Kevin J. Richards, PhD, ABPP
Founder
Background
Born in New York, Dr. Richards grew up in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut in 1985. Dr. Richards began graduate studies in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida in August of 1986, earning his Master’s degree in 1989 and his Ph.D. in 1991. Dr. Richards completed his pre-doctoral internship at the University of Minnesota Psychology Internship Consortium.
Professional Career
Dr. Richards began his professional career by joining the Psychology staff at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, which is the State of Maryland's maximum security forensic hospital. During his tenure at Perkins, Dr. Richards served as a Forensic Evaluator, Unit Psychologist, Unit Administrator, Director of Admissions and Director of Psychology Training. Additionally, he served at the liaison to Maryland's regional hospitals and to the Maryland Department of Corrections. In 2000, Dr. Richards moved to the Atlanta metro area and took a position as an inpatient Forensic Psychologist on one of the medium security forensic units at Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta in Decatur, Georgia. In 2001, he transferred to the Outpatient Forensic Services Division at Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital in Rome, Georgia where he served as the forensic evaluator for the State and Superior Courts in 16 of the 31 counties that comprised the hospital's catchment area.
In 2002, Dr. Richards created Kevin J. Richards, PhD, P.C., which began as a small, part-time private practice and grew to the point that Dr. Richards began working exclusively in private practice in 2007. Today, the practice has expanded to become Forensic Specialty Group. Dr. Richards has personally performed over 2000 forensic evaluations of various types during his career. He has been qualified as an expert in Forensic Psychology more than 200 times in State and Federal Criminal Courts, Juvenile Court and in Military Courts Martial.
Currently, the primary focus of Dr. Richards’ practice is consultation, evaluation and testimony regarding forensic issues in Military Courts Martial. However, he is also available on a limited basis to provide these services in civilian criminal and civil matters.
Dr. Richards also has additional training and experience in work on cases with child victims. He is trained as a Child Forensic Interviewer, and he has consulted and testified on issues that are unique to child victim cases. Additionally, he has provided training on this issue to other professionals. In February of 2023, Dr. Richards taught a full-day training workshop on child victim cases as part of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology’s continuing education program.
Over the years, Dr. Richards has also held numerous part-time clinical and teaching positions, including Emergency Room Consulting at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, Diagnostician for the Epidemiology Genetics research program at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Adjunct Faculty in Psychology at American University and Loyola University in Baltimore, for the State of Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council regarding mental health and Crisis Intervention and as a pre-deployment evaluator of United States Department of State civilian contractors for Mission Critical Psychological Services. He also regularly provides training for diverse groups of professionals including psychologists and attorneys in both civilian and military contexts.
In addition to his clinical and consulting work, Dr. Richards is on the editorial board of the journal Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, which is one of the oldest journals published by the American Psychological Association. He also serves as the in-person continuing education website coordinator for the American Academy of Forensic Psychology.
Certifications
Dr. Richards is Board Certified in Forensic Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. Dr. Richards is currently licensed to practice Psychology in Georgia. He is listed on the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology.
Professional Associations
American Board of Forensic Psychology
American Academy of Forensic Psychology
American Psychological Association
American Psychology-Law Society
Georgia Psychological Association
American Professional Association on the Abuse of Children
International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
Association for Psychological Science