Dr. Lawrence Amsel provides psychiatric evaluations and consultations in both criminal and civil (plaintiff and defense) cases. With a specialty in Psychiatric consequences of personal injury cases, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Greif, Criminal Mitigation, Psychiatric Malpractice, and Psychiatric aspects of Divorce and Family Law.

Dr. Amsel has been practicing psychiatry and public health psychiatry for 25 years, as well as doing academic research and teaching in psychiatry at Columbia University. He co-directed the Trauma Studies and Services division at Columbia University, where he was involved in treating victims of 9/11 and their families, and was a major trainer for other clinicians.

Dr. Amsel has also been involved in nationally recognized program training Pediatricians to deal with mental health issues in their practice. He is also an expert in Decision Science and Game Theory, including applications to Medical Decision Making and Psychiatry. He has worked as Medical Editor for the New England Journal of Medicine creating educational videos. Additional areas of specialty include health care behavioral economics, pediatric psychiatry, OCD, family loss, and Psychological Sequelae of Terrorism.

Dr. Amsel serves as an expert witness in matters related to psychiatry, with a focus on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide, Grief, Medical Decision Making, Hospital Psychiatric Care, Appropriate Evidence-based Standards of Care, and Malpractice. Excellent references from multiple law firms are available on request. Dr. Amsel’s expertise in dealing with the interface of legal and psychiatric issues is based on 28 years of experience in clinical practice, academic psychiatry, research, and public health, as well as his experience as an expert witness.

Dr. Amsel studied mathematics at Columbia University before entering Yale University School of Medicine. After completing residency training he joined the Columbia faculty completing two prestigious National Institute of Mental Health research fellowships and obtained an Masters in Public Health (MPH) specializing in mental health statistics, and Child Psychiatry Research. As an expert in the effects of traumatic experiences, after 9/11, Dr. Amsel co-directed the Trauma Studies and Services Division at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He has been extensively involved in treating victims of 9/11 and their families, in doing research on the effects of the 9/11 attacks on the survivors and First Responders, and in training clinicians in cutting edge treatments for PTSD and Complicated /Traumatic Grief.

This has given him a strong foundation as an expert on PTSD and other psychological effects of various types of trauma. Dr. Amsel was one of the early champions of the application of Decision Science, Game Theory and Behavioral Economics to psychiatric research, including to suicidal behavior, another important area of his expertise. Dr. Amsel has applied his extensive clinical and research expertise to many different types of complex legal issues involving psychiatry.