute does not apply. Dr. Williams carries out such evaluations and testifies at SVP trials.

Expert Testimony in Civil Court

Dr. Williams offers testimony in three broad areas: psychotherapy malpractice, emotional damages and fitness for duty.

Malpractice: Regarding malpractice, Dr. Williams has testified and consulted for both plaintiff and defense, and in both civil court and before licensing boards, regarding the standard of care in psychotherapy. Issues have included: predicting suicide or dangerousness, boundary violations, dual or multiple relationships, therapist-patient sex, excessive treatment, patient abandonment, therapist drug use, and violation of confidentiality. Dr. Williams brings his broad experience as a psychotherapist, a health care organization manager and an ethics expert to bear on his testimony.

Emotional Damages (IME): Emotional damage cases have included sexual harassment in the workplace, wrongful termination, date rape, motor vehicle and other personal injury matters and medical malpractice. Attorneys seeking an emotional damages evaluation often refer to them as “IME's” or Independent Medical Evaluations, a term taken from the world of Workers Compensation. The key questions that Dr. Williams has been asked are: “Has the plaintiff been harmed? If so, then what was the cause? If not, why is the plaintiff alleging that harm has occurred?” Three alternatives to the alleged emotional damage claim must always be considered:
That the harm is real but was caused by factors extraneous to the litigation,
That the harm is real but is the result of chronic emotional problems that predated the events at issue in the litigation,
That the harm is being malingered—falsified or exaggerated.
Dr. Williams employs objective psychological testing to augment and verify his clinical observations. Dr. Williams is an expert in the use of the MMPI-3 and the MCMI-IV, as well as in other forms of psychological testing.

Fitness for Duty: Fitness for duty cases have included testimony to the Los Angeles Police Department as well as to various licensing boards in the State of California. The key question Dr. Williams has been asked is whether the individual in question is emotionally competent to carry out the duties of the license or position that he or she holds. To answer this question Dr. Williams uses interview and objective psychological testing.

Dr. Williams is a highly effective communicator and is able to concisely and clearly explain his findings in ordinary language, without resorting to distracting and unhelpful “psychobabble.”

Affiliations

Member, American College of Forensic Psychology
Member, Ethics Task Force, Division of Independent Practice of the American Psychological Association, 1999-2002
Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Divisions of Psychotherapy, Independent Practice, Member Division Psychology and Law.
Member, California Association of Hostage Negotiators
Member of the California and Santa Clara County Psychological Associations.
Secretary, Northern California Chapter, Society for the Scientific Study of Sex (1978 to 1979).
Former Founding Member, American Associate of Sex Therapists, Educators and Counselors
Associate Member, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Qualifications

Approved Non-Resident Consultant, State of Nevada Board of Psychology, 2003
Qualification in Professional Psychology, Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, 1998 (Certificate number 181)
Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate, Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, 2010
Licensed Psychologist in California, 1976 (License number PSY 4642)
Designated Expert Witness, California Board of Registered Nursing, 2006
Listed National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, 1977
Certified Sex Therapist by the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, 1975.

Awards & Honors

Fellow, American Psychological Association, 2008-Present.
Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude, UCLA, 1968.
Highest Honors at Graduation, UCLA Department of Psychology, 1968.
Woodrow Wilson Fellow, 1968-1969.

Publications

2013 “Florida Adopts the Daubert Standard for Expert Testimony,” National Psychologist, Fall.
2012 Review: Coping with Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony, Sixth Edition. David Faust (based on the
original work by Dr. Jay Ziskin), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011 (1119 pages). The National Psychologist, Fall.
2012 “Forensic Skills Workshop: The Role of the Psychologist in Civil and Criminal Litigation,” Invited symposium at the
Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Francisco, California, April 20.
2012 “The Pros and Cons of the New Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology,” Invited presentation at the Annual
Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Francisco, California, April 20.
2011 “Forensic Skills Workshop: The Role of the Psychologist in Civil and Criminal Litigation,” Invited symposium at the
Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Diego, California, April 1.
2010 “Being Right and Still Losing,” article in National Psychologist, 19 (1).
2009 “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Experience of Trauma (Criterion A) is Not Subjective.” Original article
published on the HG Experts website, http:// www.hgexperts.com/article.asp?id=4975
2009 “Forensic Skills Workshop,” American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 27 (4), 5-48. (With co-authors).
2009 “Riveting Book Puts Justice On Trial,” Invited book review, National Psychologist, 18 (3) May/June 2009, p. 24
2009 “Ethics and Law Update,” Invited lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology,
San Diego, California, March 27.
2009 “Forensic Skills Workshop: The Role of the Psychologist in Civil and Criminal Litigation”, Invited symposium at the
Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Diego, California, March 27.
2009 “How Self-Disclosure Got a Bad Name,” Invited comment on O. Zur's, “Psychotherapist Self-Disclosure and
Transparency in the Internet Age,” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40 (1), 22-30.
2008 “A Malpractice Ghost Story,” Independent Practitioner, Fall 28 (4), 192-193.
2008 “Ethics and Law Update,” invited lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology,
San Francisco, California, April 10-13.
2008 “Forensic Skills Workshop: The Role of the Psychologist in Civil and Criminal Litigation”, Invited symposium at the
Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Francisco, California, April 10-13.
2008 Mock trial, defense expert, Invited participant at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology,
San Francisco, California, April 10-13.
2008 “Therapist-Patient Sex Twenty Years Later: A View From the Courtroom,” National Psychologist, March 2008.
2008 “Surviving a Licensing Complaint: What to Do, What Not to Do,” (Book written with four co-authors), Zeig, Tucker
and Theisen Publishers.
2007 “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Versus Simple Anger: Did the Plaintiff Experience a Trauma or Merely a Grievance?”
Original article published on the Expert Pages website, http://expertpages.com/news/ posttraumatic_stress_disorder.htm
2007 “Risk Management: How Your Malpractice Insurer
Created Testimony Against You,” Symposium at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, California, August 19.
2007 “Ethics and the Law: Malpractice and Risk Management in Civil Litigation.” Invited lecture at the Annual Meeting of
the American College of Forensic Psychology, Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 3-6.
2007 “Forensic Skills Workshop: The Role Of The Psychologist in Civil and Criminal litigation,” Invited Symposium at the
Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 3-6.
2006 “Killing as a Psychological Service,” National Psychologist, Nov/Dec., 15 (6).
2006 “Ethics and the Law: Update and Overview of the 2002 Ethics Code of the American Psychological Association,”
Invited lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Francisco, California, March 16-19.
2006 “Forensic Skills Workshop: The Role Of The Psychologist in Civil and Criminal litigation,” Invited Symposium at the
Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Francisco, California, March 16-19.
2006 “Testimony Gone Wild: The Disturbing And Surprising Trend Of Idiosyncratic Standard Of Care Testimony,”
Invited Symposium at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Francisco, California, March 16-19.
2005 “The Nuances of Ethics Compliance: The Distinctions Between The Ethics Code, State Regulations, Standard Of
Care, And Risk Management.” Invited state mandated ethics course presented to the Lehigh Valley Psychological Association, Oct. 7.
2005 “Surviving the Minefield—A Practitioner's Guide to Licensing Boards,” Symposium at Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, August 18-21.
2005 “When Your Family Matters: Consult a Psychologist,” Independent Practitioner, Spring, 25 (2), pp. 63-64.
2005 “Ethics, Law, Malpractice and the Standard of Care”
All day workshop for the Annual Meeting of the Nevada
Psychological Association, Las Vegas, NV, April 29. (Co- presenter).
2005 “Ethics and the Law: Update and Overview of the 2002 Ethics Code of the American Psychological Association,” Invited lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, Newport Beach,
California, April 14-17.
2005 “Interactive Skills Workshop: Civil and Criminal,” Invited Symposium at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, Newport Beach, California, April
14-17.
2004 “Honoring the Roots of Psychotherapy in Making Ethical Decisions in Contemporary Time,” Invited workshop at 2004 Institute and Conference of the American Academy of
Psychotherapists, Santa Fe, November 13.
2004 “Dual Perspectives on Dual Relationships: Critical Incidents in Nonsexual Boundaries,” Invited Symposium at Annual Meeting of the American Psychological
Association, Honolulu, July 27-August 1.
2004 “Risk Management: Curse or Blessing,” Symposium at Annual Meeting of the American Psychological
Association, Honolulu, July 27-August 1.
2004 “Ethics and the Law” lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Francisco,
California, April 1-4.
2004 “Forensic Skills: Interactive Workshop” presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic
Psychology, San Francisco, California, April 1-4.
2003 Forensic Skills Workshop presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, Rancho
Mirage, California, April 10-13.
2002 “Multiple Relationships: A Malpractice Plaintiff's Litigation Strategy,” in Dual Relationships and
Psychotherapy by Lazarus, A.A. and Zur, O. (Eds.), New York: Springer, pp. 224-238.
2002 Workshop on Ethics—6-hour presentation on the APA Ethics Code to the Annual Meeting of the Nevada
Psychological Association, Lake Tahoe, NV, May 5. (Co- presenter).
2001 “Ethics Code, Courts and Axis II Pathology—A Menacing Synergy,” Symposium at Annual Meeting of the American
Psychological Association, San Francisco, August 24-28.
2001 “The Question of Psychologists' Maltreatment by State Licensing Boards: Overcoming Denial and Seeking Remedies,” Professional Psychology: Research and
Practice, 32, 341-344.
2001 “Litigation as a Forum for Acting-Out: Malpractice, Disability, Sexual Harassment and Other Civil Claims
Arising from Plaintiffs' Psychopathology,” Symposium at Annual Meeting of American College of Forensic Psychology, Toronto, Ontario, April 26-29. (Chair)
2000 “Violence in the media: a symposium.” (Contributor) American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 21, 23-25.
2000 “Protecting Psychologists: Insuring Fair Treatment of SPPA Members by Licensing Boards,” Symposium on
Investigations, Judgments and Sanctions: Flaws Which Can Harm Good Psychologists, at Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, August 4-8.
2000 “Ethics Code at the Millennium: A Poor Choice of Words,” Symposium on Adverse Effects of the APA Ethics Code:
Problems and Solutions, at Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, August 4-8. (Chair)
2000 “Inherent Problems in the APA Ethics Code: Legal and Psychological Perspectives,” Symposium at Annual
Meeting of American College of Forensic Psychology, Newport Beach, California, April 6-9. (Chair)
2000 “Symbolic Thinking as a Unifying Force of Change” by William K. Marek,” Book Review in American Journal of
Forensic Psychology, 18 (3), 89-90.
2000 “APA Ethics Committee Considered Prohibiting Solo Practice,” Independent Practitioner, Winter, 20 (1), 46-49.
2000 “Victimized by ‘Victims:' A Taxonomy of Antecedents of False Complaints Against Psychotherapists,” Professional
Psychology: Research and Practice, 31 (1), 75-81,
1999 “State Boards and State Psychological Associations: A New
Advocacy Role,” Symposium at Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston, Aug. 19-24.
1999 “Psychotherapy Malpractice,” Chapter in “Lawyer's Guide to Medical Proof,” Ellen Pall (Ed.) New York: Matthew
Bender Publications
1999 Role of a Psychiatric Outcome Study in a Large Scale Quality Improvement Project, Evaluation and Program
Planning, 22(2), 235-245. [With six co-authors]
1998 “Federal Court May Still Allow ‘Junk Statistics,'” American Psychological Association, Monitor, September.
[With co-author]
1998 “Boundary Violations: The (Inappropriate) Lethal Weapon of Plaintiffs' Attorneys,” Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the American College of Forensic Psychology, San Francisco, April 30.
1992 “Exploitation and Inference: Mapping the Damage From Therapist-Patient Sexual Involvement” American
Psychologist, 47 (3), 412-421.

Education

Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 1975
B.A. UCLA, 1968 (Summa Cum Laude)