Sarah DeMarco, Psy.D.
Owner and Founder
Licensed Psychologist in CA (#35082), NJ (#5618), NY (#021383)
Clinical Forensic Psychologist, Expert Witness, Therapist
EDUCATION:
Psy.D. (Doctorate of Psychology) in Clinical Psychology from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2014
M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2011 (en route to doctorate)
M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York) in 2009
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE:
FORENSIC: Dr. DeMarco has over a decade of experience in forensic mental health assessment and treatment and has been qualified as an expert on dozens of cases, in various districts, in multiple states. Her specialized training and professional experience has focused largely on forensic mental health assessments (FMHA) that address various psycho-legal issues in both criminal and civil matters. Of particular note, Dr. DeMarco has a conducted hundreds of violence and sexual violence risk assessments with both adult and juvenile offenders. Further, she has niche expertise in the evaluation of firearm-specific risk - See Firearm Evaluations Page.
She has worked in various forensic and correctional settings at the state and county levels - including an inpatient forensic hospital in a major metropolitan area, two state prisons, a juvenile detention center, inpatient psychiatric and substance use rehabilitation, community mental health, court diversion programming, and has supervised other professionals.
She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Rutgers University in Newark, NJ - University Correctional Health Care, Forensic Track - an APA Accredited internship.
Dr. DeMarco provides expert witness testimony in forensic cases as well as consultation with attorneys, institutions, agencies, and other clinicians.
THERAPY: Dr. DeMarco is currently seeing a small number of clients for therapy on an outpatient basis for those struggling with chronic pain. She has received the highest level of training (‘mastery’) in Pain Reprocessing Therapy from the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center in Los Angeles. See Chronic Pain Therapy page.
TEACHING, TRAINING, AND SUPERVISORY ROLES
Dr. DeMarco has served as an Adjunct Professor in the Forensic Psychology/Forensic Mental Health Counseling graduate program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice since 2016. She has taught various graduate courses, including Intro to Forensic Mental Health Counseling, Intro to Assessment, Clinical Interview, and Psychopathology. She also provides mentorship and supervision to graduate level teaching assistants and has served as a thesis committee member. She also was previously designated Adjunct Faculty for the doctoral internship program at Rutgers University in NJ where she served as an examiner for the interns’ Case Competency Examinations.
RECENT RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
Dr. DeMarco co-published the chapter “The significance of psychological trauma and brain injury in the treatment and evaluation of sex offenders” in the book “Trauma in Forensic Contexts” published by Springer. She also recently co-authored a handbook with Dr. Pirelli titled “Guns and clinical practice: A handbook for medical and mental health professionals. What to know, ask, and do when firearm-related issues arise,” which was published by Oxford University Press.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Dr. DeMarco has long been an active member of the professional community. She has served as an executive committee member for the New York Psychological Association’s Forensic Division for numerous years, as well as a member of the New Jersey Psychological Association’s Committee on Legislative Affairs (COLA). She is currently a member of the Forensic Mental Health Association of California.