ABOUT Firepsych
Firepsych, Inc.
Since its creation in 1999 FirePsych, Inc. has been dedicated to advancing the field of youth and adult mental health and firesetting prevention through providing evidence-based trainings, assessments, and actively collaborating with multiple disciplines devoted to fire safety. During the past 30 years our team has provided services to clients serviced by numerous organizations and agencies has spent years developing and refining the FRAT-Y assessment tool—a framework trusted by mental health professionals across the country.
We believe that with the right knowledge and tools, mental health professionals can transform lives and protect communities. That's why we've created this comprehensive course: to share our expertise with practitioners like you who are committed to excellence and making a real difference. When you learn from us, you're gaining insights from professionals who have dedicated their careers to understanding and addressing youth firesetting behaviors.
ABOUT DR. STADOLNIK
Twenty-five years in, this still isn't just a job for me.
Robert Stadolnik, Ed.D., has spent his career turning unstructured clinical judgment into a defensible, research-based framework - and still teaches it himself, case by case.
Over 1,500 firesetting evaluations completed or supervised since 1999. Author of the FRAT-Y (2010) and Drawn to the Flame: Assessment and Treatment of Juvenile Firesetting Behavior (2000). Founding member of IFIRE. Consulting Psychologist since 2019 to Whiting Forensic Hospital and Connecticut Valley Hospital. Prior consulting role at Brandon Residential Treatment Center.
“Why do I still teach this myself, twenty-five years in? Because when the outcome of a case can mean a child is placed in a group home, faces incarceration, or is admitted for in-patient care, I want the people making that call to have a real framework - not my instincts secondhand.”
— Dr. Robert Stadolnik
Full Biography
Dr. Robert Stadolnik is a licensed psychologist with over three decades of experience specializing in the assessment, treatment, and prevention of firesetting behaviors among youth and adults. Since February 1999, Dr. Stadolnik has served as President of FirePsych, Inc., a specialized psychology practice based in Massachusetts and has completed or supervised over 1500 firesetting behavior evaluations for children, adolescents, and adults between the ages of 5 to 75. Through FirePsych, he provides comprehensive diagnostic and risk assessment services, conducts firesetting-related research, and offers expert consultation and treatment for both adult and juvenile firesetting. His work includes developing and delivering extensive training programs and workshops for direct care professionals and various multidisciplinary groups, ensuring that staff are equipped with the latest knowledge and intervention strategies.
For over two decades Dr. Stadolnik served as Consulting Psychologist for Brandon Residential Treatment Center in Natick, MA, where he led program development for the Rapid Firesetting Assessment Program and the Intensive Firesetting Treatment Program for boys ages 7–17. His leadership experience includes facilitating research, program development, and providing ongoing clinical supervision, supporting evidence-informed practices in firesetting assessment and intervention.
Dr. Stadolnik’s earlier roles include serving as Chairperson of the Mental Health Task Force for the Massachusetts Statewide Coalition for Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention Programs, where he coordinated the integration of mental health services into multidisciplinary intervention efforts. He co-founded the Westwood (MA) Child/Juvenile Firesetting Intervention Project alongside Fire Chief John Sheehy, overseeing diagnostic assessments, training programs, and fire safety education.
A founding member, Dr. Stadolnik currently serves on the board of IFIRE, the International Association for Firesetting Intervention, Research, and Education. The mission of IFIRE is to reduce the physical, financial and societal harms caused by deliberate firesetting and the misuse of fire by bringing together multidisciplianary groups of professionals and community stakeholders.
Dr. Stadolnik is the author of the "Firesetting Risk Assessment Tool-Youth Version" (FRAT-Y), published in 2010, which remains the only structured decision-making assessment tool specific to youth firesetting. He also authored Drawn to the Flame: Assessment and Treatment of Juvenile Firesetting Behavior (2000) and “Promising practice in the development of assessment and treatment models for juvenile firesetting” in The Psychology of Arson: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Managing Deliberate Firesetters (2015). Most recently Dr. Stadolnik is co-author of an upcoming chapter on youth firesetting risk assessment in the volume International Perspectives on Youth Firesetting: Advances in Research and Practice, edited by N. Tyler and J.E. Foster.
