Forensic Psychologists
Tina Lepage, Psy.D.
Dr. Tina Lepage, founder of Lepage Associates Solution-Based Psychological & Psychiatric Services, holds a Doctorate and Master’s in clinical psychology, a B.S. in child development and family relationships, and a Master’s in management. Dr. Lepage is a specialist in relationships, families, conflict resolution, and forensic evaluations. She has been said to “demonstrate an uncanny ability to find creative solutions that work well and are respected by all parties involved,” and judges have commented they wished all evaluations were as understandable and useful as hers. Originally Dr. Lepage provided evaluations and consult for the court as a Court Psychologist in Fairfax, VA, and has continued in forensic psychology in private practice. Examples of forensic evaluations she has completed and supervised include child custody, parental capacity, mental status assessment, fitness for duty/return to work, disability assessment, legal decision making and financial capacity assessment, substance abuse assessment, immigration and adoption issues, risk assessments, and competency to stand trial.
Dr. Lepage completed both her clinical master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation on parenting plans, determining the highest quality protocol for assessing child and family needs and then addressing those needs in potential parenting arrangements. At Lepage Associates she went on to develop a unique, tiered approach to parenting plan consults and custody evaluations to meet the information and cost needs of every family. Dr. Lepage is also an expert in coaching for Cooperative or Parallel Co-Parenting. She has extensive experience working with individuals, couples, parents, and children. Her combined experience in divorce issues, child development, parenting plans, and conflict resolution make her highly sought out by parents as they make decisions regarding co-parenting issues and parenting plans, or need someone to meet with their child. Her evaluation skills and ability to handle clinically complex cases make her sought out by a wide variety of people involved with the court as well.
Colleen Hamilton, Psy.D.
As one of our resident child psychologists, Dr. Colleen Hamilton joins our forensic cases in the capacity of child expert. She has in-depth experience assessing children of all ages; through direct observation and/or parent descriptions of very young children, and testing with preschool children and older, she assesses children ages birth through 18. Dr. Hamilton is one of few child psychologists specialized in the birth to preschool years as well as K-12 children. She is able to speak in-depth about child development, child mental health issues and disorders, and how various external stressors impact a child’s functioning. Examples of external stressors include such things as parent functioning, family dynamics, school environment, other relationships, and trauma to include such varied forms of trauma as child sexual abuse to terrorism exposure. Dr. Hamilton is an expert on childhood trauma, both in the areas of conducting trauma assessments for diagnosis and the treatment of child and teen trauma. Her broad testing experience includes providing comprehensive psychological evaluations, behavioral assessments, and educational evaluations. In addition to her role as a consultant/expert on child and teen issues, she also provides therapy for children and families involved with the courts, parent coaching, therapeutic supervised visitation, and reunification visitation. Dr. Hamilton has testified in court as an expert witness.
Kevin Metz, Psy.D.
Dr. Kevin Metz has experience evaluating for a range of mental health disorders to include clinically complex cases, and provides evaluation services to clients of all ages. Dr. Metz is adept at identifying strengths and potential risk factors for each unique case and to this end believes it is important to provide specific and individually-tailored treatment recommendations. His forensic work has included psychological evaluations and risk assessments for use in family, civil and criminal court cases. (Examples include child custody, immigration, DUI, leaving the scene of a crime, sex offender, etc.) An area of particular expertise, his specialized and in-depth knowledge of substance use and its impact on daily living and thought provide an excellent resource if substance abuse is an issue that contributed to court involvement; he can evaluate for substance abuse, provide recommendations for intervention levels needed, and provide substance abuse counseling. Forensic work is a passion for Dr. Metz and he is regularly adding to the breadth of evaluations he provides. Dr. Metz can also provide expert testimony in court. In addition, his clients report finding him a competent, calming and supportive presence, which is of great service during these stressful situations. Dr. Metz also provides court-ordered psychotherapy and in particular has an expertise in anger management therapy.
Rhonda Karg, Ph.D.
Dr. Rhonda Karg specializes in brief, solution-based counseling for adults and teens. In addition, she is an expert in motivational interviewing for health behaviors (exercise, healthy eating, sleep, etc.), all self-care areas which have an important impact on managing emotions and clear thinking during any court process. Dr. Karg provides psychological and behavioral interventions for depression and anxiety, including reactions to loss/life transitions, trauma, family conflicts, and health concerns. Her finely tuned skills in motivation make her highly sought out by people going through during difficult times. She also has a strong specialty in all addictive behaviors with an extensive background in treating substance abuse and dependence, and in reducing harmful use of alcohol, illicit drugs, tobacco, and prescription medications, to include providing an empirically-validated brief intervention found to reduce substance use. Her in-depth knowledge and experience in substance abuse assessment continues to be informed through her work as a national and international researcher of substance abuse assessment and treatment methods. Dr. Karg is an excellent resource if substance abuse, or other addictive behaviors such as gambling, pornography, Internet relationships, shopping/ spending, etc., have been issues that contributed to court involvement or relationship problems.