CHRISTIAN JORDAL, Ph.D., LMFT, CST
Consultant to Attorneys and Serving as an Expert Witness
Regarding Injuries and Legal Factors Related to
Families, Relationships and Individuals
Additional Subject Matter Expert about
Transgender Health
Sexuality
Sexual Behavior
628 S. Broad Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19146
(484) 429-6079
What Attorneys Need to Know About Dr. Jordal
Dr. Jordal’s more than 15 year career teaching, educating and public service to the State of Pennsylvania side-by-side with a private practice of therapy to couples and families.
His achievements include an impressive body of publications and acknowledgment as a leader in his field.
Dr. Jordal’s publications address research in the field of Marriage and Family Therapy and address non-traditional families, sexual-orientation, transgender transition.
Dr. Jordal serves on various MFT accreditation Boards and Oversight Committees. He is Interim Chair of the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy at Drexel University.
Please review his CV where his accomplishments are provided in greater detail.
Attorneys consult with
Dr. Jordal about cases with these concerns:
Sexual Behavior that is not well-understood by a jury or attorneys.
Discrimination (sexual, sexual orientation, transgender)
Criminal domestic abuse or sexual assault.
Coping mechanisms, functional and dysfunctional.
Behavior that appears to be sexual but isn’t, or doesn’t appear to be sexual, but is.
Damages address a family that is suffering
Family Disputes in Family Court or Divorce Mediation
Impact on Sexuality of experiences including related to adjudicated events.
Impact of Sexuality on behavior relevant to litigated matters.
When family, sex or relationship controversies end up in court, expert testimony and knowledgeable testimony require the appropriate expert witness.
Keeping up with a Family’s Every Day Life After an Accident:
Evaluating the emotional cost
- Keep the house clean, prepare meals, chores like yardwork, laundry, household repairs. Can you imagine life without help with these tasks?
- Ferry children to school, sports, tutoring, ballet classes, doctors, dentists, and the like.
- Care for aging parents.
- Manage life’s bureaucracy — paperwork that comes from life as we know it: mortgage refinances, credit cards, health insurance snafus, bills, investing.
Sometimes these responsibilities are split up, sometimes it falls on one partner.
What if the injured person cannot carry their weight?
Keeping up
emotionally
with self and loved ones: Assessing Damages
- Hugs, affection, expressing feelings of love to spouses, partners and children. This cannot be understated.
- Expressing loving emotions keeps people together and committed to the well-being of the family or couple unit.
- Psychological conditions can hamper a person’s ability to express loving emotions
- Sexual contentment, which also reinforces motivation to stay in the family and hold up responsibilities.
- Manage one or more family illness and medical treatment.
Family & Couples: PERSONAL INJURY LAW
The modern family navigates a complex life, juggling everyone’s contribution to keep the balls in the air.
When someone is injured, the balls can crash to the ground.
Evaluating the impact of an injury on a family, especially the injured party’s spouse or partner, benefits from assessment by an expert in couple and family interactions who can explain if damages exist.
What do family members contribute to one another? What is the value of loss? Dr. Jordal assists attorneys to identify and quantify the severity of losses. Evaluating the opinions of another expert is also evaluated by Dr. Jordal when experts are not in agreement or there is a potential for malingering.
FAMILY LAW
Dr. Jordal’s expertise addresses the most common conflicts in a divorce or child custody dispute.
Separation of joined lives between gay or unmarried couples can be equally difficult, though applicable laws vary state to state.
The Flip Side of “Functional”
Understanding couple and family dysfunction becomes crucial in navigating the legal landscape of:
- Divorce
- Child custody disputes
- Emotional responses to financial havoc, separating intertwined money, income and debt.
- Anger, resentment, jealousy over infidelity or betrayal, real or imagined can produce behavior that can be scary, irritating or even criminal (e.g., stalking, assault).
SEXUAL FACTORS IN DISCRIMINATION OR HARRASMENT
As a Certified Sex Therapist, Dr. Jordal is uniquely qualified to address sexual behavior that may impact:
- Sexual Harassment
- Sexual Assault
- Impulse Disorders
- Conditions that impact judgment or interpretation of social cues
- Discrimination based on sexuality
- Discrimination based on gender identity and transgendered people. Dr. Jordal is Certified by Widener University in Transgender Mental Health Care, one of the only such programs in the US. Advanced Training Certificate in Affirmative Therapy for Transgender Communities.
In light of the June 15, 2020 SCOTUS ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Title VII cases make it more important than ever for Courts, and Plaintiff and Defense attorneys, to turn to qualified consultants and experts, like Dr. Jordal, to assess transgender mental health status and the emotional impact of alleged discrimination.
