Bilingual English/Spanish Forensic Psychotherapist
Providing Immigration Evaluations, Trauma Assessments, Expert Witness Services, and Psycho‑legal Reports in California.
EXPERIENCED
Practicing since 2003, with extensive experience in forensic and clinical settings, including trial testimony, deposition testimony, and evaluations conducted in detention and correctional facilities.
CLIENT-FOCUSED
Evaluations are conducted with attention to both clinical thoroughness and efficient turnaround to meet the needs of referral sources and legal proceedings.
TYPES OF EVALUATIONS
VAWA (Violence Against Women Act)
Supports abused spouses, children, and parents of U.S. Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents. Documents emotional abuse, coercive control, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, trauma bonding, and psychological impact of domestic violence.
U Visa
Supports victims of qualifying crimes who have assisted law enforcement. Documents PTSD, anxiety, depression, panic, trauma symptoms, functional impairment, and fear/safety concerns. Qualifying crimes include domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, felonious assault, stalking, and workplace crimes.
T Visa
Supports survivors of human trafficking. Documents complex trauma, dissociation, coercion, captivity dynamics, exploitation‑related PTSD, depression/anxiety, and fear of retaliation.
Asylum & Refugee
Supports individuals fearing persecution in their home country due to trauma history, torture, political persecution, religious persecution, LGBTQ persecution, war trauma, displacement trauma, cartel/gang violence, and state violence.
Convention Against Torture (CAT)
Supports individuals seeking protection based on risk of torture if returned. Documents torture‑related trauma history, current symptoms, and functional impairment relevant to CAT criteria.
Hardship Waiver (I601 / I601-A)
Supports U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouses and children experiencing “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” due to disability, medical and/or mental health dependence, educational disruption, and trauma consequences of deportation.
Removal Defense for Franco class members
Evaluations support complex immigration and removal defense cases for clients experiencing impairments in communication, reasoning, memory, general functioning competency, serious mental illness, ability to understand proceedings, ability to communicate with counsel, reality testing, cognitive functioning, psychosis, intellectual limitations, and psychiatric instability.
Evaluations assess the psychological effects of alleged hostile, inappropriate, or discriminatory work environments, including emotional distress, psychological injury, functional impairment, occupational impact, and the relationship between alleged workplace experiences and reported symptoms.
Evaluations assess emotional distress, psychological symptoms, and functional impairment associated with alleged injuries or traumatic events experienced.
Evaluations assess psychological, historical, and behavioral factors relevant to future offending risk and are interpreted within the context of the individual’s history, dynamic risk factors, protective factors, and available collateral information.
PTSD assessments evaluate trauma‑related symptoms, diagnosis, and functional impairment following exposure to traumatic events. Evaluations include clinical interview, records review, and psychological testing when appropriate to clarify diagnosis and severity.
Practice is informed by extensive disaster mental health experience with the American Red Cross since 2005, along with specialized training through the National Center for PTSD in Palo Alto, California and Physicians for Human Rights through the USC Keck School of Medicine.
SERVICES
Services are tailored to the scope, timeline, and needs of each referral.
Evaluations
Evaluations are conducted via tele‑conference and require 90 to 120 minutes to complete. Evaluations are also conducted with fluency in Spanish, which is the clinician’s first language, allowing for direct assessment and communication with Spanish‑speaking individuals without reliance on interpretation.
Reports
Reports average approximately 20 pages and are structured to be comprehensive, defensible, and clearly articulated for use in legal proceedings, with findings presented in a manner accessible to attorneys, courts, and referral sources.
Collaboration with Attorneys
Services include close collaboration with attorneys to clarify referral questions, support case strategy through objective clinical findings, and provide clear, well‑reasoned written and oral opinions suitable for legal proceedings.
Expert Witness/Testimony Services
Expert witness services include objective clinical consultation and testimony regarding psychological, relational, and behavioral factors in personal injury and workplace matters. With over 20 years of clinical experience, services include comprehensive case and records review, clinical formulation, preparation of written reports when appropriate, and expert testimony in legal proceedings within the scope of LMFT practice.
PRICING
Fees are clear and transparent. Services are tailored to the scope, timeline, and needs of each referral.
Mental Health Evaluation and Report with Standard turnaround (6 business days): $1,400 total
Total includes the evaluation and report. $100 deposit to schedule; remaining $1,300 due before report delivery.
Mental Health Evaluation and Report with Rush turnaround (3 business days): $1,800 total
Total includes the evaluation and report. $100 deposit to schedule; remaining $1,700 due before report delivery.
Individual psychotherapy (50 minutes): $225 per session
Standard psychotherapy session.
Reports are delivered upon full payment.
Payment plans are available. Discounted rates may be available.
Please call for additional professional services and corresponding fees not noted here.
ABOUT
Alfonso Sanchez, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). He has provided mental health and forensic evaluation services since 2003, with extensive experience in clinical, medical, community mental health, and legal settings. As Founder and CEO of Alfonso Sanchez LMFT & Associates, he provides bilingual (English/Spanish) forensic evaluations, consultation, psychotherapy, and expert witness services throughout California.
His forensic practice focuses on immigration-related cases, personal injury, workplace matters, trauma, abuse, criminal cases, and psychological injury assessments. Services include mental health evaluations, forensic reports, individual psychotherapy, psychological testing, and expert testimony grounded in objective, evidence-based clinical assessment.
Mr. Sanchez has experience working in courtroom, deposition, correctional, and community-based settings, and previously served in clinical roles with Kaiser Permanente and multidisciplinary behavioral health programs across Southern California.
His postgraduate professional training includes programs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Center for PTSD, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), and the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine. He also holds certification in Disaster Mental Health through the American Red Cross, where he has served since 2005, among other specialized credentials.