Dr. Linda Grounds, Clinical and Forensic Psychologist in Portland, Oregon 

Dr. Linda Grounds specializes in the forensic psychological evaluations of individuals facing criminal charges in both state and federal court. She also maintains a small but active psychotherapy practice with late adolescents and adults. She has been in private practice in Portland, Oregon for over 25 years. Dr. Grounds conducts comprehensive psychological evaluations of individuals charged with serious crimes including:

• Embezzlement and other white-collar crimes,
• Bank robbery,
• Drug offenses, and
• Assault, attempted murder, and murder.

Forensic psychological evaluation of complex psychological issues

Many of the forensic psychological evaluations conducted by Dr. Grounds are for the purposes of mitigation during plea negotiation and sentencing phases of a case. She also does evaluations in cases where questions of competency arise.

Dr. Grounds specializes in psychological evaluations of women and defendants with complex psychological issues. She has particular expertise in assessing an individual’s vulnerabilities, e.g., intellectual impairments, exposure to parental neglect, domestic violence, childhood victimization and adult traumas, substance abuse, and mental illness. These factors are often help to understand a defendant’s alleged offense conduct and can assist defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges and juries in their judicial decision making.

Dr. Grounds has a special interest in female defendants, including the role of male co-defendants and domestic violence in women’s offense conduct. To date she has done forensic psychological evaluations of 40 women charged with embezzlement and is currently conducting a study of the histories, psychological attributes and motivations of women who embezzle.

Team approach offers broad expertise, research capacity

Dr. Grounds supervises a team of psychologist residents and doctoral students. This forensic psychology team explores peer-reviewed literature and research on topics relevant to ongoing evaluations, including the most recently released research.

Clear, comprehensive forensic evaluation reports

Dr. Grounds does forensic assessments using the most current standards of practice in forensic and clinical psychology. Forensic evaluation reports by Dr. Grounds and her team are comprehensive, detailed, and written in clear, understandable language. These reports provide the judicial participants with relevant psychological information regarding the defendant and explain specifically the relationship between this information and the alleged offense conduct.

Academic and research background

Dr. Grounds brings a strong academic and research background to her forensic psychological evaluations. She teaches graduate courses in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Pacific University, and she also teaches and supervises psychologist residents and doctoral students.

Dr. Grounds’ academic and research background ensures that her forensic evaluations are balanced, thorough, and utilize the most current research findings from forensic and clinical psychology.

Forensic psychology consultation and presentations

In addition to forensic evaluations, Dr. Grounds provides consultation to both psychologists and attorneys. She writes articles and speaks on topics related to forensic psychology to professional audiences, including attorneys, and psychologists.

Balanced, thoughtful psychotherapy

Dr. Grounds’ clinical practice focuses on the psychological treatment of late adolescents and adults who are struggling with unresolved family issues and experiencing anxiety, depression, and related psychological issues.