Biography
Anthony Perillo, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Training Director of UNM’s Forensic Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center at John Jay College in 2014. He joined the University of New Mexico in 2022 after previously serving as Associate Professor and Assistant Director of Clinical Training for the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Perillo is a licensed psychologist with expertise in forensic assessment, addressing a number of clinical questions with criminal and civil legal implications. He currently serves as a Training and Education Team Member of the New Mexico Commission on Mental Health and Competency, Division 41 Liaison for the APA’s Ethics Code Task Force, and Coordinator of University of New Mexico’s nationally recognized Law and Mental Health Series. His research focuses on factors that influence clinical judgment in forensic examinations (funded by the National Science Foundation), and he collaborates with New Mexico’s Behavioral Health Services division and other agencies on issues informing practices at the intersection of psychology and law.
Dr. Perillo has received several honors from the American Psychology-Law Society, including a First Place Dissertation Award for his research on risk assessment of sexually abusive clergy and the Early Career Teaching and Mentoring Award for his work with forensic trainees. As training director and a clinical supervisor, his supervision approach follows a pedagogy of kindness: strength-based feedback, support tailored to the needs of each trainee, and a working relationship built on honesty and collaboration.
Areas of Specialty
Forensic psychological assessment
Expert decision-making
Clinical judgment
Open science practices in science & law
Gender
Male
Research and Scholarship
Millar, M., Berryessa, C. M., Willis-Esqueda, C., Cantone, J. A., Goldfarb, D., de Vel-Palumbo, M., Perillo, A. D., Taylor, T. O., & Becker, L. T. (2024). Essentialism and the Criminal Legal System. Law and Human Behavior, 48(5-6), 597-612.
McAuliff, B. D., Fessinger, M. B., Perillo, A. D., & Perillo, J. T. (2023). Psychology and law, meet open science. In D. DeMatteo & K. C. Scherr (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of psychology and law. Oxford University Press.
Perillo, J. T., Perillo, A. D., Despodova, N. M., & Kovera, M. B. (2021). Testing the waters: An investigation of the impact of hot tubbing on experts from referral through testimony. Law and Human Behavior, 45(3), 229-242.
Perillo, A. D., Calkins, C., & Jeglic, E. L. (2021). Evaluating selection for Sexually Violent Predator commitment: A comparison of those committed, not committed, and nearly committed. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 27(1), 58-71.
Perillo, A. D., Spada, A. H., Calkins, C., & Jeglic, E. L. (2014). Examining the scope of questionable diagnostic reliability in Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) evaluations. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 37(2), 190-197.