WELCOME TO
OUR PRACTICE
We are a team of experienced
Clinical Psychologists, dedicated
to providing comprehensive
psycho-legal assessment services.
Psycho-legal assessments are specialized evaluations conducted by trained professionals, including psychologists, to provide insights into the intersection of psychological factors and the legal system. These assessments aim to assess an individual's mental state, cognitive functioning, and emotional well-being in the context of legal issues, such as criminal proceedings, civil litigation, child custody disputes, or personal injury claims. By examining a person's mental health and psychological factors, psycho-legal assessments help legal professionals and judges make informed decisions regarding matters including competence to stand trial, criminal responsibility, risk assessment, or the determination of child custody arrangements. These assessments play a crucial role in ensuring that justice is served while taking into account the unique psychological aspects of each case.
WHO WE ARE
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DR LYNETTE ROUX
Dr Lynette Roux has over 35 years of experience in psycho-legal work, including care and contact assessments as well as abuse assessments. She has testified in Magistrate, Regional, Children’s Court and High Court matters across South Africa, as well as having conducted investigations and testified in court internationally. She is an accredited mediator, specialising in family law mediation, parenting plans and medico-legal disputes. She has also been appointed by the High Court in numerous matters in the quasi-legal role of Parenting Coordinator. In 2016, she was invited to make submissions to the South African Law Reform Commission regarding parenting co-ordination, with a view to new legislation on mediation and parenting co-ordination being drafted. She divides her time between her practices in Cape Town and Benoni.
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DR SAMANTHA VAN REENEN
Dr Samantha van Reenen registered as a Clinical Psychologist in 2012. While completing her PhD in psychology, she completed a Diploma in Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigation through the University of Johannesburg. This was her springboard into the psycho-legal field, in which she now has over 10 years of experience, and specifically in care-and-contact matters. She has also assisted in medico-legal and forensic assessments.
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LIANE VELIOTES
Liane is the heartbeat of the practice. As the Practice Manager, she is the friendly voice on the phone, manages Dr Roux’s and Dr van Reenen’s diary and schedules, she provides the administrative leadership needed to run the busy practice, coordinates all billing, responds to client queries, and handles all daily operations.
Care-And-Contact
Assessment Services
WHAT WE DO
Care-and-contact assessments are specialized evaluations conducted by professionals, often in the context of family law cases or child welfare proceedings. These assessments aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of a child's best interests regarding their care and contact arrangements with parents or guardians. The goal is to determine what living and visitation arrangements would be in the child's best interests, taking into account factors such as the child's age, attachment to parents, and any safety concerns. These assessments play a vital role in helping courts make informed decisions to ensure the welfare and stability of the child in question.
Forensic Assessment Services
Forensic assessments are specialized evaluations conducted within the legal context to provide insights into various aspects related to criminal or civil cases. These assessments encompass a wide range of forensic psychology evaluations, including competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, risk assessment, and child custody disputes. These assessments aid in determining an individual's mental state, behavioural patterns, and the potential impact of psychological factors on legal matters, helping to ensure just and fair outcomes in legal proceedings.
Medico-Legal Assessment Services
Medico-legal assessment services are specialized evaluations that bridge the gap between medicine and the legal system. They can involve assessing personal injury claims, medical malpractice, disability determinations, or workplace accidents. Medico-legal assessments aim to determine the medical facts, causation, and the impact of injuries or medical conditions on legal cases, assisting legal professionals, insurance companies, and the courts in making informed decisions and ensuring that legal outcomes are fair and based on accurate psycho-medical information.
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An assessment involves two phases. First, extensive clinical interviews so that we can best understand the clients and the presenting situation. Then, structured psychometric tests are conducted. Additional information is gathered from medical records, and consultations with relevant parties. A comprehensive report is subsequently completed, serving as a crucial legal reference.
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Psychologists have been recognised as being able to assist the court and being able to provide insight into the psychological functioning of people. This includes providing valuable information into the functioning of children and adults within the various areas of psycho-legal work being medico-legal, criminal, family-law as well as abuse.
Clinical Psychologists, in particular, offer a particular insight to the court. The value of being able to provide expert opinion on psychopathology and or neurological deficits, and the impact this has on the person’s functioning, as well as on those within the person’s sphere of influence is of particular value.
Within the area of family law the courts are tasked with considering what is in the children’s best interests. Information on attachments, parenting skills, and developmental theory is vitally important when considering what is in the children’s best interests. Within the criminal courts factors such as society’s right to be protected, the importance of justice being seen to have been done as well as the offenders need for rehabilitation all need to be considered.
Perhaps the greatest value of the Clinical Psychologist in the criminal courts is, however, to challenge the court to find new ways to address the various aspects listed above in a more successful manner, as reoffending, or recidivism, remains of particular concern.
Victim impact reports and evidence is also of great assistance to courts when determining that which is in victims’ best interests and their needs. In child abuse cases this is particularly necessary, and psychologists are best suited to informing the court in this regard.
The role of the psychologist is however, not to ‘fight the case’ for a client. The psychologist is there to give the court information of a psychological nature that the court would otherwise not be alert to. Therefore, no matter in what area of psychological work the psychologist is working, the psychologist’s responsibility lies within the court.
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In contrast to clinical therapy, psycho-legal services are not eligible for medical insurance coverage and are billed based on hourly rates. These rates encompass various components such as assessments, interview time, fact analysis, report preparation, court appearances, and the associated travel expenses for court appearances.