Joel Dvoskin, PhD, ABPP (Forensic)
About Me
Dr. Joel Dvoskin is a clinical and forensic psychologist, licensed in Arizona and New Mexico and certified in Forensic Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology.
He served as Chair of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Behavior Health and Wellness for the State of Nevada. He is the former Acting Commissioner of Mental Health for the State of NY, after serving for more than a decade as Associate Commissioner and Director for Forensic Services for the NY State Office of Mental Health.
Dr. Dvoskin is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Past President of two APA Divisions, including the American Psychology-Law Society and Psychologists in Public Service. He served on the APA Policy Task Force on Reducing Gun Violence, and on the APA Blue Ribbon Commission on Ethics Processes.
CONSULTATION
He has provided consultation to a wide array of organizations, including the U.S. Secret Service, the NBA, the NBA Players Association, the NCAA, and numerous corporations, organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies across the US and Canada. Consultations are provided on workplace violence prevention, management and leadership, and responding to organizational crises.
TEACHING
He previously served as on the adjunct faculty of the University of Arizona Law School, and currently teaches at the University of Arizona Medical School, in addition to his consulting practice in forensic psychology in Tucson, Arizona.
INVITED SPEAKER AND TRAINER
He has been an invited speaker to the Conference of Chief Justices, the National Association of Attorneys General, the National Tactical Officers Association, CIT (Police Crisis Intervention Teams) International, numerous universities, and hundreds of other professional organizations. He has twice been honored as the Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of California – Davis College of Medicine.
Dr. Dvoskin provides training and public speaking services, mediation, expert testimony on civil and criminal matters, and consulting services to state mental health, criminal and juvenile justice, public safety agencies, courts, police departments, corporations, and universities. Currently, Dr. Dvoskin is working with the New Orleans Police Department on an innovative program to prevent police misconduct called EPIC (Ethical Policing is Courageous) that has received national acclaim.
CORRECTIONS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND MENTAL HEALTH
In 1995, Dr. Dvoskin served on the White House Task Force on the Future of the African American Male. He has served as a monitor or independent expert overseeing settlement agreements over correctional and mental health facilities and systems in Washington, New Mexico, Michigan, Oregon, and Colorado and frequently serves as an expert for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), various government agencies, the American Civil Liberties Union, and various state Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&A).
Dr. Dvoskin has served as design consultant for numerous hospital, prison, and jail architectural projects, including St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC and the Fulton (MO) State Hospital. He is currently architectural design consultant for a new forensic building at the Hawaii State Hospital.
Dr. Dvoskin is a consultant to the New Orleans Police Depart, where he helped to develop the EPIC (Ethical Policing is Courageous) Program that has become a national model of police reform in the United States. He is also on the National Board of Advisors for Project ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement), part of Georgetown University Law School Innovative Policing Project.
CRIMINAL AND JUVENILE JUSTICE
Dr. Dvoskin helped to develop training programs in active bystandership with the New Orleans Police Department, and currently serves as training psychologist for Project ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement), part of Georgetown Law's Center for Innovations in Community Safety. In 2022, he co-founded Heroes Active Bystandership Training, which aims to brings active bystandership to corrections, probation, and other parts of the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
BOOKS
He is co-author, with Andrew W. Kane, of Evaluation for Personal Injury Claims (2011) and the lead Editor (with Jennifer Skeem, Raymond Novaco, and Kevin Douglas) of Using Social Science to Reduce Violent Offending (2011), winner of the 2012 Book Award of the American Psychology-Law Society. Both books were published by the Oxford University Press. In addition, he has authored or co-authored more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed publications.
LICENSES
Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners, License #0931
Certificate of Professional Qualifications in Psychology (CPQ), CPQ #2,439
Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate, ASPPB, #2439
BOARD MEMBERSHIPS
Chair
Nevada Governor's Advisory Council on Behavioral Health and Wellness (former)
Editorial Boards:
- Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (former)
- Journal of Mental Health Administration
- Behavioral Sciences and the Law
- Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma (former)
- Psychological Services
- Journal of Threat Assessment (former)
- Law and Human Behavior
Research Advisory Board
United States Secret Service (former)
Advisory Board
National Center for State Courts, Institute on Mental Disability and the Law (former)
Member
White House Panel on the Future of African-American Males – Completed 1995
Member
American Bar Association Task Force on Capital Punishment and Mental Disability - Completed
Member
American Psychological Association Task Force on Reducing Gun Violence - Completed
Member
American Psychological Association Blue Ribbon Commission on Ethics Processes - Completed