Certification Testimonials

"I am a university professor, mental health practitioner, and researcher, and the certifications and courses offered by the NBFE have well-exceeded my expectations and have positively impacted all aspects of my career. The NBFE goes above and beyond to provide individualized feedback, consultation, and support in a way I have not experienced with other organizations and credentialing programs. As a Certified Forensic Mental Health Evaluator, as well as a Certified Forensic Behavioral Analyst, I feel confident that I have obtained the knowledge and skills required to conduct forensic evaluations, publish scholarly research related to forensic populations, and to provide professional consultation. I highly recommend the NBFE to anyone wanting to enhance their clinical skills, practice, and research."

-Rebecca G. Cowan, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, BC-TMH, CFBA, CFMHE, CMHIMP, DCMHS, Owner/Anchor Counseling and Wellness, LLC and Professor/Walden University & Old Dominion University

Certified February 5th, 2020

"The Forensic Mental Health Evaluation Certification Training is rigorous and comprehensive and adds to my credibility as a professional evaluator. It covers a breadth of information from courtroom procedure to report writing to testifying. I have been writing reports for courts for two years, and the feedback I received from the professionals during my oral defense was invaluable. It greatly enhanced my ability to critically judge my writing through the lens of an opposing attorney and other notes that improved my reports. The training and webinars that are available as a member are valuable and cover subjects directly related to forensic work, which is so hard to find. I am happy to have found such a great resource for continued learning and improving my skills."

--Kim Mitchell, Psy.D., CFMHE, California State Prison System

Certified July 1, 2020

"My professional practice has been enriched since becoming a CFMHE by validating my education, training, and experience allowing me to best apply my knowledge. The training resources, collegial support network, and ongoing support from other CFMHE's have kept me current on forensic issues and enabled me to remain appropriately educated and supported to advance my services. The process of becoming a CFMHE consolidated my education and training and allowed me to better understand what I know, in addition to what I did not know. This type of internal self-validation enabled me to focus on enhancing my weaknesses while providing insight into my other skills. Additionally, having the CFMHE credential has allowed me to widely market myself, knowing the standards, expectations, and requirements of continued certification keep me relevant and highly qualified. Being a CFMHE is (and has always been) the best, most respected credential I have held in all my years. It is one of very few that I actively recommend."

-Tommy Black, Ph.D., LPC, CFMHE, CCCE,  Co-Owner/Clinical Supervisor at Darsey Black & Associates

Certified September 11th, 2005

"As someone who has been in social services for over 20 years, I have testified in many courtrooms specializing in supervised visitation and child custody. Even with my experience, I was extremely impressed with the knowledge and information gained from the completion of the Forensic Mental Health Evaluation Certification Training and process. After completing the training and rigorous examinations, I am glad I pursued the certification. The quality of the instruction and feedback from the instructors greatly enhanced my understanding of how to conduct and write important evaluations. I would highly recommend the course to any mental health professionals interested in expanding their evaluation skills."

--Rayna M. Houvouras, LMHC, BCaBA, CAP, CFMHE, CATP, Executive Director/Founder Foundations Counseling, LLC

Certified June 10th, 2020

"Having achieved the CFMHE certification has enabled me to significantly expand my practice by expanding the number of services I can provide.  I do competency to proceed to trial evals, capacity evals, child custody evals, substance abuse and DUI evals and mental health (psychological evals).  Several attorneys now refer to me on a regular basis.  While I believe my writing skills were already very good, adding the knowledge of how to best format them was immensely useful.  I have not had a single attorney question the quality of my reports.  I have had feedback from several judges that they really like my reports.  I have begun to gain a better reputation statewide.  And having actual board certifications in these specialty areas makes it VERY difficult for an attorney to have me disqualified or impeached on the stand.  In my county the attorneys no longer even try."

--Michael Holler, MA, LMHC, NCC, CCMHC, CFMHE, CCCE, Past-President of Florida Mental Health Counselors Association and Chair of FMHCA's Ethics Committee

Certified February 10th, 2009

"My practice is the intersection of law and mental health. Prior to becoming a Forensic Mental Health Evaluator, I did a lot of reports for attorneys, courts, probation violations, but could never figure out an appropriate fee structure. Using the Forensic Mental Health Evaluation, I now charge 10 times what I use to charge using the FMHE format, title, and scientific structure of the Evaluation. I no longer refer to myself as a counselor in legal settings, I now refer to myself as an Evaluator."

-Michael F. Jeffrey, LPC, LMFT, CFMHE, Past President of Virginia Licensed Professional Counselors Association

Certified November 18th, 2015

"Having become a Certified Forensic Mental Health Evaluator, as well as a Certified Child Custody Evaluator has benefited my work in many ways and in different settings.  The NBFE certification training is superb and the guidance throughout and pre-exam period was invaluable to me.  I felt really "ready to go" upon certification, but my supervisors and teachers were, and are, always available for consults as needed. In my position as director of a Child Advocacy Center, I have been able to provide guidance to Child Protection Services agencies so that their interventions proceed without further traumatization and the cases can proceed to Court.  Physicians, Social Workers and other professionals rely on my expertise in these cases and I have testified as expert witness.  As a result, Family Courts request my services for forensic evaluations.  In addition, attorneys request my review of forensic evaluations of other professionals.  My rigorous NBFE training has supported me greatly in these endeavors.  In my private practice, I am often called to evaluate families in child custody cases and, again, my training and consults with teachers--now colleagues--as I need them guide my work.  This added specialty has increased my income significantly.  As a CFMHE through NBFE, I have great continuing education opportunities.  The presenters are clearly carefully chosen and we all benefit immensely from these conferences.  They are all generous with their knowledge and expertise and share cases they have worked on.  There are also opportunities for NBFE members to present on their area of expertise either at conferences or online live meetings.  An important benefit of my affiliation with NBFE is the reminder that, as forensic evaluators we have the responsibility to provide accurate, ethical reports that will assist those in charge to make thoughtful and appropriate decisions about issues that affect families lives."

-Satya B. Laren, Ph.D., CFMHE, CCCE, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, New York

Certified July 12th, 2009

"This credential has helped me to have more credibility on the witness stand and avoid being misunderstood when giving testimony. I'm preparing to change jobs where I'll be able to use the certification to its fullest potential and obtain referrals for evaluations as well as see clients. I'm hopeful this will be a lucrative business and am looking forward to continuing to learn more about forensic work."

--Marissa L. Jordan, LPCC, CCTP, CFMHE of Cornerstone Counseling

Certified September 19th, 2018