Comprehensive
and trusted
psychological
services for the
court
Personal Injury Services
Compass have considerable expertise in delivering comprehensive assessments determining the complex issues regarding personal injury.
We have a modest but growing team with high levels of specialism in the areas of Clinical and Health Psychology, Neuropsychology, adult mental health and child and adolescent mental health. Together with our collective experience within the Court and legal systems, this contributes to reports that deal with the complex questions (e.g. pre-existing psychological vulnerabilities versus psychological injuries attributable to an event) with care and sophistication.
Types of instructions have included:
Mental health, including PTSD, following an index event
Neuropsychological Injuries and Functioning
Prognosis of the Impact of an Injury
Therapeutic Recommendations
Likely costs of therapy
Pre-existing vulnerabilities independent of the index event
Prognosis of development for a child after an injury
Assessment Process
Assessments normally take place in our consulting rooms, Solicitors’ offices or when appropriate, the client’s home.
Assessments include detailed analysis of relevant background information documents, a full clinical interview with the client and administration of psychometric measures. As with all reports offered, a psychological formulation of the client’s presenting difficulties is offered in order to contextualise the responses to instructing questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Compass provides psychological input in a wide range of personal injury and medico-legal cases, where there are complex questions about the psychological impact of an injury or event. Instructions commonly relate to mental health consequences following an index event, as well as neuropsychological injury, long-term prognosis, and treatment needs.
Compass frequently works on cases involving PTSD and trauma, chronic pain, and broader mental health difficulties arising after an injury. We also address neuropsychological injuries and functioning, helping the Court understand how cognitive, emotional, and psychological factors may have been affected.
A key aspect of personal injury work is distinguishing between pre-existing psychological vulnerabilities and psychological injuries attributable to the index event. Compass has extensive experience navigating this complexity, providing balanced opinions that carefully consider an individual’s psychological history alongside the impact of the injury itself.
Yes. Compass is regularly instructed to comment on the prognosis of psychological injury, including the likely long-term impact on functioning. Where appropriate, this includes recommendations for therapeutic intervention, expected duration of treatment, and the likely costs of therapy, ensuring opinions are clinically grounded and legally relevant.
Compass works with both adults and children in personal injury matters. This includes offering opinions on a child’s developmental prognosis following injury, taking into account age, stage of development, and the potential long-term psychological consequences of the event.
