Aaron J. Kivisto, Ph.D., HSPP is a forensic and clinical psychologist and owner of Clinical and Forensic Associates of Indianapolis, LLC. He is a tenured Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and is former Co-Director of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at the University of Indianapolis. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Augustana College in 2004 and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee in 2008 and 2011, respectively.

Following his academic training, Dr. Kivisto completed his pre-doctoral internship in the forensic specialty track at NYU School of Medicine / Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City and his post-doctoral fellowship training in forensic psychology at Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He has extensive experience conducting comprehensive forensic psychological evaluations on a variety of criminal, juvenile, and family law matters and with providing behind the scenes consultation to attorneys, including peer review of other professionals’ forensic reports and assistance in formulating effective direct and cross-examinations of mental health professionals.

Dr. Kivisto prides himself on providing objective, clearly organized, well-substantiated and legally relevant forensic evaluations for the legal community. His current practice focuses primarily on criminal forensic assessment, including evaluations of competence to stand trial, criminal responsibility, and general and sexual violence risk assessment.

As a tenured associate professor, Dr. Kivisto teaches graduate courses in psychological assessment, forensic evaluation, and psychotherapy, remaining informed of the latest scientific research. An award winning researcher, Dr. Kivisto’s work has been featured in numerous national and international media outlets, including the New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, TIME, CNN, NBC News, Reuters, and the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Kivisto has published over 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters on a variety of forensic topics, including violence risk assessment and management with mentally ill individuals, the motivations and psychiatric characteristics of fatal and nonfatal intimate partner violence perpetrators, the effects of risk-based firearm seizure laws on suicide, the protective benefits of child access prevention laws in reducing adolescent gun suicide, the role of firearms in family homicide, risk management of those who stalk and threaten mental health professionals, competence to stand trial and competency restoration, psychopathy, the admissibility of psychological testing in legal contexts, and the use of forensic mental health consultants for litigation consultation.

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