Trauma & Mental Health Expert Witness | LCSW

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Attorneys retaining Bahar (Summer) Yaghoubian, LCSW, gain a clinical social worker with over 18 years of post-license clinical experience, multidisciplinary team background in adult mental health, and specialized training in expert witness practice and psychological evaluation for legal proceedings. She is available for in-person engagements in California and for testimony nationwide. Bahar Yaghoubian, LCSW (California BBS #27960), earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California in 2008. She is available as an expert witness in cases involving mental health professional standard of care, psychological injury, trauma-related claims, and related issues in adult populations. She has practiced clinically since 2006, beginning with MSW internships at the Multipurpose Senior Services Program and the USC Center for Work & Family Life. From 2008 to 2012 she served older adults, first at Forever Young Adult Day Health Care and then as a Clinical Social Worker with Jewish Family Services in the Field Capable Clinical Services Program, a community mental health program funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. From May 2012 to May 2021 she worked at Kaiser Permanente Behavioral Health, beginning as a Case Manager, then serving five years on an intensive outpatient program team alongside psychiatrists, nurses, and therapists, and concluding as a Psychiatric Social Worker at Woodland Hills with a primary clinical focus on trauma treatment from 2018 to 2021. Her caseload included adults presenting with PTSD, depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, domestic violence, sexual assault, drug-facilitated assault, and suicidality. She has maintained a private practice, Calm Body and Mind, since May 2012, which became her primary clinical setting following her departure from Kaiser in 2021. She teaches licensed therapists evidence-based trauma treatment at the Trauma Resource Institute. She has served as a guest lecturer at Kaiser Permanente on EMDR for PTSD, the Trauma Resiliency Model, and pain management, and has presented for Jewish Family Services and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. She holds specialized training in psychological evaluations for legal proceedings through SEAK, Inc. and RealHope (Marc Sadoff). Her clinical trauma training includes EMDR Basic Training with the Parnell Institute, Attachment-Focused EMDR, the Flash Technique (Philip Manfield), and Trauma Resiliency Model Levels 1 and 2. She maintains ongoing professional development in forensic-relevant topics through NASW-CA and Zur Institute, including recurring continuing education in suicide risk assessment and intervention, ethics and multiple relationships in psychotherapy, intimate partner violence, and telehealth law and ethics. She is bilingual in English and Farsi. She serves plaintiff and defense counsel in adult cases only. Retainer: $2,500 (10 hours at $250/hour)