Dr. Bethany Lauren Hughes is a board-certified psychiatrist and forensic psychiatrist. She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) in Psychiatry (2019–present; Certificate #75837; renewal date December 31, 2027) and in Forensic Psychiatry (2021–present; Certificate #2646; renewal date December 31, 2027). She holds an active California medical license (A161738; 2019–present; expiration April 30, 2027) and an active Texas medical license (S2346; 2019–present; expiration August 31, 2026). Dr. Hughes is also certified in BLS and ACLS through the American Heart Association (2013–present; expiration 2027).

Dr. Hughes founded Premier Forensic Psychiatry, PLLC in Fort Worth, Texas, where she has been in private practice since 2024. From 2020 to 2025, she served as Medical Director at North Texas State Hospital. In academic roles, she has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern since 2021, and a Faculty Member in the Department of State Health Services Preventive Medicine and Public Health Residency Program in Austin, Texas since 2021.

She completed a Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California (July 2019–June 2020) after completing General Psychiatry Residency training at John Peter Smith Health Network in Fort Worth, Texas (July 2015–June 2019). Dr. Hughes earned her medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, Kentucky (August 2010–May 2014). She completed her undergraduate education at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky (August 2005–May 2009), earning a Bachelor of Arts with a major in German and minors in Philosophy and Chemistry.

Dr. Hughes has delivered invited lectures and grand rounds presentations on forensic topics including violence risk assessment, competency to stand trial, malingering, and ethics in psychiatry. Her publications include articles in the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Newsletter (2018 and 2020). She has contributed to research and quality improvement work, including projects evaluating jail-based competency treatment programs (2019–2022), and she maintains professional involvement through memberships in the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law and the American Psychiatric Association.