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Psychological Testing in a Custody Battle with John Zervopoulos | Episode 118

Divorce at Altitude Podcast

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    The subject of parental responsibilities evaluators (PREs) and child and family investigators (CFIs) have been touched on in our podcast before. Today we welcome back John Zervopoulos to do a deep dive on these areas of psychological testing and important things lawyers need to know about them. John does a great job of contextualizing the comparing of CFIs and PREs as well as laying out the different responsibilities of lawyers and psychologists in this regard. 

    If you have not yet listened to our previous episodes with John, ( Episode 23 – Understanding CFI or PRE Reports in a Colorado Custody Battle, and Episode 50 – Litigation Tactics for CFIs & PREs) we provide more of John’s background and some important introductory content to today’s conversation. In today’s show, we discuss six keys that lawyers can use to manage an evaluator’s test results and we go through this list, with John weighing in with many expert tips and reflections, before ending off our chat with some thoughts on other kinds of tests, the influence of context, and more. 

    Key Points From This Episode: 

    • Unpacking the two different avenues of psychological testing; CFIs and PREs.   
    • The actual nature of the tests; comparison and incorporation with other information.  
    • How psychological testing differs from other screening processes. 
    • The specific elements and methods of PREs; John unpacks his ‘three-legged’ approach.
    • How the pandemic and the remote landscape have affected how tests have been administered.  
    • Introducing the six keys for lawyers to look at when considering the evaluator’s use of the test results. 
    • The importance of the response style of the examinee.
    • Significance and meaning around standardization samples of the test. 
    • Laying a strong foundation with the test’s statistical reliability.
    • Ways for lawyers to gauge a test’s validity.
    • How sensitivity and specificity can aid our understanding of the accuracy of the scores.
    • The three-step process of computer-generated interpretive reports. 
    • How to reconcile the possible use of different tests by psychologists.

    What is Divorce at Altitude? 

    Ryan Kalamaya and Amy Goscha provide tips and recommendations on issues related to divorce, separation, and co-parenting in Colorado. Ryan and Amy are the founding partners of an innovative and ambitious law firm, Kalamaya | Goscha, that pushes the boundaries to discover new frontiers in family law, personal injury, and criminal defense in Colorado. 

    To subscribe to Divorce at Altitude, click here and select your favorite podcast player. To subscribe to Kalamaya | Goscha’s YouTube channel where many of the episodes will be posted as videos, click here. If you have additional questions or would like to speak to one of our attorneys, give us a call at 970-429-5784 or email us at info@kalamaya.law.

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    DISCLAIMER: THE COMMENTARY AND OPINIONS ON THIS PODCAST IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES AND NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING LEGAL ADVICE. CONTACT AN ATTORNEY IN YOUR STATE OR AREA TO OBTAIN LEGAL ADVICE ON ANY OF THESE ISSUES.