Forensic psychology is the application of psychological evaluation and clinical skills to solve problems that arise in legal contexts. These may include assessments of the individual’s competence to take part in legal proceedings, mental status at the time of committing a crime, propensity to violence, malingering, and other problems that are presented to forensic psychologists by the court, lawyers, organizations, or regulatory agencies. Forensic psychologists may need to review the individual’s medical and legal files, administer psychological tests, conduct interviews, and communicate their findings in writing or verbally. Benjamin J. Silber developed his career across several of these settings, with a practice centered on forensic assessment and related clinical evaluations.
Silber’s formal education began at Pacific Union College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology in 2008. He then attended Loma Linda University, receiving a Master of Arts in psychology in 2010 and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 2014. His master’s research examined the validity of self-reported physical activity using data from the Adventist Health Study-2. His graduate work also included a large longitudinal research project involving approximately 100,000 participants and more than 1,000 variables, according to an interview about his professional development. He trained in clinical psychology rather than a degree specifically titled forensic psychology. He later specialized in forensic work through clinical placements, correctional training, and postdoctoral education.
During his training, Silber worked in settings involving psychological assessment and serious mental illness. He received specialized training at Patton State Hospital in California. He completed a predoctoral internship at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina. He subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology associated with the Arkansas State Hospital and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. An Arkansas State Hospital psychology faculty document lists his degrees. It describes his work in criminal responsibility, fitness to proceed, restorability, culpable mental state, police pre-employment evaluations, and violence risk. The document also identifies professional interests in malingering, hallucinations, and questions concerning the credibility of expert witnesses.
In 2015, Silber joined the Arkansas State Hospital as a forensic psychologist and also served as an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. His work involved court-ordered psychological evaluations and testimony concerning defendants’ mental functioning. The evaluations covered fitness to proceed, criminal responsibility, restorability, culpable mental state, malingering, and violence risk. Court records show that his evaluations were used in Arkansas proceedings involving both adults and juveniles. In A.M. v. State, for example, a report prepared by Silber addressed a juvenile’s fitness to proceed and identified developmental and psychological factors considered in the evaluation. He worked in the state hospital for approximately seven years, ending in 2022.
The Arkansas appellate record provides several examples of the types of questions addressed in Silber’s forensic work. In Hendrix v. State, he conducted a fitness-to-proceed examination and later a criminal responsibility evaluation. The Arkansas Supreme Court record states that he concluded Hendrix was competent to proceed and later concluded that Hendrix could appreciate the criminality of his conduct and conform his conduct to legal requirements. In Marshall v. State, Silber testified about fitness-to-proceed and criminal-responsibility evaluations and opined that Marshall was malingering. The case ultimately concerned the jury’s verdict and sentencing, not a review of Silber’s professional qualifications. These decisions illustrate the distinction between a psychologist’s evaluation and the legal conclusions reached by a court or jury.
Silber also became involved in evaluations concerning competency, mitigation, and mental functioning in other Arkansas proceedings. In Segerstrom v. State, he evaluated Christopher Segerstrom. He reviewed records and psychological testing related to competency and sentencing questions. The Arkansas Supreme Court record describes his diagnosis of schizophrenia and his conclusion that delusions affected Segerstrom’s fitness for sentencing. The record also reflects that he acknowledged a documented history of behavior management on Segerstrom’s part but did not conclude that he was malingering. In Baxter v. State, Silber reviewed police records and an interrogation video and conducted an evaluation approximately nine months after Baxter’s arrest. He testified that psychological symptoms affected Baxter’s responses during questioning. The appellate court considered this testimony alongside the interrogation recording and other evidence.
His court-related work has also included capital and juvenile matters. In Whiteside v. State, Silber testified after reviewing pretrial mental-health records concerning ADHD and borderline intellectual functioning. The Arkansas Supreme Court record also reflects his acknowledgement that the same records contained substantial adverse behavioral information and that it was not possible to know how a jury would weigh the competing evidence. In Merrell v. State, decided by the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2026, Silber served as a psychological examiner and assessed intellectual functioning, developmental and behavioral conditions, criminal responsibility, and possible feigning or exaggeration of symptoms. In Gill v. State in 2026, he evaluated fitness to proceed, criminal responsibility, mitigating circumstances, and possible punishment, concluding that Gill was psychotic at the time of the incident while declining to offer an opinion on criminal responsibility because Gill reported no memory of the event.
Alongside institutional work, Silber established Expert Psychological Evaluations in Little Rock in 2016. The practice conducts criminal and civil forensic evaluations involving juveniles and adults and works with referrals from correctional institutions, state hospitals, treatment facilities, and private offices. Its listed services include competence to stand trial, criminal responsibility, culpable mental state, violence risk, fitness for duty, malingering, personal injury and damages, immigration evaluations, and other competency assessments. Silber also provides consultation and supervision. Professional listings identify him as licensed in Arkansas and Ohio, with PSYPACT credentials, and the American Board of Professional Psychology lists him as board certified in forensic psychology. He is also identified as a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology.
Silber’s professional work later expanded beyond Arkansas. He joined Netcare Access in Columbus, Ohio, in November 2022, where he conducted forensic evaluations and consultations involving competency and mental-state questions. He continued his private practice during this period. Professional sources also identify his involvement in supervision and consultation with other forensic evaluators, including work focused on response style, symptom validity, performance validity, and malingering. He has presented on forensic psychology topics to professional and academic audiences. He has served on the American Board of Forensic Psychology examination faculty. The available professional records also document his work with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
By 2026, Silber’s professional record included forensic assessment in criminal and civil matters, court testimony, consultation, supervision, and board-certified specialization in forensic psychology. His career has included work in state hospitals, correctional training, academic responsibilities, private practice, and professional activity across multiple jurisdictions. The cases in which he has appeared show the range of questions that forensic psychologists may be asked to address, while the court decisions remain responsible for determining the legal consequences of that evidence. Across these settings, the public record places Silber’s work within psychological assessment and its application to legal and institutional questions. Benjamin J. Silber’s career therefore spans clinical psychology training and a subsequent specialization in forensic evaluation and consultation.
