Competency to Stand Trial

Tomina J. Schwenke, PhD, ABPP, is a licensed and board-certified psychologist with a post-doctoral juris master’s degree from Emory School of Law. She is a nationally certified sign language interpreter (CI/CT), with a specialized certificate in mental health interpreting (QMHI). She is an Assistant Professor at the Emory School of Medicine. She served as the director and remains the on-site psychology supervisor for the Emory’s jail-based Competency Restoration program and is the forensic psychology training director for the Emory Psychiatry and Law Service. She holds the clinical distinction of Senior Psychologist within the Emory Brain Health Clinic where she provides therapy to a variety of patients including those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing and deaf-blind. She was previously in private practice and focused on civil and criminal forensic work. She is a certified forensic evaluator for the State of Georgia, DBHDD, and publishes and presents nationally on a variety of forensic psychology and interpreting topics. Her awards include the Richard Morrel Community Commitment Award (Emory), the Martin Seligman Research in Psychology and Deafness Award (ADARA), Outstanding Journal Article Award (JADARA), the Dennis Brady Service Award (CUNY), and the Excellence in Patient Care Award (Emory Healthcare).

Dr. Silvasi obtained his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Gallaudet University, where he received specialized training in the provision of clinical services with Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. He completed his predoctoral internship at Utah State Hospital, focusing on forensic psychology. Following his internship year, he completed a formal forensic postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology with the Colorado Department of Human Services. Dr. Silvasi is one of the few individuals in the United States that has specialized training in the provision of clinical services with Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals, as well as in conducting forensic psychological evaluations. As such, he has a particular passion regarding conducting forensic evaluations with Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals, and he has published as well as presented at national conferences regarding this specialized area.