Friday, May 02, 2008

Another shrink insists on lawyers

I just got turned down by another psychologist. He came highly recommended from a neutral source. I could not confirm that he had taken the required domestic violence course, but he said that he had been doing court-ordered child custody evaluations for many years, so I assume that he has the qualifications to do them.

He suggested that I have the attorneys contact him. I told him that neither my ex-wife or I are represented by attorneys. He said that was a deal-breaker; that he always refuses to do an evaluation unless both parents have attorneys.

I asked him why, and he responded that the parents may not be objective. I said that the rules of the court prohibit the attorneys from talking to the evaluators. He said that he talks to them anyway. He also said that he likes just giving his report to the attorneys and the court. If he had his way, the parents would not see the report. He knows that the attorneys give the reports to their clients anyway, but at least he does not have to explain or justify the report to them.

I am flabbergasted. Some of his comments don't even make sense. Yes, of course the parents are not objective but the lawyers are even less objective. I am tempted to post his name, but he was courteous enough to return my call and he just reflects views that are common in his business.

He was not telling me the truth about why these court shrinks prefer lawyers. There are biggers reasons, and I'll post about those later.

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