Martin D. Zehr, PhD

Dr. Martin Zehr is a clinical psychologist licensed to practice in Missouri, Kansas, and New York. He has been working with adults in a variety of settings including VA hospitals, Research Medical Center, private practice, and Saint Luke's Health System. He was formally director of neuropsychology at the Kansas City VA Hospital and Research Medical Center.

Dr. Zehr completed his Bachelor's degree in psychology at the State University of New York at Binghamton, his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology at the University of Memphis and is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Dr. Zehr is a member of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.

Dr. Zehr's special interests include neurodegenerative conditions with older adults, stroke and traumatic brain injury, and legal issues associated with impairments of brain functioning.

Clinical interests

• Neurodegenerative conditions with older adults
• Stroke and traumatic brain injury
• Legal issues associated with impairments of brain functioning

Zehr, M., One student’s opinion of clinical training. The Clinical Psychologist, Winter, 1977.

Zehr, M. and Theobald, D. Manual guidance used in a punishment situation: the active ingredient in overcorrection. Journal of Mental Deficiency Research, Vol. 22, pp. 263-272, 1978.

Linehan, K., Zehr, M., Takken, G., Conley, R., Cox, G., and Friedman, H. Final report of a statewide study of victimization involving personal crime. Manuscript published jointly by the State Technical Institute at Memphis and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, 1978.

Swiger, E. and Zehr, M. The search for excellence: Legal issues in teacher competency testing. The Urban Lawyer, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 745-63, 1984.

1983-84. Executive Editor, during this period, of The Urban Lawyer, an American Bar Association journal published from the University of Missouri School of Law in Kansas City.  

Zehr, M. The role of the neuropsychologist in the evaluation of the head injury victim. Head Injury Reporter, Vol.2, No. 1, 1989.

Zehr, M. Neuropsychologist plays key role in evaluating head injury victim. 4 Mich. L. W., 620-21, 1990.

Zehr, M. Legal Aspects of the Psychological Assessment of Older Adults. Paper presented at the XXIII International Congress of Applied Psychology, Madrid, Spain, July 17-22, 1994.

Zehr. M. The Assessment of Competence in Head-Injured Adults. Paper presented at the Regional Workshop on Head Injury of the Missouri Head Injury Advisory Council, Kansas City, Missouri, December 2, 1994.

Potter, R. and Zehr, M. Who is making the Decisions? Part 2 in a 3-part lecture series titled “Making Critical Life-Care Decisions,” sponsored by the Best Years program of Health Midwest, Kansas City, Missouri, October 26, 1995.

Zehr, M. Determinations of Changing Capacity: Sources of Evidence. Paper presented at the 48th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Los Angeles, California, November 16, 1995.

Zehr, M. Clinical Observation in the Assessment of Alzheimer’s Disease. Paper presented at the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Medicine, Osage Beach, Missouri, May 17, 1996.

Zehr, M. Ethical and Legal Aspects of the Care of the Alzheimer’s Patient. Workshop seminar presented at the Seventh Annual Summer Geriatric Medicine Institute of the St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, June 18, 1996.

Zehr, M. Memory Dysfunction in Neurodegenerative Disease: Ethical and Legal Issues. Chapter in Memory in Neurodegenerative Disease: Biological, Cognitive and Clinical Perspectives. Troster, A. (Ed.). Cambridge University Press, (Cambridge, New York; 1998).

Zehr, M. The Dementias: Subtypes, Causes, and Current Status of Treatments and Care of the Dementia Patient. Workshop presentation for the Missouri League of Nursing Annual Convention, Columbia, Missouri, May 16, 1997.

Zehr, M. Cultural and Ethnic Considerations in the Care of the Alzheimer’s Patient. Poster session presentation for the Sixth Annual National Alzheimer’s Disease Education Conference, Chicago, Illinois, July 22, 1997.

Zehr, M. Decision Making and Legal issues for the Older Individual. Poster session presentation for the Missouri Governor’s Conference on Aging, Kansas City, Missouri, October 14, 1997.

Zehr, M. Legal Considerations in the Assessment of the Elderly. Paper presented at the 103rd annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, August 17, 1998.

Zehr, M. Decision Making and Legal Issues for the Older Adult. Paper presented at the Senior Center Administrators Conference sponsored by Project Life of the University of Missouri-Columbia, September 23, 1998.

Zehr, M. An Introduction to Memory Functioning. Invited address to the Kansas City chapter of the Epilepsy Foundation, May 6, 1999.

Zehr, M. The Assessment of Dementia in Clinical Practice. In Innovations in Clinical Practice, Vol. 18. VandeCreek, L. (Ed.). Professional Resource Press (Sarasota, FL. 2000).

Moye, J. & Zehr, M. Resolving Ethical Challenges for Psychological Practice in Long Term Care. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. Vol. 7, No. 3, Fall, 2000.

Zehr, M. Working with the Public Administrator: Psychologists in the Public Sector. Paper presented at the 105th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August, 2000.

Zehr, M. Issues of Individual Capacity and Confidentiality in the Long Term Care Setting. Paper presented at the 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2000.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain’s Reconstruction: Preliminary Notes. Paper presented at the 116th Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association, Washington, D.C., December 29, 2000.

Zehr, M. An Abolitionist’s Dedication. Mark Twain Circular. Vol.14, No.4, Oct.-Dec., 2000.

Zehr. M. Evaluating the Self-Interest Motive as an Explanation for the Transformation of Sam Clemens’ Racial Attitudes. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the Missouri Psychological Association, June 17, 2001, Osage Beach, Missouri.

Zehr, M. Empirically Derived Evidence and Questions of Legal Capacity. Seminar presented as part of a continuing education workshop in clinical geropsychology at the American Psychological Association Convention, August 25, 2001, San Francisco.

Zehr, M. From Hannibal to Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain’s Racial Reconstruction. Paper presented under the sponsorship of Division 10, Psychology and the Arts, at the American Psychological Association Convention, San Francisco, August 24, 2001.

Zehr, M. Informed Consent in the Long Term Care Setting. Clinical Gerontologist, Vol. 25, No. ¾, 2002.

Zehr, M. Twain’s Mississippi and the American West: The Metaphor of Movement. Paper presented at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Western Literature Association, Omaha, Nebraska, Thursday, October 18, 2001.

Zehr, M. Neuropsychological Evaluations in the Courtroom: Legal and Ethical Issues. Invited workshop conducted at the Annual Convention of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, San Francisco, November 1, 2001.

Zehr, M. The Western Vistas of Willa Cather and Mark Twain: A Study in Contrasts. Teaching Cather, Vol. 2, No. 2, Spring, 2002.

Intrieri, R., Snow, L., Norris, M., Molinari, V. & Zehr, M. Psychological Services and Consultation Within Long-Term Care Settings: Guidelines, Perils, and Pearls of Wisdom. Pre-conference workshop at the 55th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Boston, Massachusetts, November 22, 2002.

Zehr, M. Informed Consent in the Long Term Care Setting. Chapter in Emerging Trends in Psychological Practice in Long-Term Care. Norris, M.P., Molinari, V., & Ogland-Hand, S. (Eds.). Haworth Press (Binghamton, New York, 2002). 

Zehr, M. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Psychologists and the Transmission of Raw Test Data. Greater Kansas City Psychological Association Newsletter, Spring, 2003, p.4.

Zehr, M. A New Pain Assessment Instrument for Use in Long-Term Care Settings.  Psychologists in Long Term

Care Newsletter, Vol. 16, No. ¾, Winter, 2003.

Zehr, M. A Tale of Two Villagers: The Western Icons of Red Cloud and Hannibal. Paper presented at the International Cather Seminar 2003, May 30, 2003, Breadloaf, Ripton, Vermont.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain and Race. Invited address sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council for the seminar “Mark Twain’s Mississippi as Story and Symbol.” June 25, 2003, Mark Twain Museum, Hannibal, Missouri.

Carruthers, C., Ryan, J., Gontkovsky, S., Souheaver, G. & Zehr, M. The WASI Matrix Reasoning Subtest: Performance in Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke, and Dementia. Paper presented at the 111th annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, August, 2003.

Ryan, J., Carruthers, C., Miller, L., Souheaver, G., Gontkovsky, S. & Zehr, M. Exploratory Factor Analysis of the WASI in Standardization and Clinical Samples. Paper presented at the 23rd annual meeting of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, Dallas, Texas, October, 2003.

Zehr, M. Race and Class in the Short Fiction of Mark Twain. Eureka Studies in Teaching Short Fiction, Vol. 4, No. 1, Fall, 2003.

Ryan, J., Carruthers, C., Miller, L., Souheaver, G. Gontkovsky, S. & Zehr, M. Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence in Adult Standardization and Clinical Samples. Applied Neuropsychology, Vol. 10, No. 4, 252-256, 2003.

Zehr, M. Ethical Issues. Chapter in Long Term Care Professional Education Program Manual. Rosowsky, E. & Casciani, J. (Eds.). Curriculum Publications Clearinghouse (Macomb, Illinois, 2003).

Goldberg, A. & Zehr, M. Conducting Capacity/Competency Evaluations in Rehabilitation. Program presented at the 6th Annual Conference on Rehabilitation Psychology, Seattle, March 6, 2004.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain’s Hawaiian Experience: The Turning Point of His Life? Paper presented at the 112th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, July 29, 2004.

Zehr, M. Consulting with Attorneys about Capacity. Paper presented in the symposium, “Capacity Issues: From the Perspectives of Geropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology.” 112th annual convention of the American Psychological Association convention, Honolulu, July 31, 2004.

Zehr, M. The Tripping Point. Kansas City Voices, Vol. 2, November, 2004. Whispering Prairie Press (Kansas City, Missouri).

Zehr, M. What we have here is a failure to communicate. PsycCritiques, American Psychological Association, Vol.49, Supplement 8, November 16, 2004

Ryan, J.J., Carruthers, C.A., Miller, L.J., Souheaver, G.T., Gontkovsky, S.T., and Zehr, M.D. The WASI Matrix Reasoning subtest: Performance in traumatic brain injury, stroke and dementia. International Journal of Neuroscience, 115: 129-136, 2005.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain and the Chinese: A Study in Transformation. Paper presented at the Fifth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies, Elmira, New York, August 6, 2005.

Zehr, M. Psychological Assessment and Capacity Issues in the Legal Arena. Workshop presentation for full-day workshop on capacity assessment with older adults. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 17, 2005.

Zehr, M. Making His Mark on Twain. Kansas City Star, Arts Section, p.8, September 25, 2005.

Zehr, M. Psychological Practice and Preparation for the Deposition. Workshop presentation for the Spring Meeting of the Kansas Psychological Association, Topeka, Kansas, April 22, 2006.

Zehr, M. The Vision of the Other in Mark Twain’s “War Prayer.” Mark Twain Studies, Vol. 2, 87-91, 2006.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain’s Missouri: What he Took with Him and What He Left Behind. Presentation sponsored by the Missouri Valley Speaker Series. Kansas City Public Library, January 21, 2007.

Center for Practical Bioethics. Considerations Regarding the Needs of Long-Term Care Residents for intimate Relationships and Sexual Activity. Center for Practical Bioethics, Kansas City, Missouri, 2007. (Contributing author).

Zehr, M. Mark Twain’s Psychologies: The Core of His Genius. Paper presented at the 115th annual American Psychological Association Convention, San Francisco, California, August 19, 2007.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain: Man of the World. Presentation sponsored by the Japan-America Society, Kansas City, Missouri, October 23, 2007.

Zehr, M. Aging, Sexuality, and the Long-Term Care Setting. Paper presented at the 116th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Boston, Massachusetts, August 14, 2008.

Zehr, M. The Vision of the Other in Mark Twain's “War Prayer.” Journal of Transnational American Studies: Vol.1, 

No.1, 2008.

Zehr, M. A Case of the Stretchers: Mark Twain's Influence on the Writing of Willa Cather. Paper presented at the Sixth International Conference on Mark Twain Studies, Elmira, New York, August 7, 2009.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain's “The Treaty With China, and the Chinese Connection.” Journal of Transnational American Studies: Vol. 2, No.1, 2010.

Zehr, M. The Psychologies of Mark Twain. Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., pp. 28-31, April, 2010.

Zehr, M. Why Twain Matters: The Exaggerated Death. Presentation sponsored by the Dept. of English, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri, April 19, 2010.

Zehr, Martin. Mark Twain, “The Treaty With China,” and the Celestial Connection. Paper presented at the American Literature Convention, San Francisco, May 27, 2010.

Zehr, M. Why Twain Matters: The Exaggerated Death. Presentation sponsored by the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, Hannibal, Missouri, November 20, 2010.

Zehr, M. Why Twain Matters. The Strand Magazine newsletter, December, 2010.

Zehr, Martin. Mark Twain’s Missouri: What He Took With Him, and What He Left Behind. Paper presented at the Sam Clemens Conference, Hannibal, Missouri, August 11, 2011.

Zehr, Martin. Why Twain Matters: The Exaggerated Death. Presentation sponsored by the Johnson County Public Library, Overland Park, Kansas, November 20, 2011.

Zehr, M. Aging and Capacity Issues for Clients of the Elder Law Practitioner. Presentation at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, St. Charles, Missouri, December 9, 2011.

Zehr, M. Functions of the “Strange.” Essay in Driesch: Zeitschrift fur Literatur & Kultur (Austria), No. 8, December, 2011, pp. 193-199.

Zehr, M. Educating the Frailing Elderly. Banjo Newsletter, Vol. 39, No. 7, pp. 7-8, April, 2012.

Zehr, M. The Assessment of Legal Capacity in Civil Settings. Journal of the Missouri Bar, Vol. 68, No. 2, pp. 98-102, March/April, 2012.

Zehr, M. (Ed.), The Treaty With China, Its Provisions Explained by Mark Twain. Nook Book, published by

eProsperity, sold by Barnes & Noble ebook (BN ID: 2940014388511), May, 2012.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain and the Cloak of Culture. Mark Twain Journal, Vol. 49, Nos. 1 &2, Spring/Fall 2011, pp. 109-116.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain’s “The Treaty With China:” Precursor with a Punch. Paper presented at the Seventh International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies, Elmira, New York, August 3, 2013.

Zehr, M. A New Theory in Twain World. The Kansas City Star, Section D, Page 1, August 18, 2013.

Zehr, M. Mark Twain’s “The Treaty With China,” including introduction. Mark Twain Annual, Fall, 2013.

Zehr, M. Assessing Juveniles’ Competency to Stand Trial. The National Psychologist, Vol. 23, No. 2, p. 13, March/April, 2014.

Harris, G., and Zehr, M. Forensic Psychological Reports: Medical Records or Confidential Employment Documents? The Forensic Examiner, Fall, 2014.

Harris, G., and Zehr, M. The Role of Psychological Evaluators and Therapists in Workers Compensation Cases. Annals of Psychotherapy & Integrative Health. Fall, 2014.

Zehr, M. Assessing Juveniles’ Competence to Stand Trial. International Association for Correctional & Forensic Psychology Newsletter, Vol. 46, No. 3, 8-9, July, 2014.