Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Expert Witnesses: 18

Lawrence Amsel, MD, MPH, specializes in Forensic Psychiatry, including personal injury and psychiatric malpractice. With an MD from Yale University and an MPH in Biostatistics from Columbia University, Dr. Amsel combines his academic credentials, including multileg publications, and clinical expertise including decades as an inpatient and emergency room psychiatrist. With this experience he serves as an expert witness to offer excellent evaluations, written reports and court testimony. 

Dr. Amsel provides Litigation Support services to attorneys representing Plaintiff and Defense. His services include serving as expert witness in psychiatric aspects of personal injury, psychiatric malpractice,  medical record review for causation and standard of care. He has expertise in trauma, PTSD, suicide, Prolonged Grief Disorder, competency issues and medical decision making. He was one of the early champions of the application of Decision Science, Game Theory, and Behavioral Economics to Psychiatric Research.

Areas of Expertise:

Background - Dr. Amsel serves as an expert witness in matters related to psychiatry, with a focus on  Malpractice, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Suicide, Grief, Medical Decision Making, Hospital Psychiatric Care, and appropriate Evidence-based Standards of Care. Excellent references from multiple law firms are available on request. 

Dr. Amsel's expertise in dealing with the interface of legal and psychiatric issues is based on 28 years of experience in clinical practice, academic psychiatry, research, and public health, as well as his experience as an expert witness.

As an expert on the effects of traumatic experiences, especially after 9/11, Dr. Amsel co-directed the Trauma Studies and Services Division at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He has been extensively involved in treating victims of 9/11 and their families, in doing research on the effects of the 9/11 attacks on the survivors and First Responders, and in training clinicians in cutting edge treatments for PTSD and Complicated /Traumatic Grief. This has given him a strong foundation as an expert on PTSD and other psychological effects of various types of trauma. It has also made him an expert on malpractice cases in this area. 

Dr. Amsel studied mathematics at Columbia University before entering Yale University School of Medicine. After completing residency training he joined the Columbia faculty completing two prestigious National Institute of Mental Health research fellowships and obtained an Masters in Public Health (MPH) specializing in mental health statistics, and Child Psychiatry Research. 

View Dr. Amsel's Consulting Profile.

• Cognitive Behavior Therapy
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Evaluation & Treatment
• Forensic Testimony (Consultation, Evaluation Treatment Following Trauma or Injury)

Linnda Durre', Ph.D., Licensed Psychotherapist, (FL License #MH6058) is an expert witness, psychotherapist, family counselor, intern supervisor, international speaker, corporate trainer, author, business consultant, adjunct college professor, and a magazine, Internet, and newspaper columnist. Her four areas of court expertise are Family Law, Personal Injury Law, Employment Law, and Criminal Law. 

Litigation Support: With over 48 years of experience, she consults to attorneys and has been qualified as an expert witness in eleven (12) states - NY, CA, FL, AL, CT, AR, AZ, TN, WA, IA, OH, GA - in the areas of Personal Injury, PTSD, Family and Couples Counseling, Divorce, Child Custody, Relocation, Drug and Alcohol Counseling, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Abuse by Psychotherapists, as well as Age, Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation Discrimination. Her 400-page doctoral dissertation and research in the latter area was cited to pass legislation in several states. 

Dr. Durre' has hosted and produced four radio shows, two of which were call-in advice shows - "The Dr. Linnda Durre' Show" on WDBO in Orlando (a Cox station) and "Let's Talk with Dr. Linnda Durre' on an NPR station in New York, and two radio interview shows. Her last show was a daily hour-long podcast, entitled, "Linnda Durre' Interviews" Dr. Linnda Durre' has hosted and produced two call-in advice TV shows, including being selected in a national search of 200 applicants, to host, "Ask The Family Therapist," on America's Health Network (AHN), which was associated with Mayo Clinic and each show aired daily for two hours from Universal Studios Orlando. She was vetted by Mayo Clinic and America's Health Network.

She has appeared on Oprah, 60 Minutes, O'Reilly (twice), Today Show, Good Morning America, Canada AM, Daytime, Donahue (twice), Sally Jessy Raphael, People Are Talking, Home Show, Hour Magazine, Home and Family Show, Disney Channel, and the local and/or national news on NPR, PBS, CBS, ABC, NBC, CW, and Fox.

Dr. Durre' has been interviewed, cited, and/or quoted by the NY Times, LA Times, Forbes, WSJ, IBD, Business Week, SF Chronicle & Examiner, Toronto Globe & Mail, Albany Times Union, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Orlando Business Journal, Orlando Sentinel, Parade Magazine, Alternative Medicine Magazine, CNN Online, Washington Parent Magazine, Screen Actor Magazine, Florida Magazine, Pasadena Star News, Orlando Magazine, Women's Health Magazine, and others.

View Linnda Durre's Consulting Profile.

Gloria Kardong, MD, DLFAPA, DABPN is a Board Certified Psychiatrist with specialties in Psychotherapy and Psychomarmacology. In full time private practice in Palo Alto, CA for the past 25 years, Dr. Kardong offers services to individuals, couples, adolescents, and adults. She is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University Medical Center and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Kardong offers Forensic Psychiatric litigation support services in civil and criminal cases to attorneys for Plaintiff and Defense. Her services include General Psychiatric Issues, Women's OB/GYN Issues, and the Evaluation and Treatment of Impaired Professionals and/or consultation with their professional organizations. Dr. Kardong is a Psychiatric Consultant and Expert Witness for Stanford University Schools of Law and Medicine, the California Medical Board, and private attorneys nationwide. She has been retained as an expert over 20 times. Areas of Expertise:

Women's Health Care Specialist - Psychiatry / OB-GYN Interface:

Impaired Professionals:

• Physicians
• Mental Health Providers
• Attorneys
• Executives / Professionals
• Organizations

View Dr. Kardong's Consulting Profile.

A senior clinical faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Harold J. Bursztajn, M.D., is active in patient care in medical, psychiatric and judicial education nationally. He is qualified in both state and federal courts and is nationally recognized as a distinguished impartial, clinical, ethical and forensic expert to P/D attorneys and institutions. Individual and multispecialty team consultations available.

• Informed Consent & Malpractice
• Employment Litigation: ADA, Disability, Sexual Misconduct Discrimination, Worker's Compensation
• Emotional & Physical Damages: Conscious Pain & Suffering, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Neuropsychiatry & Pain Imaging
• Standards For Experts
• Product Liability: Medical Devices & Pharmaceuticals, Toxic Tort
• Criminal Justice & Public Safety: Diminished Capacity, Drug Addiction, Competency to Confess, Death Penalty Mitigation, Workplace Safety
• Family & Custody Issues
• Testamentary & Contractual Capacity
• Professional & Organizational Ethics: Patient Care, Managed Care, Privacy
• Psychoanalysis & Cultural Perspectives

Charles H. Heller, PhD, is a Forensic Psychology Expert with over 35 years of experience in his field. Dr. Heller is currently on staff at Rutgers University Biomedical Health Service, specializing in criminal behavior and risk assessment. He also serves as a forensic psychologist consultant for the Rockland County (NY) court evaluation service, where he has performed hundreds of child custody, as well as criminal competency and child abuse/neglect evaluations.

Litigation Support - Dr. Heller specializes in conducting custody evaluations, providing the review and analysis of potentially mitigating circumstances in connection with criminal behavior, and providing consultation to attorneys regarding civil litigation. He has extensive court experience in Civil, Criminal, and Family Court cases. Dr. Heller is a fully vetted and approved forensic psychologist for the NJ Office of the Public Defender as well as other Public Defender offices. (Federal Public Defender, Legal Aid in Manhattan, Bronx, Kings, and the NYC assigned counsel program). He often travels throughout the US as a forensic consultant in important court cases including military Court Martials, death row assessment, sexual abuse, assault, and multiple homicides. He is well-known and respected among his colleagues as a clinician and as a forensic psychologist/expert witness.

Civil Litigation - (Emotional and Mental Injury) - Dr. Heller is retained by both plaintiff and defense counsel to assess plaintiffs for emotional and mental injury. He takes an unbiased, ethical approach to assessments and is not "a hired gun." He is an expert in objective evaluations that assess the probability the plaintiff is suffering PTSD, other emotional injuries, or if there is an exaggeration of symptoms based upon psychological testing and other data. He has expertise in cases that involve group home / residential schools, provider negligence, and assaults.

Criminal Litigation - Dr. Heller is experienced in providing successful rebuttal testimony explaining the scientific issues related to the problems of validity, reliability, and usefulness of "Syndrome evidence" such as "Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome" and "Rape Trauma Syndrome." He testifies in child sexual abuse cases and explains research related to false allegations, recantations, memory, suggestibility, child testimony, interview protocols, and "Believed-In Imaginings" in children and adults. He has expertise in domestic violence and has assessed women who have been victims of intimate partner violence and "Battered Women Syndrome" that contributed to homicides, assaults, and other felonies by the victims of abuse.

View Dr. Heller's Consulting Profile.

James H. Reich, MD, MPH, is a board-certified Forensic Psychiatrist with extensive civil psychiatry experience who has done hundreds of evaluations.

After getting his MD from the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver, Dr. Reich earned his MPH at Yale University and did his psychiatric residency at UC Davis. Dr. Reich has held academic positions at Yale, Iowa, Harvard, and Brown Universities.  Currently, he has teaching appointments at the professor level at both UCSF and Stanford University. Throughout his career, he has published over a hundred peer-reviewed publications. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Reich’s services are available for civil and some criminal law cases. Clients are assured of his personal dedication to each case. He does high quality research, expert evaluations, writes a solid report, and will testify well. Dr. Reich has been deposed over 50 times.

Areas of Expertise:

Presentations - As faculty at the Stanford Forensic Fellowship program, Dr. Reich has given two talks to the group. On October 27, 2023, he presented, "What Gets Psychiatrists and other Medical Professionals into Problems with the Law or Regulators." On January 19, 2024, he presented a talk on Psychiatric Disability to the same group. Dr. Reich is also supervising a fellow on his project on competency issues in older physicians.

Dr. Jane K. McNaught, PhD is a locally and nationally recognized Forensic Psychological Expert specializing in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with adults and children. Over the course of her more than 35 years of practice, she has worked with both Defense and Plaintiff attorneys and has also been a Court appointed expert.

Dr. McNaught has administered more than 1700 psychological test batteries and testified on over 500 occasions as a forensic expert in the areas of: Civil, Criminal, and Family Law. She also provides trial consultation for attorneys. Dr. McNaught has  been qualified and testified as an expert in PTSD, for both the U.S. Army as well as the U.S. Navy. In addition she has testified as an expert in both District and Federal court. Dr. McNaught practices in the areas of Civil, Criminal, and Family Law cases involving trauma to both adults and children.

In the Civil area, Dr. McNaught is frequently hired as an expert when there are allegations of Emotional Damages involving Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Dr. McNaught has been hired in cases of alleged sexual misconduct within institutional settings such as: Schools, Churches, Treatment Centers, Hospitals, Residential Centers for the Handicapped, Jails and other Police alleged violations.

The following are cases where Dr. McNaugth has been an expert:  PTSD cases involving veterans;  injuries related to Motor Vehicle Injuries/Death; Dog Bite; Amputation; Burns; and Electrocution. Dr. McNaught has also been an expert in  Medical Malpractice Cases,Wrongful Death, and Infant Death cases. Employment Law Experience in cases  involving Age or Sexual Harassment where PTSD is alleged. 

In the Criminal area, Dr. McNaught is hired by both the Prosecution as well as Defense in cases involving Sexual Misconduct. She also conducts evaluations of Defendants in criminal cases where Underlying Psychological Conditions may impact sentencing. She has also  been obtained as an expert to evaluate the reliability of statements obtained from alleged victims of sexual assault. When doing so, Dr. McNaught addresses the following: Recantation, Memory Research, and the Standard of Care for Interviewing Victims of Sexual Assault. 

In the area of Family Law, Dr. McNaught specializes in High Conflict Divorce and and provides consultation in issues related to:  Relocation; Endangerment; Factitious Disorder by Proxy; Parental Capacity; and Parental Alienation. Dr. McNaught is also frequently obtained as an expert to critique other evaluator's reports.

View Dr. McNaught's Consulting Profile.

Jeffrey A. Sugar, MD has been a practicing Psychiatrist for over 20 years. Dr. Sugar is board certified both in Child and General Psychiatry. He is Past President of the Southern California Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Sugar  is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at USC, and has been an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA. Dr. Sugar is the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trauma Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA where he sees patients, teaches psychiatry, and performs research. He is Attending Psychiatrist in both Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Clinics at USC. He teaches child and general psychiatrists-in-training and medical students on topics ranging from Trauma, Adversity, and Dissociation to Psychotherapy theory and methods.

Dr. Sugar was the founding director of the Hathaway Children’s Clinical Research Institute where he performed funded research on the effects of interpersonal child trauma. Dr. Sugar has presented at national and international meetings on child and adolescent Trauma and Dissociation. Director, Child Psychiatry Trauma Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine .. Dr. Sugar has been worked with the legal industry since 1988. Qualified in Superior court, he has been retained over 40 times as an expert in a broad range of child and general psychiatric cases, for both Plaintiff and Defense. His services include:

• Consultation Regarding Psychiatric Injury, Diagnosis, Treatment
• Record Review and Opinion
• Psychiatric Interview and Mental Status Evaluation
• Expert testimony

Dr. Sugar's litigation support is available to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. His Areas of Expertise include:

Professional Training:

• MD: University of California, San Francisco
• General Psychiatry: Harbor-UCLA, Torrance, California
• Child Psychiatry: UCLA-Neuropsychiatric Institute
• Chief Fellow: UCLA

View Dr. Sugar's Consulting Profile.

Dr. Mayer is an independent consultant and scholar that (for identification only) holds the position of Visiting Fellow in Human Flourishing,  Harvard University. He has been a full-time tenured professor with recent appoints in statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, biomedical informatics, public health and medicine (psychiatry). He held various titles including, Professor (Part-time), Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Affiliated Professor, Mayo Clinic/ASU joint program in Biomedical Informatics, a member of the Research Staff at Mayo Clinic, and Professor at Arizona State University. 

Dr. Mayer continues to do research and mentor young physicians and medical students while doing a limited amount of consulting in epidemiology, biostatistics, statistics, observation studies and clinical trials. His consulting projects often focus on model development, execution and inferences. He is one of the few MD/PhD epidemiologists. He led a  group of 6000 physicians and epidemiologists that reviewed the science of COVID-19 

Michael Levittan, Ph.D. is an Expert Witness, Psychotherapist, Media Consultant, and Lecturer at UCLA Extension and California Graduate Institute. Dr. Levittan works as an expert witness on cases involving domestic violence, child abuse, post-traumatic stress, anger issues, child custody, school violence. He is director of a certified Domestic Violence/Anger Management program and has numerous articles published on violence and abuse.

Dr. Levittan presents at UCLA, National Alliance on Mental Illness, L.A. Superior Court, U.S. Marines, Hillsides Children's Home, Loyola Marymount Univ, International Conference on Violence, Abuse, Trauma, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Grief & Loss Conference, The Maple Center, Womens Shelters.

Dr. Levittan's website: www.michaellevittan.com.

Dr. Patricia J. Bartzak, DNP, RN, CMSRN, TCRN, CNRN is a skilled hospital nurse clinician with 22 years of direct nursing care of patients with infectious diseases and trauma patients, including injuries and diseases related to neurologic, cardiac, renal, renal transplant, spinal, orthopedic and acute and chronic pain and oncologic diagnoses.  Located on the east coast with current nursing licenses both in Massachusetts and California. Has reviewed more than 80 cases in 8 years, written several reports, and been deposed about a dozen times in person and video. Currently working in a hospital designated as level-1 trauma center.

Continued active contributions to the field of nursing as staff nurse, nurse researcher, professional journal column editor and leadership initiatives through active participation in professional nursing organizations.  Served 2 terms as an elected Regional Coordinator for Sigma Theta Tau, the nursing honor society. Currently, serving on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses. 

Direct care experience with complex airways, cervical instability, multi-drain management, invasive monitoring, complex wounds, pain management and surgical interventions from many services: orthopedics, neurology, general surgery, thoracic, infectious disease and gastrointestinal medicine. 

Co-chaired the American Nurse's Association (ANA) Scope & Standards of Practice (4th edition, 2021), a document that guides nursing practice for the country's 4 million nurses, Chair of Nursing Research in a level-1 trauma center and Med-Surg Nurses Scope and Standards of Practice.

Nurse educator for several years from undergraduate through the doctoral level including clinical rotations.

Column writer for Nursing Evidence-Based Practice column, having published dozens of articles on safe bedside nursing care. Peer reviewer for the Journal of Trauma Nursing.

Served as a nurse voting members of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) with current Collaborative Institutional Training (CITI) certification.

Professional nursing certifications in medical-surgical nursing, trauma nursing, neuroscience nursing and telemetry. 

View Dr. Bartzak's Consulting Profile.

Dr. Pia Quimson-Guevarra is Board-Certified in Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She opines about psychiatric issues in civil litigation, employment matters, and criminal cases. She has extensive experience with diagnosis and treatment of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD and other factors of emotional distress, both as a treating physician and in medical-legal cases. She serves as a forensic consultant, and/or disclosed Expert Witness. She assesses competency and undue influence,  standard of care, and mental status re judgment and clarity of thinking. Applies to civil, probate and CTST criminal matters including criminal responsibility. She is also experienced in treatment of psychotic disorders,  hallucinations, and delusions.

She opines about medication or drug impact on behavior.

Dr. Quimson-Guevarra conducts IMEs and review of medical and legal records. Her assessments are thorough and inform thoughtful and objective expert opinions issued by verbal and written report and testimony. She conducts Independent Medical Evaluations face-to-face in person and by video.

She is a Certified Forensic Evaluator in Oregon.

Dr. Quimson-Guevarra's clinical practice in Portland is Quimson Behavioral Health, providing psychiatric patient care, medication management, and psychotherapy, for patients who suffer from mental disorders, e.g., Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar Disord & PTSD and medication management. She continues to use her expertise in psychopharmacology to treat mental health conditions in the context of medicolegal medically complex cases.

Prior to expanding her private practice, she was a psychiatrist at Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, in an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team, a method to deliver an intensive level of services to patients in the local community. Her patients consisted of individuals who suffer from severe and persistent mental illness.  At Cascadia, she also treated patients with a history that includes forensic medical-legal issues.

Previously, Dr. Quimson-Guevarra treated patients who suffered from anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders at Cedar Hills Hospital, Multnomah County Detention Center, Washington County Jail, Snake River Correctional Institute, and the Portland Veteran's Administration. 

Dr. Quimson-Guevarra has served as a forensic consultant for the Washington County Mental Health Court in Oregon. She also has worked in the forensic evaluation service department at the Oregon State Hospital where she performed forensic evaluations.

• Neurological Injuries (Brain and Spinal Cord Injury)
• Burns
• Orthopedic Injures
• Amputation
• Chronic Pain
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Expert Testimony
• Life Care Planning
• Mini/Preliminary Life Care Plan
• Video Services
• Medical Record Review
• RN Independent Medical Exam
• Medicare Set Aside Trust Analysis
• Medical Bill Auditing
• Questions: Deposition Cross Examining

Sanjay Adhia, MD, MRO, is triple-Board-Certified in Psychiatry, Brain Injury Medicine, and Forensic Psychiatry. In addition to forensic/expert witness practice, Dr. Adhia treats patients at renowned TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital. His forensic practice focuses on the psychiatric impact of personal injury, medical malpractice, Multi-Plaintiff and Toxic Tort cases, testamentary capacity, undue influence and Dementia, TBI Brain injuries, competency, mental illness and complicating medical conditions. 

Dr. Adhia is among one of a select few Forensic Psychiatrists co-Board-Certified in Brain Injury Medicine. 

Dr. Adhia treats and opines about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in litigation as it can result in psychiatric or neurocognitive impairments. He always assesses for Malingering.

In addition, Dr. Adhia works with Physicians for Human Rights to assess victims of kidnapping and false imprisonment, human trafficking, undue influence, physical and sexual abuse, rape, and fear of imminent death. 

In all populations, he assesses PTSD, Anxiety, Depressive Disorders, risk of suicide, and malingering. 

He is experienced in the treatment and impact of drug and alcohol abuse on decision-making. Dr. Adhia has also treated severe psychosis (Schizophrenia, hallucinations) and psychopathology. He formerly treated patients at a Maximum Security Prison and prison psychiatric hospital. 

Dr. Adhia’s findings consider complicating factors, e.g., emotional distress worsened by active physical and mental conditions, and pre-existing mental and physical illness (e.g. depression, PTSD, Dementia, Alzheimer's, medication.) 

As a physician, Dr. Adhia is uniquely qualified to review and examine and incorporate medical records and doctor reports in his reports. This is especially important in medical-malpractice & standard of care cases in treaters, inpatient, rehab, hospital, government, corrections and psychiatric hospitals. Dr. Adhia is skilled in these med-legal issues. 

He conducts Independent Medical Examinations, review of records, and reports findings to courts and attorneys. He is available to testify in civil, criminal, probate, Federal, Immigration, military, and administrative jurisdictions.

Kerry Mendes, M.D., Child, Adolescent and Adult Forensic Psychiatrist joined Dr. Adhia in 2022.