Dr. Amanda J. Zintsmaster is a licensed psychologist and the CEO of Critical Care Psychological Specialists, Inc., a private practice in San Juan Capistrano, California, offering comprehensive psychological assessment and psychotherapy services specializing in trauma, sports psychology, first responder populations, and executive therapy. Since 2015, she has held medical staff privileges at a large Orange County hospital, where she performs psychological evaluations in an Emergency Department setting. Since 2023, she has also served as the Director of the Incompetent to Stand Trial Forensic Unit at Anaheim Community Hospital, overseeing a 50-bed program contracted with the California Department of State Hospitals. In this role, she administers competency, neuropsychological, and malingering assessments and trains clinical staff in the implementation of structured competency restoration groups for forensic defendants.

Dr. Zintsmaster earned her Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology with a subspecialization in Forensic Psychology from Azusa Pacific University in 2012, completing a dissertation on the Effects of Coached Malingering on Competency to Stand Trial Evaluations Using the ECST-R. She holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of San Francisco (2008), a Post-Doctoral Master of Science in Psychopharmacology from Fairleigh Dickinson University (2022), and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from the University of California, Davis (2005).

Her postdoctoral and clinical training includes an APA-accredited internship at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections; multiple practicums at the University of California, Irvine, and Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center; and a postdoctoral residency at Pacific Forensic Psychology Associates, Inc. She has extensive experience in forensic, hospital, and outpatient settings, including emergency psychiatry, behavioral health PHP/IOP programs, bariatric psychological evaluations, and medication-assisted treatment programs.

Dr. Zintsmaster holds active licensure in California and previously held licensure in New Mexico. She is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) and has published and presented research on trauma, forensic populations, and female offenders. She is affiliated with professional organizations including the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, and the International Association of Trauma Professionals. With a clinical philosophy emphasizing evidence-based care, interdisciplinary collaboration, and competency restoration, Dr. Zintsmaster is dedicated to improving psychological outcomes for individuals, hospital patients, and forensic populations.