Philip C. O’Donnell, M.J., Ph.D.

Bio

Philip C. O’Donnell, M.J., Ph.D. received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology (child track) and master’s degree in child and family law from Loyola University Chicago in 2007. He completed his predoctoral internship at the University of California-Davis’ Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation (CAARE) Center, where he received specialized training in forensic child protection evaluations, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).

After completing his doctoral training, he was a staff psychologist in the forensic admissions unit at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California. In 2008, he began advanced postdoctoral training in forensic psychology as part of the ACMGE accredited fellowship at the University of Southern California’s Institute of Psychiatry, Law and Behavioral Sciences. He was a fellow, senior fellow, and adjunct training faculty in this program through 2012. During this time, Dr. O’Donnell also worked on the Jail Mental Health Services team at Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, and was training faculty in USC’s child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship. In his forensic practice, he was paneled with the Superior Court of Los Angeles County specializing in child welfare and juvenile justice evaluations. He also participated in the development of a specialty panel for juvenile competency to stand trial evaluations in Los Angeles County. From 2013 to 2016, he was faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Children’s Hospital Colorado and served as the Clinical Director for their child and adolescent intensive psychiatric services (i.e., inpatient, partial hospitalization) program from 2014 to 2016. In July 2016, Dr. O’Donnell became the Director and Principal Investigator for Northwestern University’s contract to operate the Cook County Juvenile Court Clinic (CCJCC). The CCJCC is the primary provider of forensic mental health evaluations for Cook County’s Juvenile Justice and Child Protection Departments.

In this role, Dr. O’Donnell oversees the operations of the CCJCC, supervises staff psychologists completing forensic psychological evaluations, and participates in the training of psychology and psychiatry students with an interest in the intersection of mental health and the law. He is also a co-principal investigator for active research projects within the CCJCC examining forensic evaluation practices and outcomes in child protection and juvenile fitness to stand trial evaluations. .