I am passionate about The Neurodevelopmental Lens, a fundamental shift in thinking, which can serve to help children who live on the outskirts of hope and change.
My career in Oregon began shortly after I obtained a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Southern California. Following a brief stint as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, I began working for the Clackamas County Mental Health Center in the late fall of 1981. I worked as a psychologist in both the Child and Family Outpatient Program and the Adolescent Day Treatment Center (ADTC) until I was hired as the Program Supervisor for the ADTC. I served in this role for several years before beginning my private practice in 1989. I have been licensed as a Psychologist in the state of Oregon since 1983.
In addition to individual and family therapy with children and adolescents, my practice involved consultation with school districts, private non-profit agencies, social service agencies, the juvenile justice system and mental health programs, including both day and residential treatment centers. In addition, I have, and continue to conduct, psychological evaluations in those settings. My work has been primarily in the tri-county area near Portland, but I have worked throughout the state. Other projects of note include the co-development of a school-based risk assessment and safety-planning system (The Tracking System) in the late 1990’s with Albert W. Greenwood, Ph.D. Several Education Service Districts (ESDs) and school districts throughout the state of Oregon subsequently implemented the system. In 2004-2005, I conducted a program evaluation study for the Clackamas Education Services District. The focus of this study was the collaborative school-based Wraparound Pilot Project involving the Clackamas County Partnership, the Oregon City School District (OCSD), and the North Clackamas School District (NCSD). The Wraparound Services were delivered at Gardiner Middle School in OCSD and Aldercreek Middle School in NCSD.
Over the last 10 years, I have been engaged in applied research in the areas of trauma-informed care and trauma-sensitive schools. In collaboration with a number of colleagues (click on COLLEAGUES for more information), I have been able to apply the principles of this research in several settings, including the Oregon City School District and the Clackamas Education Service District’s therapeutic school programs. I have worked to integrate elements of the Collaborative Problem Solving Approach (J. Stuart Ablon, Ph.D.; Ross Greene, Ph.D.) with trauma-informed models such as the Neuro-Sequential Model of Therapeutics/Education (Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow-The ChildTrauma Academy) and the Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency Model (Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute, Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D., et al.), as well as with the field of Interpersonal Neurobiology (The Norton Series onInterpersonal Neurobiology, Daniel Siegel M.D., et al.). A number of other resources, including Michelle Garcia-Winner’s-Think Social curricula and literature from the study of Executive Functioning (e.g., Russell Barkley; Richard Guare, Ph.D.; Peg Dawson, Ed.D.) have been instrumental in the development of the approach I call The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Model.
RELEVANT TRAUMA/NEGLECT EDUCATION & TRAINING
COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
I have been strongly influenced by a number of educational experiences and trainings I have attended, including:
Collaborative Problem Solving Workshops:
Explosive/Noncompliant Children & Adolescents: A New Conceptual and Practical Approach-Ross Greene, Ph.D. (1998)
Explosive Noncompliant Children and Adolescents (2002)Collaborative Problem Solving Certification Trainings:
Collaborative Problem Solving Intensive Training-J. Stuart Ablon (2007)
Level I-Advanced Collaborative Problem Solving-Ross Greene (2010)
Collaborative Problem Solving-Tier 1 Training-Erik Kola, RN & Beth Putz, MA (2014)
Collaborative Problem Solving-Tier 2 Training-J. Stuart Ablon (2015)
NEUROSEQUENTIAL MODEL OF THERAPEUTICS
Phase I Certification in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (as part of the 2010/2011 Oregon NAC/NMT Training Project) Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow, The ChildTrauma Academy (2011)
NEUROSEQUENTIAL MODEL OF EDUCATION
Neurosequential Model of Education-Introduction to the Neurosequential Model in Education Training Series-Web based series (2014)
CPS AND NMT INTEGRATION
Through the Prism: Synthesizing Neuro-cognitive Approaches. Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. & Stuart Ablon, Ph.D. (2012)
Complex Developmental Trauma. Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. & Stuart Ablon, Ph.D. (2015)
OTHER RELEVANT TRAINING/EXPERIENCE
Pro-Act:
4 day training for In-Service Instructors in Professional Assault Crisis Training. Authorized to conduct 16 hour workshops in Professional Assault Crisis Training for Clackamas ESD (2006-no longer active)1 day training for In-Service Instructors in Professional Assault Crisis Training Restraint Certification. Authorized to conduct 4 hour workshops in Professional Assault Crisis Restraint Training for Clackamas ESD (2006-no longer active)
Care Coordination Training- Lucille Eber. Sponsored by Clackamas ESD and the Clackamas Partnership (2005)
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS AND TRAININGS
I have had the opportunity to present key concepts of the neurodevelopmental lens at a number of conferences and professional development workshops, including:
The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Approach to School-Based Trauma-Informed Practices. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, June 2016. With Catherine Halliwell-Templin, M.Ed., Verne Ferguson, M.S. & Shannon Ashby, M.Ed.
Trauma-Informed School Practices: The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Approach. Key Note Address-7th Annual Central Oregon PBIS Conference, April 2016.
A Model for Trauma Informed Schools: Implementation of the Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Approach. 7th Annual Central Oregon PBIS Conference, April 2016. With Verne Ferguson, M.S.
School-Based Interventions Through a Neurodevelopmental Lens. The NorthWest PBIS Network Spring Conference, February 2016. With Verne Ferguson, M.S. & Shannon Ashby, M.Ed.
School-Based Interventions Through a Neurodevelopmental Lens. The NorthWest PBIS Network Fall Conference, November 2015. With Verne Ferguson, M.S. & Shannon Ashby, M.Ed.
Therapeutic Classrooms: Integration of Collaborative Problem Solving and Trauma Informed Strategies. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, 2015. With Stacey Sibley, M.S., Special Education, Coordinator of Therapeutic Programs, Clackamas ESD, Heron Creek, Merrick and Cedar Bough & Kathryn Sullivan, LCSW, Program Specialist at Heron Creek, Clackamas ESD, Oregon City.
Neuro-Developmentally Sensitive Assessments and Interventions in Schools: Tier II and Tier III. ½ Day Training for 13th Annual Northwest PBIS Spring Conference, March 2015. With Verne Ferguson, M.S. & Shannon Ashby, M.Ed.
Neuro-Developmentally Sensitive Assessments and Interventions in Schools. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, June 2014. With Verne Ferguson, M.S., Oregon City School District, Director of Special Services & Shannon Ashby, M.Ed., Oregon City School District.
Neuro-Developmental Skills & Demands Assessment… Implications for School-Based Support and Intervention Strategies. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, October 2013. With Kelly Welch, Ed.D., Gladstone School District, Director of Special Services.
Skills and Demands Assessment: Strategies for the Top of the Pyramid. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, June 2013. With Kelly Welch, Ed.D., Gladstone School District, Director of Special Services.
Intensive School Based Therapeutic Services in a District PBIS Framework. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, June 2012. With Kelly Welch, Ed.D., CESD Heron Creek Administrator & Verne Ferguson, Oregon City School District, Director of Special Services.