Publications

• Autism Spectrum Disorder Neurophenotype with Preconceptional and Prenatal Alcohol Exposure – A Call for Industry Responsibility in Prevention
• Trauma Informed Farm Animal Assisted Neurotherapy and Green Care Farming for Neurodiverse Conditions
• Clinical Implications of a Link Between Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism or Asperger’s Disorder – A Neurodevelopmental Frame for Helping Understanding and Management

Award Winning Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Dr. Susan D. Rich is Distinguished Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association and double board certified in child/adolescent and adult psychiatry. Dr. Rich has served as an expert in a number of medical malpractice cases involving the death of a parent on behalf of the orphaned children, children involved in childhood trauma from a caregiver, and catastrophic trauma during a motor vehicle accident, as well as women involved in on-the-job sexual grooming and subsequent sexual trauma from a supervisor. From 1994 to 2016, Dr. Rich served as an expert in 8 capital habeas cases involving individuals with prenatal exposure to alcohol. These individuals received favorable outcomes (either in pre-trial hearings that eliminated the possibility of the death penalty or appeals successfully reversing the death penalty). Dr. Rich has been in private practice in a home office since March 2006. She has been named among the Top Doctors of the DC Metro Area by Washingtonian Magazine, the 2016 and 2017 Face of Child and Adolescent Therapy and 2018 Face of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; one of Maryland's Best Physicians and most compassionate doctors by the Consumer Research Council of America, and 2015 Citizen of the Year by the Potomac Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Rich has written a number of peer reviewed articles, given several national and international talks and grand rounds at major teaching hospitals on prenatal alcohol exposure, autism spectrum and trauma-informed farm animal-assisted therapy. She has also written a book on the topic of prenatal alcohol exposure (The Silent Epidemic: A Child Psychiatrist's Journey beyond Death Row; www.prenatalalcoholexposure.com). Dr. Rich founded a nonprofit, 7th Generation Foundation, Inc., in June 2014 and a green care farm animal sanctuary, Dream Catcher Meadows in May 2016. She holds medical licenses in the states of Maryland and Virginia and lives in Potomac, MD.