Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D. LMFT

Based inSherman Oaks, California

Main fieldMedical and nursing

Areas of expertise8 listed

About Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D. LMFT

Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D. LMFT is an internationally recognized expert on the assessment and treatment of perinatal mood disorders. She is a nationally known forensic expert in women's reproductive mental health and is available for both prosecution and defense on criminal cases involving postpartum psychosis, infanticide, pregnancy denial, neonaticide and child abuse.

Services

Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D LMFT offers the following services: expert testimony, legal case consultation, document review, perinatal mood disorders assessment, psychotherapy, professional training and seminars, presentations for educational and public health events.

As the legal community becomes increasingly aware of the impact of a postpartum mood disorder on a new mother’s state of mind with respect to her infant, the question of when to utilize the expertise of a woman’s reproductive mental health specialist becomes particularly salient. There are a wide range of perinatal mood illnesses (those disorders relating to the period surrounding pregnancy and childbirth) that can affect a woman’s behavior in relation to her baby.

Although postpartum psychosis, in which there is a dramatic break with reality, is the illness most closely associated with infanticide, severe maternal depression carries with it a high risk of impaired judgment, distortions in thinking, and emotional detachment that increases the potential for child neglect and abuse that can have criminal implications.

Clinical assessment of a mood disorder around child-bearing is complex because of the number of different ways in which these illnesses can present themselves with respect to symptoms.

Sometimes, as was the case with Andrea Yates, all of the children are put at risk by the harsh changes in mental health that occur with the birth of the last child; in other situations, only one of the children is targeted, and not necessarily the newborn, as in the case of a woman with psychosis who took the life of her middle child, a 2-year-old with special needs. However, it is the birth of the last child that becomes "the straw that broke the camel’s back," particularly when a woman’s health and even her sanity, has been repeatedly compromised by previous pregnancies and untreated depression.

The appointment of an expert specifically trained in woman’s reproductive mental health is essential when fitting together the relevant pieces of a woman’s reproductive and mental health history in order to determine whether there are any connections between her state of mind and the events surrounding the harm to her child. A clinician knowledgeable in the diagnosis and assessment of postpartum mood disorders is in the best position to ascertain whether the circumstances surrounding a particular case were driven by symptoms that would indicate a postpartum depression or psychosis.

Litigation Support Services

Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D LMFT, performs legal case review and consultation where perinatal mental health may be an issue. Also, she offers expert testimony as a nationally known forensic expert on postpartum psychosis, infanticide, neonaticide, and pregnancy denial.

Areas of Expertise

Infanticide
Mental Health
Mood Disorders

Neonaticide
Perinatal Mood Disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Postpartum Depression
Postpartum Psychosis

Additional Expertise:

Pregnancy Denial

Profile

Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D. LMFT is a frequently interviewed consultant to the media as well as an international trainer and presenter on all facets of perinatal depression.

Dr. Barnes is the past president of Postpartum Support International (2002-2004) and currently sits on the President's Advisory Council for that organization. She also sits on the Los Angeles County Perinatal Mental Health Task Force as a member of their training faculty and the California Maternal Mental Health Collaborative. Diana Lynn Barnes, Psy.D has testified in Sacramento, California on legislation pertaining to perinatal depression and participated on the appeal process which led to the second trial of Andrea Yates. She has written and spoken extensively on women's reproductive mental health in the legal arena.

Diana Lynn Barnes maintains a private practice in the greater Los Angeles area specializing in women's reproductive mental health across the life cycle, disrupted attachment, pregnancy loss, and trauma.

Consulting Practice

Dr. Barnes accepts cases in all of the States and has been retained on state and federal cases including the following jurisdictions: Miami County, Florida; Milwaukee; Tulare County, California; Los Angeles County, Oakland County, Michigan; Dallas/Fort Worth.