Our Team
Lauren Best, PsyD
best@lithiaforensics.com
Lauren is a Licensed Psychologist and Certified Forensic Evaluator in Oregon. She holds a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology. After obtaining two undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Women’s Studies, she attended graduate school at Pacific University School of Professional Psychology. In graduate school, her area of focus was forensic psychological assessment. During graduate school, she worked in various forensic settings, including the Oregon Department of Corrections, Oregon State Hospital, and a forensic private practice. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the historic Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. Following graduate school, Dr. Best completed a post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at the University of Denver’s Forensic Institute for Research, Service, and Training (Denver FIRST), which emphasized training in forensic evaluation and academia. Dr. Best was employed in Forensic Evaluation Service at Oregon State Hospital for 2 ½ years before transitioning to full-time private practice.
Dr. Best has completed hundreds of forensic evaluations. She has experience with a variety of referral questions, including fitness to proceed; criminal responsibility/GEI; diminished capacity; mitigation; diagnostic/mental health court; competency to waive Miranda rights; risk of violence, stalking, and/or fire setting; juvenile transfer to adult court/reverse transfer to juvenile court; and resentencing of adults who were sentenced to life without parole as juveniles. She has provided expert witness testimony in several Oregon counties. She has supervised graduate-level students in both treatment and assessment, and she has taught courses to graduate-level students specializing in forensic psychology. Her past research topics include the impact of public policy on criminal behavior and the effect of traumatic brain injury among individuals in correctional settings. Her research findings have been presented at the American Psychology-Law Society conference.
Andrew Orf, PsyD, ABPP
orf@lithiaforensics.com
Andrew is a Licensed Psychologist and a Certified Forensic Evaluator in Oregon. Dr. Orf is one of seven psychologists based in Oregon who are Board Certified in Forensic Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He is also a Fellow with the American Academy of Forensic Psychology (AAFP) (see https://aafpforensic.org/about-us/ for more information).
Dr. Orf holds a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology from the Arizona School of Professional Psychology. He completed his pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral residency at the Oregon State Hospital. Following licensure, Dr. Orf worked in the Forensic Evaluation Service at the Oregon State Hospital, conducting court-ordered fitness to proceed, criminal responsibility, capacity to form intent, and extreme emotional disturbance evaluations. He has worked exclusively with Lithia Forensics & Consulting since 2021.
Through his training and professional experiences, Dr. Orf has completed a wide range of forensic evaluations. Evaluations have addressed referral questions related to competency to stand trial/fitness to proceed, criminal responsibility/guilty except for insanity, capacity to form intent/diminished capacity, extreme emotional disturbance, violence risk, sex offender risk, sentencing mitigation, diagnostic clarification, mental health court eligibility, and juvenile dependency. He has been recognized as an expert witness in several Oregon circuit courts and has been retained as a consulting expert in complex litigation. He has presented on various topics related to forensic psychology. He has supervised doctoral students, predoctoral interns, and psychologist residents. He is an appointed public member of the Oregon State Bar Professional Responsibility Board (SPRB).
Kimberly Rideout, PsyD
rideout@lithiaforensics.com
Kimberly Rideout, PsyD is a Licensed Psychologist and Certified Forensic Evaluator in Oregon. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Pacific University School of Professional Psychology. In graduate school, her area of focus was forensic psychological assessment. During graduate school, she worked in various forensic settings, including the Oregon Department of Corrections and Clark County Juvenile Court. She completed her internship training at the Vacaville Psychiatric Program within the California Department of State Hospitals and completed her post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at Georgia Regents University/East Central Regional Hospital. Dr. Rideout has been employed at the Oregon State Hospital as a clinical psychologist since 2013, working on both a trial competency restoration unit and in the Forensic Evaluation Service.
Dr. Rideout has extensive experience completing forensic mental health evaluations with a variety of referral questions, including fitness to proceed; criminal responsibility/GEI; diminished capacity; mitigation; diagnostic/mental health court; and risk of violence. Her experience includes providing expert witness testimony in several Oregon counties. She has supervised other psychologists in forensic evaluation and interns and graduate-level students in both treatment and assessment. Her past research topics include the assessment and diagnosis of complex trauma, psychopathy, and personality disorders, as well as factors affecting the success of patients placed on conditional release. Her research findings have been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at the American Psychology-Law Society conference.
Alexandra Michelin, PsyD
michelin@lithiaforensics.com
Alexandra Michelin, Psy.D. holds a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology from Pacific University School of Graduate Psychology. With primary interests in forensic psychology, the majority of her training and experience has been with individuals in forensic settings, including state hospitals, private practices specializing in forensic evaluation, and community mental health clinics. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Mendota Mental Health Institute in Wisconsin where she conducted competency to stand trial evaluations and violence risk assessments, in addition to providing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy with forensic patients. She also provided supervision to graduate and undergraduate students. She completed her postdoctoral residency at NW Family Psychology, where she conducted adult and juvenile sexual offending risk assessments, neuropsychological assessments, parental fitness evaluations, psychological evaluations for children in protective custody (best interest), and adaptive functioning evaluations.
Dr. Michelin has provided trainings and presentations on various forensic and clinical psychology topics for attorneys, judges, psychologists and clinicians, medical providers, doctoral students, and community members. Her past research topics include mental health training for attorneys, attorneys’ experiences with defendants with mental illness, variables associated with nonrestorability to competency, and evaluations of child sexual abuse. Her research findings have been presented at the American Psychology-Law Society conference.
Molly Persky, PsyD
persky@lithiaforensics.com
Molly earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon. She obtained a master’s degree and doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Pacific University, where she currently serves as an adjunct professor teaching Psychology & Law at the graduate level. During graduate school, Molly’s training consisted primarily of placements at the Oregon State Hospital and private practice agencies where she conducted a variety of evaluations (e.g., psychosexual, risk, competency, and criminal responsibility) for adults and adolescents involved in the criminal justice system. Molly completed her graduate degree as an intern at Mendota Mental Health Institute, a psychiatric hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, where she conducted competency to stand trial, guardianship, substance abuse, and neuropsychological evaluations. Following completion of her doctoral degree, Molly received a forensic psychology fellowship at the Center for Behavioral Medicine’s Department of Forensic Services, a psychiatric hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. In this role, Molly conducted criminal responsibility, competency to stand trial, and sexually violent predator evaluations.
Following licensure in the state of Oregon, Molly worked in a private practice where she conducted a variety of psycho-legal and forensic evaluations, including psychosexual, risk, competency, criminal responsibility, mitigation, and waiver to adult court. Molly has extensive experience providing expert witness testimony, supervising pre- and post-doctoral graduate students, and conducting research on relevant psycho-legal topics; her most recent peer-reviewed article focusing on criminal responsibility evaluations was published in the Journal of Forensic Psychology: Research and Practice.
Dr. Persky serves as the director of clinical training for practicum students within the practice.
Kimberly McCollum, PsyD
mccollum@lithiaforensics.com
Dr. Kim McCollum earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Southern Oregon University, her master’s degree in clinical psychology at Pacific University, and her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Pacific University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship training and her post-doctoral residency training at Florida State Hospital focusing on forensic evaluation and has been licensed since 2008. Her professional experience has focused almost entirely on forensic populations and treatment and evaluation of persons with severe and persistent mental illness. She has conducted hundreds of fitness to proceed evaluations and worked on fitness to proceed restoration units at the Oregon State Hospital for several years. She has conducted risk assessments, criminal responsibility evaluations, and general psychological assessments. She also served for several years as a training director for the Oregon State Hospital Psychology Internship Program and has extensive experience supervising practicum students, pre-doctoral interns, and post-doctoral residents.
Mandy Davies, PsyD
davies@lithiaforensics.com
Dr. Mandy Davies is a Psychologist and Certified Forensic Evaluator in Oregon who has a Doctorate of Psychology from Pacific University. She has completed hundreds of forensic evaluations and has been recognized as an expert witness in many courts throughout Oregon. She spent over 15 years working at the Oregon State Hospital’s Forensic Evaluation Service where she was in management roles for 13 years. When she was Interim Director of the Forensic Evaluation Service she oversaw the capacity to stand trial and criminal responsibility evaluations done by the Oregon State Hospital. She has experience supervising psychology practicum students; predoctoral psychology interns; postdoctoral psychologist residents; and providing secondary supervision for forensic psychiatry fellows. She has taught at Pacific University (as a teaching assistant); the Oregon Health and Sciences University (as an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Psychiatry); and the Western Health and Sciences University (as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry). Dr. Davies has presented both locally and nationally on topics related to mental health and the law. She has served on several committees including Oregon legislative workgroups related to forensic evaluation and on the Oregon forensic evaluator certification reviewer panel.
Dr. Davies serves as the Fellowship Director for Lithia Forensics and Consulting.
Hana Watari, PsyD
watari@lithiaforensics.com
Hana Watari is a Licensed Psychologist in Oregon. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minor in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Portland State University. She obtained her master’s degree and doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Pacific University.
During her graduate training, Hana worked in various forensic settings, including a juvenile justice department, state hospital, and group private practice. While at these placements, she provided treatment to adolescents who were in detention and on probation, provided treatment to adults found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI), and conducted a variety of forensic and psychological evaluations with adults and adolescents involved in the criminal justice system (e.g., mitigation, diagnostic, competency, psychosexual, Guilty Except for Insanity (GEI)). She completed her pre-doctoral internship training at Atascadero State Hospital where she conducted competency to stand trial and offender with a mental health disorder evaluations. Additionally, she conducted evaluations during her treatment rotations, including violence and suicide risk, competency to stand trial, diagnostic clarification, PCL-R, malingering, and admission psychological assessments. Further, she provided treatment to patients deemed incompetent to stand trial and NGRI, offenders with a mental health disorder, and provided treatment to a patient on the Enhanced Treatment Program. She completed her postdoctoral residency at Lithia Forensics & Consulting, LLC, where she conducted adult and juvenile forensic evaluations (e.g., mitigation, competency, psychosexual, GEI, Miranda rights, parental fitness).
Dr. Watari’s past research topics include unintentional toddler shootings and adolescent to parent violence. Her most recent peer-reviewed article focused on culturally responsive psychosocial research and was published in the Methods in Psychology Journal. She has provided presentations on forensic and psychological topics for doctoral students, psychologists, medical providers, and psychiatric technicians.
Jennifer White, Office Manager
white@lithiaforensics.com
Jen joined Lithia as their Office Manager in August of 2021. Jen’s associate’s degree and legal background, combined with her experience supporting executive leadership and working closely with state agencies and public entities, have played an important role in the success of our growing team at Lithia.