Specialized Training Services - Stephen White, Ph.D.
Dr. Stephen White is a psychologist and the founder and President of Work Trauma Services Inc. His extensive work in organizational trauma reduction led to his specializing, since 1989, in the assessment and management of workplace and campus violence risk. He has consulted on over 4,000 threat cases for numerous Fortune 500 companies, private and public organizations, law firms and their clientele, colleges and universities, and law enforcement and governmental agencies. He has authored or co-authored peer-reviewed publications on stalking, workplace and campus mass murder, violence risk assessment, autism and violence, and workplace trauma management.
Dr. White, in collaboration with Dr. Reid Meloy, developed and published The WAVR-21, an evidence-based professional judgment guide for assessing workplace and campus violence risk, and now in its 3rd edition. He contributed a chapter on workplace violence in The International Handbook of Threat Assessment, published in 2014 by Oxford University Press, and is a Contributing Editor for the Journal of Threat Assessment and Management and Trauma, Violence, and Abuse: A Review Journal. He was among invited experts for both the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime and ASIS International, to develop their first online guidelines for the prevention of workplace violence.
Dr. White is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, where he has co-facilitated professional development groups for medical students. He is a frequent guest lecturer at regional, national, and international forums for security, human resource, and mental health professionals, campus administrators, law enforcement agencies, and employment law attorneys.
Programs Featuring Stephen White, Ph.D.
This presentation will focus on three commonly encountered workplace threat scenarios; the paranoid employee, the romantic triangle and the aggressive and/or disgruntled employee. Strategies to assess and manage these cases, and key intervention decision points will be discussed. The audience will participate in a structured small group exercise to address and respond to real cases. Each scenario will be debriefed by the presenter. The goal will be to demonstrate reliance on empirical information regarding different "perpetrators" in the context of applying careful judgment and necessary multi-disciplinary collaboration, resulting in an improved understanding of risk potential and management of these difficult cases.
Determining risk of violence is paramount to anyone doing threat assessments. Dr. Stephen White, who along with Dr. Reid Meloy co-authored the WAVR-21, will present a one-day training on violence risk and threat assessment in the workplace and on campus using the WAVR-21 (Workplace Assessment of Violence Risk). The centerpiece of this dynamic event will focus on the use of the WAVR-21, a structured professional guide designed for mental health professionals and workplace-based threat management team members in security, education, human resources, law enforcement and mental health. First published in 2007, recognition of the WAVR-21 continues to grow as the go-to assessment tool for workplace threat scenarios. Now in its 3rd edition, the WAVR includes 21 empirically-based criteria for assessing different forms of workplace violence risk, including student violence in college and university settings. Incorporating years of research, the core of the WAVR-21 is the "pathway to violence" approach to cases, as developed by professionals at the US Secret Service and the US Marshals Office. Research has demonstrated good to excellent interrater reliability for summary judgments of violence risk based on the WAVR-21, and validation research continues. In this one-day format the presenter will succinctly describe the scientific and clinical basis for the WAVR risk and protective factors. From there the focus will be on practical use of the WAVR screening and assessment tools – how they are integrated into dynamic threat case management with its demands for flexibility. The workshop will include didactic segments, large and small group interaction, case vignettes, and video presentations. Common workplace threat scenarios will be addressed, including stalking, subjects driven by paranoia and mental illness, domestic violence, bullying, and chronically antisocial individuals.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own copy of the WAVR-21 manual to the workshop. Those who wish to purchase the WAVR-21 in advance can do so at www.specializedtraining.com. The WAVR is currently used by national and international organizations, government agencies and educational institutions.