How to deal with a Psychologist.

. At a court hearing oppose the intervention of a psychologist because A) You have done nothing wrong so there is no need for a psychologist. B) The breakup of your marriage/partnership has been a traumatic experience for the children and you have a strong concern that they may exhibit distress and other behaviors that the psychologist will wrongly interpret. ) That there is a great deal of inconsistency and opposing opinions amongst psychologists. They have been unable to agree on principles and there is no uniformity of opinion among psychologists. You are concerned that future well! being and happiness of your children will be determined by a psychologist when there are strong supporting affidavits. ") #sychology is less a science than an attempt to help people. $oreover% it could be said that if a psychologist were more inclined to help women than to help men% they would not have much in the way of actual science that would block their natural inclinations to help women &') The allegations are false. They are inconsistent% unsubstantiated% uncooberated. (t is a fundamental principle of )ustice that these allegations be tested in court. At a court hearing oppose the intervention of a psychologist because. . &*) You may wish to write a letter to the police so that when you appear in court you will have a letter from them to say that no allegations have been made to the police so therefore the false allegations have no substance. &+ee letter to police if false allegations made) (f the court has ordered a #sychologists report you do not have to attend but it may be pre)udicial to you not to do so. The report is supposed to be about the child/children involved. (f you are representing yourself a #sychologist report must be given to you. &+ee s,-. of the are of hildren act /00.) (f a 1awyer represents you the 1awyer is obliged to show and give you the report unless the court orders otherwise , ontact the family court counciling co!odinator to find out who the psychologist is. The court will contact you anyway but it is much 2uicker if you contact the court. 3rite or fax the psychologist re2uesting an interview. The interview should be recorded. You do not have to ask anyone4s permission to record the interview and as most psychologists may ob)ect it is probably easier )ust to record the interview without them knowing. "ick +mith has small $#- recorders for around 560. #sychologists have a notorious reputation for biased reports and unfounded observations DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES GO TO AN INTER IE! !ITHOUT IT "EING RECORDED.

At the i#te$%iew&
Turn on the tape before entering the interview room. Begin by asking the psychologist this 2uestion. "o you agree that when a child has the love and affection of both of its parents before a relationship breakup then it is entitled to this same love and affection after the relationship breakup7 $ake sure that the person answers this 2uestion. !he# a#swe$i#g the '(estio#s) #e%e$ show a#y a#i*osity) a#ge$) s+ite o$ $e%e#ge towa$ds yo($ e, +a$t#e$ o$ he$ -a*ily. T$y a#d a#swe$ i# the .est light a#d *ost +ositi%e *a##e$ +ossi.le. Always +(t the .est i#te$ests o- the child$e# -i$st a#d /ee+ o# sayi#g that yo( o#ly wa#t to do what is .est -o$ the child$e# . Be careful that situations most people consider as part of everyday normal life% i.e. disagreements% arguments and the associated silly behavior that we are all sometimes guilty of can easily be misconstrued by the psychologist as abusive controlling etc. (t is best not to mention any thing of this nature and keep all answers positive Ma/i#g a co*+lai#t a.o(t a +sychologist omplaints can be made in writing to the +ecretary of the 8ew 9ealand #sychological +ociety who will then refer the complaint to the board. The board will then convene a complaints committee of psychologists none of whom may be members of the board% have any relationship with the person under investigation or be resident in the same center as the sub)ect of the complaint. (t is also possible to make a complaint to the :ealth and "isability ommissioner . (nformation on the psychologists act and the :ealth and "isability act can be found at www.legislation.govt.n; The psychologist4s site is www.psychology.org.n;