Lisa Warren

Lisa is a renowned threat management expert with practice endorsements in clinical and forensic psychology. She is the Clinical Director of Code Black Psychology and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Monash University School of Psychiatry. She specialises in the areas of complex diagnostics and examining patterns of persistent, harmful behaviours. Her cases include prolonged stalking, family violence and coercive control, habitual offending, and persons who have exhausted service systems. Lisa has a special interest in professional ethics, chairing the Ethics Committee of the Australian Psychological Society for two years. During this time, she advocated for the importance of recognising ethical dilemmas and formal complaints as opportunities for both individual and sector-wide growth.

As both a clinical and forensic psychologist, Lisa actively works at the intersection of psychology and the law. Her research in the field of threats to kill is internationally acclaimed, and she regularly provides lecturers and keynote addresses throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Europe.

Most recently, Lisa has expanded her research into the association between homicide and suicide, including the complex interconnection between risk to others and risk to self. Lisa was the Founding Manager of the Problem Behaviour Program at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare), the Founding President of the Asia Pacific Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (APATAP) and was a member of the inaugural senior editorial board of Journal of Threat Assessment and Management.

Lisa’s work has consistently challenged conventional myths and assumptions around the impacts of offending and what they mean for individuals and organisations. Since the inception of her professional career, she has advocated for the importance of understanding victim/survivor experiences as logical outcomes of extraordinary events to support the prevention of victim blaming. This work covers issues of family violence and coercive control, with an emphasis on patterns of concerning and problem behaviour, particularly when victim/survivors are repeatedly targeted.

Lisa held the role of Chair of Ethics for the Australian Psychological Society for two years. During this time, she advocated the importance of recognising ethical dilemmas and formal complaints as opportunities for both individual and sector-wide growth.  To this end, Lisa continues to support initiatives that encourage the psychology profession to lead by example and offer best practice peer support and training in the field of ethics.

Lisa provides psychological assessments and organisational consultations in the areas of violence risk, threat assessments, and fixated persons who persistently target those around them. Her cases include prolonged stalking, family violence and coercive control, and functional analyses of persistent harms. 

Lisa also provides diagnostic assessments in cases of mulitple and complex needs. She works particualrly offenders who have exhausted referral options but continue to cause harm to themselves and those around them. 

Lisa also consults to large organisations on psychosocial hazards in the workplace where standard practices have produced mininal or time limtied effects. This includes cases of persistent and unreasonable complaints, stalking by disgruntled ex-employees, and cabal leadership or politics.