Clinical and Forensic Psychologist 
Mark D Worthen PsyD

Clinical and forensic psychologist Mark D Worthen PsyD conducts forensic psychological evaluations, and offers individual psychotherapy for adults.

Schedule Free 15-minute Consultation

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Education & Training

* Bachelor of Science in psychology with honors, University of Maryland, College Park.

* Elected to Phi Beta Kappa (academics) & Omicron Delta Kappa (leadership).

* Commencement Speaker (College of Behavioral and Social Sciences).

* .Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Baylor University.

* Clinical Fellow in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. 

→ This is a brief summary. My curriculum vitae (CV) contains detailed information about my education, training, and experience as a clinical and forensic psychologist.

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Forensic Psychological Evaluations

* Psychological injury (plaintiff or defense).

* Employment-related (company, agency, or employee).

+ Fitness-for-Duty & ADA accommodation.

+ Sexual or Racial Harassment.

+ Workers Compensation.

* Guardianship - civil competency (directly for the Clerk of Court, or, as long as the Clerk approves, from Wards, Guardians, Respondents, or Petitioners).

* Disability:

+ LTD insurance (insurance company or employee).

+ Veterans – Compensation & Pension Exams (attorneys & accredited claims agents).

$240/hour or a negotiated flat fee. 

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Individual Psychotherapy with Adults

* Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD (5 sessions).

* Adult ADHD – evaluations and psychotherapy.

* Mood disorders:

+ Major Depressive Disorder.

+ Persistent Depressive Disorder (dysthymia).

+ Bipolar I and Bipolar II Disorders – must also see a psychiatrist.

* Anxiety disorders:

+ Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

+ Panic Disorder.

* Cannabis Use Disorder

I do not accept insurance. I will provide a statement of charges with CPT codes (superbill) if you have out-of-network benefits, but payment in advance is required (cash or credit/debit card).

Initial and subsequent 60-minute sessions, $240; 45-minute sessions, $180, 30-minute sessions, $120.

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Professional Services: Forensic Psychology

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Clinical and Forensic Psychologist Work Experience

* Over five years as a full-time VA Compensation and Pension examiner, conducting C&P exams for VA compensation PTSD and other mental disorder claims.

* Court Psychologist for a family court in Alexandria, Virginia

* Forensic Psychologist at a community mental health center in Charlotte, North Carolina

* Clinical Consultant to a Drug Treatment Court in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (pro bono).

* Consultant to defense counsel in private disability insurance cases.

* Consultant to companies in workplace violence threat situations.

* Expert witness in several jurisdictions in central and western North Carolina.

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Professional Service in Clinical and Forensic Psychology

Clinical Consultant, Mecklenburg County Drug Treatment Courts, 1997–2002 (pro bono).

Co-Chair, North Carolina Psychological Association (NCPA) Law & Psychology Committee, 1997–2001.

Secretary & Member of the Board of Directors; Association for Scientific Advancement in Psychological Injury and Law (ASAPIL), 2011–2017; Webmaster, 2011–2020.

Action Editor & Peer Reviewer, Psychological Injury and Law, 2018 to present.

Member, American Psychology-Law Society, intermittently since 1997, served on book award & continuing education committees, 2019–2021.

Contributor, Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Military Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families, 2020–2021. [Note: contributor, not author or editor; see p. 6 of the Guidelines]

Started a Psych C&P Exam listserv.

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Writing

Peer-reviewed Articles

Harrison, Patricia Ann, Glenace E. Edwall, Norman G. Hoffman, and Mark D. Worthen. "Correlates of Sexual Abuse Among Boys in Treatment for Chemical Dependency." Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse 1, no. 1 (1990): 53–67.

Maisto, Stephen. A., Timothy J. O’Farrell, Mark Worthen, and Kimberly Walitzer. (1993). "Alcohol Abuse and Dependence." In Handbook of Behavior Therapy in the Psychiatric Setting, edited by Alan S. Bellack and Michel Hersen, 293–310. New York: Springer.

Shura, Robert D., Anna S. Ord, and Mark D. Worthen. “Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology: A Psychometric Review.” Psychological Injury and Law 15, no. 1 (March 2022): 64–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-021-09432-y

Worthen, Mark D. and Robert G. Moering. "A Practical Guide to Conducting VA Compensation and Pension Exams for PTSD and other Mental Disorders". Psychological Injury and Law 3, no. 3–4 (2011): 187–216. https://perma.cc/C9QK-MR23

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Other Writing

• Worthen, Mark D. "Psych C&P Exams Are Unfair to Veterans" (Wʜɪᴛᴇ Pᴀᴘᴇʀ). Social Science Research Network (SSRN), 2018. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3102447.
  
  
• Worthen, Mark D., PTSDexams.net, an educational website about disability evaluations with U.S. military veterans (no ads, no affiliate links), 2014 - present.
  
  
• I wrote most (80%) of Veterans benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder in the United States, a Wikipedia good article (credit is due to the other writers and consulting editors).
  
  
• In response to a Proposed Rule changing the definition of aggravation in 38 C.F.R. § 3.306 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.310,¹ I “persuasively”² argued against the change,³ and along with other public commenters, we persuaded VA to drop the proposal (VA never issued a corresponding Final Rule).
  
  
• The ICD-11 Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee accepted the gist of my proposal to improve the description of malingering in ICD-11 (Feb 2019).

ICD-11 description for Malingering before 2019
Malingering is the intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms when this is specifically motivated by external incentives or rewards, such as obtaining financial compensation, obtaining medications or drugs, being released from incarceration, or the avoidance of punishment, work or school, or some type of service such as the military or jury duty.

My proposed change to the ICD-11 description for Malingering
Feigning or significant exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms, or intentional misattribution of genuine symptoms to an unrelated event or series of events, or a combination thereof, designed to achieve a specific objective such as escaping duty or work; mitigating punishment; or receiving unmerited recompense such as disability compensation or personal injury damages award.

ICD-11 description for QC30 Malingering after revisions (and still current as of May 2024)
Feigning or significantly exaggerating physical or psychological symptoms, or intentionally misattributing genuine symptoms to an unrelated event or series of events, or a combination thereof, designed to achieve a specific objective such as escaping duty or work; mitigating punishment; or receiving unmerited recompense, e.g., disability compensation or personal injury damages award.

Note: My proposal is technically classified as rejected because it was not accepted verbatim. See the ICD-11 Maintenance site for details (you will need to register, create a login, and learn how to display proposals, references, comments, and entity versions).

Footnotes

 1. Aggravation definition, 85 Fed. Reg. 56189 (Sep. 11, 2020).

 2. Veterans Legal Clinic of Harvard Law School and Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick Ltd., Comment on AQ80-Proposed Rule at 14 (Nov. 10, 2020), https://downloads.regulations.gov/VA-2020-VBA-0021-0032/attachment_1.pdf (PDF).  

 3. Mark Worthen, Comment on AQ80-Proposed Rule (Oct. 13, 2020), https://www.regulations.gov/comment/VA-2020-VBA-0021-0012.

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What Is Clinical-Forensic Psychology?

My Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) degree is in clinical psychology.

So, why do I say I'm a clinical and forensic psychologist? That term means, in the forensic psychology context, that I apply clinical psychology knowledge and methods to help answer legal questions.

Psychologists who provide healthcare services must be licensed, but there is not a separate license for forensic psychology. 

There are important distinctions between clinical and forensic psychological assessment, which you can review in this chart: Clinical vs. Forensic Psychology.

By the way, other psychologists conduct research and provide expert witness testimony to help answer legal questions, i.e., it is not just clinical psychologists. For example, social psychologists have conducted groundbreaking research in forensic psychology, e.g., on the fallibility of eyewitness testimony. 

That's why I sometimes use the term clinical-forensic psychology, i.e., to indirectly acknowledge that other psychology subdisciplines provide forensic psychological services.

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