Experience and Qualifications
Dr. Goldenson is registered in good standing with the College of Psychologists and Behavioral Analysts of Ontario to practise in Clinical and Forensic psychology.
Dr. Goldenson has been well prepared to perform complex psycho-legal evaluations by means of a formal post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology in association with the Mental Health, Law and Policy Institute at Simon Fraser University. She is a member of the Program in Psychiatry and the Law in association with Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Harvard Medical School and is the 2021 recipient of the Strasburger Award in recognition of her contributions to this program.
Dr. Goldenson has interned and worked in a variety of psycho-legal contexts; e.g., the San Diego Superior Court, multiple sites associated with the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission in British Columbia, and the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. She has been engaging in both assessment and treatment of diverse clientele for close to two decades, and she consults with and supervises other mental health professionals.
Teaching and Publications
Coming from a scientist-practitioner model, Dr. Goldenson has been involved in academia in both administrative and teaching roles. She was an Assistant Program Head at the University of Guelph-Humber and is currently a professor at the University of Toronto (OISE). Most relevant to her forensic practices, she teaches at the doctoral level on the subjects of:
- psychological assessment
- forensic psychology
- diagnostic systems
Dr. Goldenson remains actively engaged in research and has a number of first-author publications related to:
- best practices in forensic mental health assessment
- trauma-informed forensic mental health assessment
- interpersonal trauma
- the assessment of harms from institutional abuse
- adverse childhood experiences and resilience
- intimate partner violence
- female perpetration of violence
- forensic supervision
- forensic consultation
She is also the Co-Head of the Forensic Section of Psychological Injury and the Law, a peer-reviewed journal.
Leadership and Service
Collaboration and giving back to the field of psychology are important to Dr. Goldenson. Some of her leadership and service contributions include but are not limited to:
- serving as the Ontario Psychological Association’s (OPA) president in 2022
- sitting on the OPA’s Board of Directors from 2018-2023
- leading OPA’s provincial Forensic and Correctional Consultation Group from 2021-2023
- founding OPA’s Psychologists in the Legal System (PALS) Network in 2019
- serving as co-chair on the Canadian Psychological Association Criminal Justice Section taskforce from 2023-2025
- sitting on the College of Psychologists and Behavioral Analysts Fitness to Practice Committee from 2020-2022
Professional Memberships
Dr. Goldenson is also a member of multiple professional organizations including:
- the Canadian Psychological Association
- the Canadian Association of Psychologists in Disability Assessment
- the American Psychological Association Division 56- Trauma Psychology
- the American Psychological Association Division 41 -American Psychology-Law Society
- the International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence
- the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services
- the Society for Personality Assessment
- the International Society of Trauma and Dissociation
- the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
*Dr. Goldenson’s CV is available upon request.