Court-context evaluations of psychodynamic orientation, integrating projective methods.
The Regroupement Psychologues Montréal offers forensic psychological assessment services for lawyers, prosecutors, judges and clinicians who are looking for an expert capable of producing rigorous clinical reports in cases where a fine-grained understanding of personality, of psychic organization, and of the dynamics of violent acting out is central. These evaluations are conducted by Prof. Suzanne Léveillée, Ph.D., psychologist, professor in the Department of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, and a recognized researcher in the fields of intrafamilial violence, severe personality disorders, and violent acting out.
Forensic assessment is a clinical act distinct from psychotherapy and from routine clinical evaluation. Its mandate is to answer precise questions posed by a judicial authority — a judge, a lawyer, a prosecutor, or a party to a dispute. Unlike routine clinical evaluation, which is carried out with a view to the immediate treatment of the person assessed, the expert report usually contains recommendations intended to direct individuals toward appropriate resources. This difference in purpose structures the entire ethical and methodological framework of the work.
Within this framework, several clinical orientations can inform forensic work. Most experts in Quebec rely on cognitive-behavioural or neuropsychological models and use primarily standardized predictive instruments such as the HCR-20, the PCL-R, the VRAG-R or the STATIC-99. These instruments are valuable and their use is generally indispensable.
The expertise offered by Prof. Léveillée belongs to a complementary tradition, and a rarer one in Quebec: that of psychodynamic assessment in a legal context, which integrates these standardized instruments with an in-depth clinical reading of the organization of the personality, of defence mechanisms, of structuring conflicts, and of the internal dynamics associated with acting out. This work of bringing the material into coherence makes it possible to answer the questions of the mandate with a precision that the isolated use of standardized instruments cannot always reach — particularly in cases where the person assessed presents a complex organization (a mental-health disorder, or borderline, narcissistic or antisocial personality disorders/traits).
Risk assessment — the evaluation of the risk of violent reoffending — constitutes the core of the expertise offered. This type of evaluation may be requested in several contexts:
These evaluations articulate recognized actuarial instruments for predicting the risk of violent behaviour (HCR-20, PCL-R, VRAG-R, depending on the mandate) with a psychodynamic clinical reading of dynamic risk factors — notably the quality of contact with reality, the nature of defence mechanisms under stress, the capacity for mentalization, and the organization of aggression.
Prof. Léveillée is one of the recognized Quebec specialists in borderline, narcissistic and antisocial personality disorder, which she has studied clinically and academically for more than two decades, with a significant body of scientific publications. Assessments in this area concern in particular:
The research published by Prof. Léveillée concerns in particular intimate-partner homicide, filicide, familicide and parricide. This scientific expertise translates in practice into the capacity to clinically assess the perpetrators of intrafamilial acting out in all their dynamic complexity — beyond descriptive classifications. This competence can be drawn upon in cases where:
For clinicians — psychologists, psychiatrists, treatment teams — faced with a complex case requiring an in-depth assessment or a second opinion, the RPM offers the possibility of referring the case to Prof. Léveillée. These clinical assessments may concern:
In order to preserve the quality and coherence of the work offered, Prof. Léveillée does not accept mandates in certain areas, notably parenting-capacity assessments in the context of child custody. If a case requires this type of evaluation, we can refer to colleagues who specialize in this field.
What concretely distinguishes the forensic assessments offered by Prof. Léveillée is the systematic integration of projective methods — foremost among them the Rorschach test according to the integrated system, a scientifically recognized scoring and interpretation system. Prof. Léveillée has taught graduate-level courses on projective methods (including the Rorschach test) at UQTR for more than 20 years, and is one of the recognized specialists in this area in Quebec.
The contribution of the Rorschach test in a forensic context is valuable. Where the clinical interview gives access to what the person assessed can consciously verbalize about their functioning, and where standardized questionnaires measure what they accept to acknowledge or to put into words, the Rorschach test gives access to dimensions of psychic functioning that escape self-report: the quality of contact with reality, the nature of defensive processes, the richness or poverty of fantasy life, the organization of affect, the capacity for symbolization. These dimensions are often critical to answering the precise questions of an expert mandate — particularly when the person assessed has reasons to want to present a constructed image of themselves.
The use of the Rorschach and of other projective methods is never isolated. It is always integrated into a broader apparatus including an in-depth semi-structured clinical interview, standardized instruments relevant to the mandate, analysis of available documents, and — when possible and useful — collateral interviews with family members or service providers.
Beyond private practice, Prof. Léveillée teaches most of the forensic psychology courses at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, among them Severe Personality Disorders and Violent Behaviour, Violence and Mental Disorders / Psychotic Disorders, and Women and Violence. These courses are part of the doctoral program in psychology as well as a short program in forensic psychology offered exclusively within this university.
All evaluations are conducted in strict compliance with the Code of Ethics of Psychologists of Quebec and with the provisions of the Professional Code concerning expert assessment. This entails in particular:
Prof. Suzanne Léveillée, Ph.D. is a psychologist (OPQ no. 04667-87) and a professor in the Department of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières since 1994. She completed all of her university training at the Université de Montréal — Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate (Ph.D.) in psychology.
For more than two decades her research has focused on violent acting out in a family context (intimate-partner homicide, filicide, familicide, parricide), severe personality disorders, psychoanalytic intervention and projective methods. She has published in several national and international scientific journals, including the Journal of Family Violence, the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, the Annales médico-psychologiques and Évolution psychiatrique. She has developed research and teaching collaborations with Université Paris X Nanterre, the Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, the University of Algiers and Université Lyon 2, among others.
The complete and up-to-date inventory of her publications is available on her UQTR institutional page. Beyond her academic career, Prof. Léveillée maintains a private clinical practice and offers forensic psychological assessment services at the Regroupement Psychologues Montréal, at the Atwater office.
To submit a case:
Fees: an hourly rate in accordance with the standards in force for a senior-level expert, with a detailed quote provided at the time the mandate is accepted. Costs include clinical interview time, administration and scoring of instruments, analysis of the documents provided, and writing of the report.
Court appearance and testimony: possible subject to availability, at a specific hourly rate for this type of service.
Language of reports: French.
To get in touch — to submit a case or discuss the relevance of a mandate before formal submission:
Contact us to discuss the relevance of a mandate before formal submission.
Find answers to common questions from lawyers, judges and clinicians.
Academic background, publications, areas of teaching and research, and private clinical practice. (Profile currently available in French.)
The theoretical and clinical framework that also informs the forensic assessments offered at the clinic.
Our practice location in Montreal, where in-person assessments are conducted.
Complete and up-to-date inventory of publications, teaching and research activities.