Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Forensic psychologist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Brenda Ingram-Wallace Ph.D.,

Dr. Julie Kuehnel

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical forensic psychologist skills. We ranked the top skills for forensic psychologists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 12.0% of forensic psychologist resumes contained psychological evaluations as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a forensic psychologist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 forensic psychologist skills for your resume and career

1. Psychological Evaluations

Here's how forensic psychologists use psychological evaluations:

Provide court ordered psychological evaluations for children and adolescents referred through the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Performed court-ordered, competency and psychological evaluations on referred youth (both outpatients and inpatients).

2. Mental Illness

Here's how forensic psychologists use mental illness:

Participated in a multidisciplinary treatment team approach to assessment and treatment of serious mental illness in an inpatient psychiatric hospital.
Perform confrontation avoidance and crisis intervention with inmates with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

3. Risk Assessments

The process of analyzing and identifying the acts or events that have the potential to negatively affect an individual, asset, or business is called risk assessment. Risk assessments are important because they form an integral part of an organization as well as occupational safety plans

Here's how forensic psychologists use risk assessments:

Conduct competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, violence risk assessments for the courts as well as diagnostic assessments.
Conduct annual violence risk assessments and periodic risk updates for court notification to be utilized at civil commitment hearings.

4. Forensic Evaluations

Here's how forensic psychologists use forensic evaluations:

Conduct forensic evaluations and provide testimony on juvenile and adult cases.
Conduct court-ordered forensic evaluations for central Massachusetts courts.

5. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how forensic psychologists use mental health:

Supervised and provided clinical support of team leaders, behavior specialists, and mental health counselors.
Case Worker Read court transcripts, depositions, mental health evaluations and character statements.

6. Psychological Tests

Here's how forensic psychologists use psychological tests:

Conducted interviews and interpreted psychological tests to obtain information regarding job suitability for candidates applying to public safety positions.
Supervised doctoral level students in the administration, scoring and interpretation of psychological tests on children and adolescents.

Choose from 10+ customizable forensic psychologist resume templates

Build a professional forensic psychologist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your forensic psychologist resume.

7. Substance Abuse

Here's how forensic psychologists use substance abuse:

Conducted psychotherapy and psychoeducational groups on substance abuse, stress management, anger management, etc.
Experience included managing interdisciplinary treatment team, and providing intensive outpatient and outpatient substance abuse services for active duty military members.

8. Stand Trial

Here's how forensic psychologists use stand trial:

Facilitate competency restoration groups and individual instruction to men and women found incompetent to stand trial.
Conducted direct forensic evaluation and assessment of defendants adjudicated incompetent to stand trial.

9. Psychological Services

Physiological services refer to professional services such as assessment, intervention, and consultation offered by qualified professionals in planning and managing a program that aims to determine the mental state.

Here's how forensic psychologists use psychological services:

Provide psychological services to civilly committed offenders adjudicated Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) and I.S.T.
Provide authoritative advice and guidance to management concerning proposed psychological services such as an employee assistance program or other similar programs.

10. Consultation Services

Here's how forensic psychologists use consultation services:

Full range of psychological evaluation, psychotherapy and consultation services to wide range of ages, socioeconomic and multicultural backgrounds.
Provide counseling and consultation services to alcohol and other drug abusing eligible military.

11. Clinical Services

Here's how forensic psychologists use clinical services:

Provided direct clinical services to inmates at the facility and consultations to facility staff about behavioral management strategies for problem inmates.
Provided supervision oversight over a residential drug program, non-residential drug program, and general clinical services to the inmate population.

12. Diagnostic Assessments

Here's how forensic psychologists use diagnostic assessments:

Conducted interviews to determine diagnostic assessment of intake population.
Provide outpatient adult and adolescent individual and couples/family psychotherapy, treatment recommendations, diagnostic assessments, and evaluations.

13. Diagnostic Evaluations

A diagnostic evaluation is a process of discovering the challenges in a student or in a particular thing through series of testing while learning and discovering the root cause of the problem. The diagnostic evaluation uncovers the strengths and weaknesses in people. The aim of the evaluation is to proffer solutions to the problems discovered.

Here's how forensic psychologists use diagnostic evaluations:

Conduct individual therapy as well as psychological and diagnostic evaluations.
Conducted diagnostic evaluations, through and including the interview process, psychological testing and interpretation of findings;.

14. Clinical Interviews

Here's how forensic psychologists use clinical interviews:

Conducted evaluations of inmate-patients to determine appropriate diagnoses based on clinical interview and comprehensive review of multiple sources of information.
Completed clinical interviews and designed treatment plans for specified residents.

15. Court Orders

Here's how forensic psychologists use court orders:

Fulfilled court orders by serving warrants and commitments.

5 Forensic Psychologist resume examples

Build a professional forensic psychologist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your forensic psychologist resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Forensic Psychologists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on forensic psychologist resumes?

Brenda Ingram-Wallace Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology; Director of Counseling Services, Albright College

Internships and practicums, where you can work with clients and incorporate some technology aspects, will help recent graduates stand out from their peers. Possessing familiarity with therapeutic computer applications and their utility for various mental health concerns will be a plus.

What hard/technical skills are most important for forensic psychologists?

Dr. Julie Kuehnel

Professor of Psychology, California Lutheran University

Advanced statistics and experience with current software for data analysis.

What soft skills should all forensic psychologists possess?

Dr. Julie Kuehnel

Professor of Psychology, California Lutheran University

Communication, interpersonal skills! This is huge.

What forensic psychologist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kevin Bennett Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University - Beaver

I have three pieces of advice for recent graduates.
Gain Practical Experience and Network. Seek internships, volunteer opportunities, or entry-
level positions in your field of interest. Practical experience is invaluable and can set you apart
from other candidates. Attend conferences, workshops, and networking events in the field of
psychology. Connect with professionals, professors, and fellow graduates. Networking can open
doors to job opportunities and mentorship.
Develop Specialized Skills and Explore Diverse Career Paths. Identify and develop specific
skills that align with your chosen career path. This might include proficiency in research
methods, statistical analysis, counseling techniques, or the use of specific assessment tools.
Psychology offers a broad range of career options. Explore different paths, such as clinical
psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, counseling, research, or academia, to find the
best fit for your interests and skills.
Take Care of Your Well-being. Working in psychology-related fields can be emotionally
demanding. Prioritize self-care and seek supervision or support when needed. Balancing your
personal and professional life is crucial for long-term success. Remember, your career is a
journey, and each experience contributes to your growth and development. Stay curious, be
proactive, and embrace the learning opportunities that come your way.

What type of skills will young forensic psychologists need?

Elizabeth Williams Ph.D.

Faculty Senate President and Professor of Psychology, St. Mary's College of Maryland

In my view, college graduates need excellent critical and creative thinking skills (e.g., skills that incorporate problem-solving with information literacy) and excellent communication skills (both written and oral). Most job-specific skills can be learned or further developed on the job, but I sense that employers value employees who can think on their feet and communicate clearly.

Do you want to know more?

List of forensic psychologist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a forensic psychologist resume and required skills for a forensic psychologist to have include:

Psychological Evaluations
Mental Illness
Risk Assessments
Forensic Evaluations
Mental Health
Psychological Tests
Substance Abuse
Stand Trial
Psychological Services

Consultation Services
Clinical Services
Diagnostic Assessments
Diagnostic Evaluations
Clinical Interviews
Court Orders
Individual Therapy
Civil Commitment
Group Therapy

Mental State
Family Court
Court System
Correctional Facilities
Crisis Intervention
Staff Training
Private Practice

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Forensic Psychologist
Forensic Psychologist Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs