Licensed since 1982, Dr. Barbara Cort Counter is a psychologist in private practice, whose forensic work spans more than two decades, including mental illness, competency and sanity evaluations, as well as psychosocial mitigation consultation and social history preparation in capital and non-capital cases in both federal and superior courts, at trial, appellate and habeas levels. A graduate of Vassar College and the California School of Professional Psychology, Dr. Counter has provided psychosocial mitigation consultation on over 75 cases for the California Appellate Project-San Francisco since 2002. She has presented seminars on mental health evaluation and mitigation to the Criminal Law Section of the Santa Monica Bar Association, the Federal Public Defender�s Office and the County Public Defender�s Office in Los Angeles, as well as the Capital Case Defense Seminar in Monterey, California between 2002 and 2006. Among other clinical services, Dr. Counter provides psychotherapy and emotional damages consultation in civil cases involving the exonerated.
ServicesPsychodynamic Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy for the Exonerated
Federal Psychosocial Sentencing Evaluations
Psychosocial Mitigation Consultation in federal and state, capital and non-capital, cases at all levels
Insanity evaluation
Trial level Social History preparation and testimony in capital and non-capital cases
Federal capital habeas Social History preparation and testimony
Areas of ExpertiseClinical Psychotherapy for adults and adolescents
Psychotherpy for the exonerated
Capital and non-capital psychosocial mitigation consultation and evaluation
Capital federal habeas Social History preparation