Dr. Alison Stanley is a psychologist whose career spans psychological assessment and treatment, forensic mental health, teaching, and program oversight. Her areas of professional experience include forensic mental health, adult and senior mental health, and developmental disabilities in private practice, psychiatric hospitals, and the public sector.

Dr. Stanley earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Pitzer College in 1979. From July 1980 to July 1981, she completed a predoctoral fellowship at the John F. Kennedy Institute at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, conducting behavioral assessments, developing intervention programs, and providing parent training. She earned her Master of Arts in General Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles, in June 1981.  She earned her Ph.D. in psychology at the Claremont Graduate University in 1985.  Dr. Stanley became licensed as a psychologist in California in 1989.

Beginning in 1982, Dr. Stanley participated in the Claremont McKenna College Autism Research Project as a research assistant, Assistant Director of Parent Training, and assistant clinic director. Her responsibilities included behavioral interventions, research, parent education, and staff supervision.

From December 1985 through December 1995, Dr. Stanley served as a staff psychologist at Fairview Developmental Center, providing psychological evaluations, psychometric assessments, behavioral programming, and interdisciplinary consultation. Between 1989 and 1996, she also maintained a private practice serving adults. She served as president of the Orange County Psychological Association in 1994 and taught as an adjunct professor at the California School of Professional Psychology from 1994 to 1995.

From December 1995 through September 2007, Dr. Stanley worked as a consulting psychologist with the California Department of Mental Health’s Forensic Conditional Release Program. Her work encompassed program reviews, policy development, incident investigations, and statewide training.

Beginning in 2007, she held psychiatric hospital and correctional mental health roles. Since January 2010 she has conducted evaluations, prepared statutory reports, and provided court testimony for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Mentally Disordered Offender Unit.

Dr. Stanley has numerous professional publications.  She has served as a peer reviewer of professional journal submissions. In 2026 she became a member of the Board of the Maternal Filicide Project, using research to develop education and prevention.