Sarah Fishel, JD, PhD

Dr. Fishel is a Forensic Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow with ILPPP, within the UVA School of Medicine, and Western State Hospital. She is licensed as an attorney in Virginia (associate status) and is currently pursuing licensure as a clinical psychologist.

Prior to her fellowship with UVA, she completed her graduate training at Drexel University in their JD/PhD program. There, her clinical work included forensic evaluations (competency, juvenile waiver, mental state at the time of the offense) and therapeutic work with the Drexel Reentry Project, serving individuals reentering society from prison. She has worked with individuals in outpatient clinics, psychiatric hospitals, community centers, children’s residential behavioral health facilities, county jails, state prisons, and federal prisons. Dr. Fishel recently completed her predoctoral internship with the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine/Federal Bureau of Prisons joint program.

Research interests:

  • Initiation and cessation of delinquency and criminal legal involvement across the lifespan

  • Identifying and understanding “bias” and “noise” in the legal processes

  • Legal and psychological reforms across the sequential intercept model

Clinical interests:

  • Forensic evaluations (CST, MSO, sentencing, violence risk assessment)

  • Reentry services for formerly incarcerated individuals

  • Evidence-based treatments for trauma and trauma-informed care

Select Publications

Shah, S. & Fishel, S. (2023). Legal issues in working with trainees with problems of professional competence. In R. Schwartz-Mette, E. Hunter, & N. Kaslow (Eds.), Supporting trainees with competence problems: A practical guide for psychology trainers (pp. 171-191). Cambridge University Press.

DeMatteo, D., Fishel, S., Wiltsie, K., & Tansey, A. (2023). Legal and ethical issues in mental health assessment and treatment in jails. In V. Barber Rioja, A. Garcia-Mansilla, B. Subedi, & A. Batastini (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of mental health assessment and treatment in jails (pp. 272-288). Oxford University Press.

Fishel, S. (2023). How solid is the foundation? Assessing jurors’ pre-trial application of the presumption of innocence [Unpublished dissertation]. Drexel University.

Flack, D., Fishel, S., Wiltsie, K., Kudatzky, A., & DeMatteo, D. (2022). Following up after Moore & Hall: A national survey of state legislation defining intellectual disability. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 28(4), 459-478.

Fishel, S., Wiltsie, K., & DeMatteo, D. (2022). Certainly uncertain: Facilitating law school professional growth and well-being through supervision in light of COVID-19. Journal of Legal Education, 70(2), 331-347.

See more of Dr. Fishel’s publications by downloading her CV.