About Dr. Glen Skoler


The Clinical & Forensic Psychology Practice of Dr. Glen Skoler

DrGlenSkoler@Gmail.com • (240) 605-2988
 
 


‘No; something human is dearer to me than the wealth of all the world.’

From Grimm’s Fairy Tales,
Quoted by Joseph Conrad in the Epigraph to “Heart of Darkness”

Qualifications


Name: Glen David Skoler

Occupation: Clinical Psychology

Degree: M.A. (1984) Ph.D. (1988)

Experience: 30 years

Clinical Program: APA Approved

Licensed: PA, NJ, DC, MD & VA

Memberships:

  1. •American Psychological        Association

  2. •National Center for Missing and  Exploited Children, Family Outreach Advocacy Network

  3. •International Association of Trauma Professionals




Contact INformation


Email: DrGlenSkoler@gmail.com

Phone: 240-605-2988




Services


Psychotherapy:

• Psychotherapy

  1. •Couples Counseling

  2. •Family Counseling

  3. •Adults, Teens & Children


Psychological Testing:

• Psychodiagnostic Testing

• Psychoeducational Testing

  1. •Neuropsychological Testing

  2. •Forensic Psychological Testing


Forensic Psychology and Expert Witness Services

  1. •Criminal and Civil Cases

  2. •Divorce & Custody Cases

  3. •Juvenile Court Cases

  4. •Immigration Evaluations

  5. •Abuse & Stalking Evaluations

  6. •CPS & Attachment Evaluations

  7. •Employment/Disability Hearings

  8. •Court Martials

  9. •False Confessions

  10. •Testamentary Capacity


Professional Activities


Selected Publication Topics:

  1. •Child Abuse

  2. •Sexual Harassment

  3. •Stalking

  4. •Shakespeare’s Dark Lady       “Hate Sonnets”

  5. •The Clintons’ & Adultery

  6. •Huckleberry Finn & The N-Word

  7. •International Child Abduction

  8. •Psychological and Psychiatric Evidence and Testimony

  9. •Violent Toys for Kids

  10. •Working with Mentally Disordered Offenders


Selected Presentations

  1. •American Bar Association

  2. •CIA/NSA Psychology Staff

  3. •Federal Judicial Center

  4. •Bar Associations & Judiciary

  5. •The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

  6. •NPR Interviews

  7. •Washington Post Commentaries

  8. •Village Voice and Cosmopolitan Magazine Interviews

 

Qualifications


Name: Glen David Skoler

Occupation: Clinical Psychology

Degree: M.A. (1984), Ph.D. (1988)

Licensed: PA, NJ, DC, MD & VA

Experience: 30 years

Clinical Program: APA Approved

Member:

  1. •American Psychological        Association

  2. •National Center for Missing and  Exploited Children, Family Outreach Advocacy Network

  3. •International Association of Trauma Professionals




Contact INformation


Email: DrGlenSkoler@gmail.com

Phone: 240-605-2988




Services


Psychotherapy:

• Psychotherapy

  1. •Couples Counseling

  2. •Family Counseling

  3. •Adults, Teens & Children


Psychological Testing:

• Psychodiagnostic Testing

• Psychoeducational Testing

  1. •Neuropsychological Testing

  2. •Forensic Psychological Testing


Forensic Psychology and Expert Witness Services

  1. •Criminal and Civil Cases

  2. •Divorce & Custody Cases

  3. •Juvenile Court Cases

  4. •Immigration Evaluations

  5. •Abuse & Stalking Evaluations

  6. •CPS & Attachment Evaluations

  7. •Employment/Disability Hearings

  8. •Court Martials

  9. •False Confessions

  10. •Testamentary Capacity


Professional Activities


Selected Publication Topics:

  1. •Child Abuse

  2. •Sexual Harassment

  3. •Stalking

  4. •Shakespeare’s Dark Lady    “Hate Sonnets”

  5. •The Clintons’ & Adultery

  6. •Huckleberry Finn & The N-Word

  7. •International Child Abduction

  8. •Psychological and Psychiatric Evidence and Testimony

  9. •Violent Toys for Kids

  10. •Working with Mentally Disordered Offenders


Selected Presentations

  1. •American Bar Association

  2. •CIA/NSA Psychology Staff

  3. •Federal Judicial Center

  4. •The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

  5. •Bar Associations & Judiciary

  6. •NPR Interviews

  7. •Washington Post Commentaries

  8. •Village Voice and Cosmopolitan Magazine Interviews

  9. •University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychiatry




Contact INformation


Email: DrGlenSkoler@gmail.com

Phone: 240-605-2988




Services


Psychotherapy:

• Psychotherapy

  1. •Couples Counseling

  2. •Family Counseling

  3. •Adults, Teens & Children


Psychological Testing:

• Psychodiagnostic Testing

• Psychoeducational Testing

  1. •Neuropsychological Testing

  2. •Forensic Psychological Testing


Forensic Psychology and Expert Witness Services

  1. •Criminal and Civil Cases

  2. •Divorce & Custody Cases

  3. •Juvenile Court Cases

  4. •Immigration Evaluations

  5. •Abuse & Stalking Evaluations

  6. •CPS & Attachment Evaluations

  7. •Employment/Disability Hearings

  8. •Court Martials


Professional Activities


Selected Publication Topics:

  1. •Child Abuse

  2. •Sexual Harassment

  3. •Stalking

  4. •Shakespeare’s Dark Lady “Hate Sonnets”

  5. •The Clintons’ & Adultery

  6. •Huckleberry Finn & The N-Word

  7. •International Child Abduction

  8. •Psychological and Psychiatric Evidence and Testimony

  9. •Violent Toys for Kids

  10. •Working with Mentally Disordered Offenders


 

Education, Experience & Ethics

 

    Many clients wish to know something about the professional training, qualifications, degrees, licenses, experience, treatment approach and ethics of a mental health professional. Some of this information is provided below.


    If you prefer, you can skip this page and select from the above Navigation Menu to learn about offered clinical and forensic psychological services.


Resume


        The following are links to view PDF copies of an full expert witness resume, and a copy of Dr. Skoler’s retainer agreement template. A third link is for downloading Adobe Reader if you have trouble opening these standard PDF files on your computer.


DrSkoler HourlyRetainer 2020-D.pdf

DrSkoler ExpertResume 2020-E.pdf

get.adobe.com/reader/

   

Therapy, Psychological Testing, Court Reports & Expert Witness Testimony


   My work as a clinical psychologist, and as a forensic psychologist, has enhanced the practice of each––often in quite direct ways, in part, because psychological stresses and legal problems often accompany one another.


    I attended a law-psychology training program that led to a   doctoral degree in a clinical psychology program approved by the American Psychological Association. The integrated program between the psychology department and the law school included several law school courses, courses in mental health law, and training in psychological evaluations for the courts.


    Clinical pre-doctoral training, besides psychology, psychotherapy, psychological testing and mental health law courses, included a year of training at a child guidance center, a year of training at a community mental health center and a year of training at residential facility for children and youth.


    Neuropsychological evaluation became another area of concentration, as the university had just developed a new, leading neuropsychological battery. The field of neuropsychology involves the assessment of learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, IQ, dementia, memory problems, and the effects of neuropsychological impairment from head injuries or natural processes, such as a stroke. (Neuropsychological tests are listed on the “Psychological Testing” page of this website.)


    Graduate training was followed by an internship at St. Elizabeths Hospital, the large psychiatric hospital in Washington DC, which was then part of the National Institute of Mental Health. A great deal of training at the hospital focused on modern theories of psychotherapy and personality disorders.


    The internship was followed by a second year residency at the St. Elizabeths Hospital, John Howard Forensic Pavilion, the unit to which John Hinckley was committed following his assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. In fact, my dissertation, funded by the U.S. Secret Service, studied Presidential threateners and stalkers (Saviors of the Nation, Assassins of the Self).


    For many years after my training, although continuing to conduct court evaluations, I was primarily a psychotherapist in a large group practice and in private practice, treating and evaluating adults, as well as teens and children. Then, and later in my career as a chief psychologist, I enjoyed supervising and training other therapists. At other times in my career, while maintaining a private practice, I have worked in a juvenile and domestic relations court, an adult maximum security correctional facility, as a chief psychologist in a juvenile correctional facility and on the child/adolescent and adult units of a private psychiatric hospital.


    Consequently, my professional path, or paths, have left me with two professional identities: one in clinical psychology, and the other in forensic psychology. In my practice I enjoy a balance of psychotherapy, psychological testing, court evaluations and writing.


Ethical Policies & Professional Standing

   

    The practice of clinical psychology and forensic psychology demands a high level of ethical conduct, as required by state licensing statutes and professional ethics codes.


    I have been a licensed clinical psychologist for over 20 years, and am actively licensed in good standing with the state psychology boards in which I have been and am currently licensed: Pennsylvania (#PS016752), New Jersey ( #512500), Washington DC (#PSY1708), Virginia (#01725) and Maryland (#02989).    


    I am a member of the American Psychological Association and ascribe to their published Code of Ethics, as well as to their published ethical guidelines for forensic and custody evaluations. These documents may be downloaded from the APA website and should be familiar to all therapy patients, all parents who are evaluated in court cases, and all  attorneys who cross-examine mental health professionals. Most states, to some degree, incorporate these APA ethical principles in their state licensing statutes for psychologists. These licensing statutes can also be obtained on the Internet.


    The “Insurance, Payments, & Fees” webpage summarizes my use of HIPAA privacy forms and documents to protect your privacy and confidentiality.


Theoretical Orientation


    Good clinicians tend to simultaneously address “psychodynamic” factors (involving inner conflicts and early influences), “cognitive” factors (involving distorted perceptions, beliefs, or “cognitions” about the self and others), and “behavioral” factors (involving self-defeating behaviors and making “here and now” life changes).


    Research repeatedly demonstrates that the characteristics of successful therapy are generally related to therapist skill, the quality of the therapeutic relationship, the motivation of the client to change, and empathy, rather than the claimed theoretical orientation of the therapist. To read more about theoretical orientations, select, About Models of Therapy and Therapeutic Orientations, from the “Mental Health Blog:”


*About Models of Therapy and Therapeutic Orientations*


Ethnicity, Gender and Spiritual Issues


   Throughout my career, I have appreciated the role of ethnicity, gender and spiritual beliefs in the stories of peoples’ lives, and their personal struggles––and I welcome diversity in practice.


    My work as a psychotherapist, particularly with survivors of physical and sexual abuse, has emphasized the importance of considering women’s issues before labeling depression, anger, anxiety, feelings of helplessness, or relationship problems as “mental disorder” or “personality disorder.”


    My past work in correctional institutions and mental hospitals has emphasized the stresses of race and poverty in mental health issues. And my work with immigration cases has helped me to understand human rights abuses and hardship in other parts of the world. (See the entry for immigration cases on the “Attorneys’ Blog” from the Navigation Menu above, or select the link below.)


*Immigration Law and the Value of Psychological Testing*


    I also believe, regardless of religious denomination, that it is difficult to separate the most important problems in people’s lives from their spiritual beliefs, moral values and cultural identity. Psychologists are ethically compelled, even when rendering a diagnosis, to respect these cultural and religious differences. Please see the “Mental Health Blog” for a non-denominational discussion of this topic.


    I hope that this webpage has provided some information about who I am, as a professional, and as a person. The Navigation Menu, above, describes specific psychological services such as psychotherapy, psychological testing and court evaluations.