Overview

In order for defendants facing legal charges in the United States to be able to move forward with the legal process, they must be competent to proceed with their cases. Defendants are presumed to be competent to make legal decisions, until someone calls their competency into question. Once the presumption of competency is questioned, their legal case is paused and the defendant is evaluated, so that the court can determine whether they are competent to proceed. If a person is not adequately knowledgeable about how the court system works, or too psychiatrically unstable to proceed with their case, their case gets put on pause and the defendant is ordered for ""competency restoration.""The Competency Restoration Handbook is a collection of foundational materials for competency restoration providers who work with adult pretrial defendants in the United States. The book begins with a description of the legal context related to adjudicative competence and an overview of foundational competency restoration practices. Following these foundational resources are chapters explaining how various clinical interventions can be adapted to help restore individuals to competency, and an assortment of practical tools (study guides, vocabulary-based games, and other hands-on activities) for use with defendants undergoing competency restoration.Covering empirically informed, theoretical, and creative approaches that can be individualized for each specific defendant, the book encourages and facilitates best practices in competency restoration. Readers are encouraged to adopt these interventions to address defendant-specific barriers to competency. The authors also encourage competency restoration providers to consider adapting other treatment modalities (i.e., particularly those which are empirically supported or newly developed) to facilitate competency restoration.

Full Product Details

Author:   Laura M. Grossi (Forensic Evaluator, Forensic Evaluator, Department of Psychology, Eastern State Hospital (Williamsburg, VA))
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 17.80cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 25.00cm
Weight:   0.730kg
ISBN:  

9780197768044

ISBN 10:   0197768040
Pages:   424
Publication Date:   20 October 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Part I The Psycholegal Context 1: Elizabeth Hunt, PhD ABPP (forensic) and Laura M. Grossi, PhD, ABSMIP: Introduction to Adjudicative Competence Part II Competency Restoration Treatment as Usual (TAU) 2: Laura M. Grossi, PhD, ABSMIP, Alexandra Brereton, PhD, Mollimichelle: Fundamentals of Competency Restoration in Practice 3: Sidra Qadir, MD and Shree Sarathy, MD: Psychotropic Medications and Competency Restoration Part III Cognitive Abilities as a Barrier to Competency 4: Maddison Schiafo, PhD and Kevin Waymire, PhD: Competency Restoration for Defendants With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (the Slater Method) 5: Alexandra Brereton, PhD and Laura M. Grossi, PhD, ABSMIP: Cognitive Remediation (CogRem) and Competency Restoration Part IV Situational Distress as a Barrier to Competency 6: Kevin Waymire, PhD and Maddison Schiafo, PhD: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Competency Restoration 7: Meredith Cain Munson, PsyD: Religion and Spirituality (RS) and Competency Restoration Part V Serious Mental Illness (SMI) as a Barrier to Competency 8: Kendall Joplin, MME, MT-BC and Kate Stanley, MMT, MT-BC: Music Therapy (MT) and Competency Restoration 9: Laura M. Grossi, PhD, ABSMIP and Alexandra Brereton, PhD: Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) and Competency Restoration Part VI Personality Disorders as a Barrier to Competency 10: Lyndsay Brooks, PsyD and Mollimichelle McClendon, PhD: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Competency Restoration Appendices A: General Competency Restoration Games and Activities B: Clinically-Focused Competency Restoration Materials C: Independent Study Materials D: Materials for Restoration Providers

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Author Information

Laura M. Grossi, PhD, ABSMIP, is a licensed clinical psychologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is a forensic evaluator at Eastern State Hospital (Williamsburg, VA), and also works in private practice. She is board certified in serious mental illness (SMI) psychology, and has conducted more than 1,000 pretrial criminal forensic evaluations, with her work focusing primarily on evaluations of adjudicative competence and mental state at the time of the offense. She also serves as a direct supervisor for the postdoctoral fellow, as the Psychology Practicum Training Director, and as Chair of the hospital's Research & Review Committee.

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