About

Alberto (Avi) Yohananoff specializes in forensic assessments in a variety of litigation categories including
civil/family law (child custody, child protective proceedings, termination of parental rights, juvenile
delinquency), Hague convention matters, which are designed to address the jurisdiction in international
abduction cases, and criminal matters (sentence mitigation, competency matters). Dr. Yohananoff’s
primary emphasis is in child custody matters. Dr. Yohananoff teaches and lectures on topical issues in
forensic psychology and in child custody matters.

Speaking engagements have included presentations at the New York County Lawyers’
Association, at the 50th Anniversary AFCC (Association of Family Court and Conciliation) conference in Los Angeles, at the 55th AFCC conference in Washington DC at the 13th Child Custody Symposium in Denver, CO, the 56th AFCC Conference in Toronto, Canada and the 60th AFCC Conference in Los Angeles.

Dr. Yohananoff has been an invited guest speaker at the Summer Judicial Institute in 2018.
Dr. Yohananoff has taught forensic psychology to graduate students at the City College of New York and
teaches the child custody module at the S.t John’s Postdoctoral Program. He has published in the Journal of Forensic Practice (2015) and most recently in Family Court Review (2023). He co-authored an article with attorney Martin Friedlander on the role of religion in child custody disputes in the New York Law Journal (January 11, 2018).

Following his involvement in Hague related work, Dr. Yohananoff co-authored with
attorney Richard Min two recent articles (2020) for the New York Law Journal giving an overview of the
Hague Convention Treaty and the role of mental health professionals in Hague disputes and most recently in Family Court Review (2023).

Dr. Yohananoff has reviewed forensic reports of professional peers and has assisted attorneys in the
preparation of cross-examination of expert witnesses. Multi-lingual, he can perform forensic assessments in English, Hebrew and Italian Dr. Yohananoff has provided expert testimony in Federal, Family and Supreme Court in the New York metropolitan area as well as in Nassau and Westchester counties. He has been affiliated with the Faculty of NewYork Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Medical College of Cornell University and serves on the voluntary faculty of Northwell Health.

Dr. Yohananoff is appointed to the Mental Health Professional Panel, First and Second Judicial Department in the State of New York. Dr. Yohananoff is a member of the Interdisciplinary Forum for Mental Health and Family Law. He is also a member of AFCC and has been board member of the New York State Chapter of the AFCC and editor-in-chief of its newsletter (2013-2021). Dr. Yohananoff is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development and has been a member of the Book Award Committee of the American-Psychology Law Society.

Dr. Yohananoff is a member of the Mental Health Professionals Certification Committee. In this capacity Dr. Yohananoff is involved in reviewing credentials and qualifications of candidates for the Mental Health
Professional Panel to ensure the courts’ ability to draw expert assistance in litigated custody and visitation matters.  In addition to his private practice, Dr. Yohananoff has experience as a program administrator and previously served as the Coordinator of the Forensic Program at North Shore University Hospital. He has previously worked as Senior Psychologist in Family Court.

Dr. Yohananoff obtained his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University and completed his
internship at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Yohananoff completed post-doctoral training at the Yale Institute of Psychiatry and at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.