When the Mad are Bad:
Mental Illness and Violence

Location:  Springfield, MA - Holiday Inn, Springfield - Holyoke

On the big screen, murderers are often portrayed as psychotic maniacs who cannot be deterred from harming their targets. The reality is somewhat less dramatic but more reassuring: some people who kill or commit violent acts exhibit symptoms of mental illness that can be mitigated with medication and psychotherapy.

Mental health professionals must often give an opinion about an individual's risk of danger to others or to commit homicide. A competent opinion in this area requires an understanding of the research in this field, including the identification of acute and dynamic risk factors for violence, and a clinical interpretation of how these factors relate to an individual patient.

This workshop will teach mental health professionals to conduct evidence-based, clinically informed risk assessments for violence. Participants will make judgments about dangerousness after watching videotape vignettes of actual cases. In addition to the development of a risk assessment, participants will be trained in risk management of the potentially violent client, medical documentation of risk and expert testimony in dangerousness hearings. Workshop participants will:

• Identify acute and dynamic risk factors for violence, recognizing the relationship between violence and psychiatric difficulty
• Develop a violence risk assessment, including the risks associated with violence towards service providers
• Describe treatment and risk management strategies
• Develop empirically based violence risk reduction plans
• Outline the legal issues in treating perpetrators of violence

This workshop is relevant to clinicians, caseworkers, educators, program staff and administrators, and others involved in the provision of human services. The workshop format includes lecture, videotaped vignettes, discussion, mock testimony and cross examination.

Instructor:

Renee Sorrentino, M.D., Director of Clinical Services and Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School, is a Board Certified Forensic Psychiatrist. She has trained and consulted with state agencies including the Department of Mental Health and Department of Mental Retardation, law enforcement and attorney groups. Dr. Sorrentino's practice is devoted to the treatment and evaluation of paraphilias and sexual offenders. She trains nationally and combines cutting edge knowledge with a clear and engaging presentation style