Consultation:
Elizabeth Thompson, Ph.D. is a mental health executive with an established track record of optimizing service delivery to traumatized children and families through organizational leadership, workforce development, policy & program development, grants management, regulatory compliance and building community relationships. In her current position, she serves as Vice President of the Department of Family and Community Interventions at Kennedy Krieger Institute. The Outpatient Department consists of three programs--Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress, Therapeutic Foster Care, and Early Head Start, and provides treatment and early intervention services to children and families with exposure to abuse, violence and major loss.
Dr. Thompson holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Since 2003, she has been active in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and is recognized for her contributions to several national workgroups and “expert panels”, advancing key initiatives in the child traumatic stress field. Current professional interests include organization development, implementation science and racial injustice as psychological trauma.
She is a past board member of the NTL Institute of Applied Behavioral Science and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Society of Psychologists in Management and the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition. Dr. Thompson is also a member of several professional organizations including the American Psychological Association and the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies.
Dr. Thompson earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Contact Information:
Elizabeth Thompson, Ph.D.
Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress
Phone: (443) 923-5918
Fax: (443) 923-5906
Email: ThompsonE@KennedyKrieger.org
Training:
Abena Brown-Elhillali, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and has over five years of experience assessing and treating children, adolescents and adults with various mental health needs. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Howard University, where her studies focused primarily on the psychophysiological aspects of mental health. Dr. Brown-Elhillali completed post-doctoral training at the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services board, where she provided therapy and case management to children and adults with histories of complex trauma, substance abuse and psychotic disorders. Additionally, Dr. Brown-Elhillali completed pre-doctoral training at the New York Health and Hospitals Corporation, where she provided crisis intervention, therapy and case management to children and families affected by sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect. Currently, Dr. Brown-Elhillali dedicates much of her clinical time to educating families about the long-term and intergenerational effects of trauma, in an effort to inhibit the cyclical nature of trauma and related mental health concerns.
Laura Costa, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, board certified in child and adolescent psychology and has over 13 years of experience working with trauma populations and providing individual, family and group therapy. Dr. Costa employs empirically-based methods into her clinical work, including TF-CBT, DBT, PCIT, SMART, SPARCS, and SFCR. She is a nationally-certified TF-CBT clinician and has completed the train the supervisor program enabling her to provide consultation and supervision to clinicians also seeking certification in the model. She received her master's degree and doctorate in clinical psychology from George Mason University in 2007, also earning a certificate of advance graduate study in school psychology. Dr. Costa completed her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, PA, which is a residential school for at-risk children coming from poverty. In this setting, she obtained additional training and experience providing therapy, consultation and assessment with abused and neglected children. Currently, she heads the diagnostic interview clinic and psychological assessment clinics and is a member of the psychology training committee. Dr. Costa provides supervision for full-time staff, psychology post-doctoral fellows and predoctoral interns and externs. She dedicates much of her time to educating staff, stakeholders and families about the long-term and intergenerational effects of childhood trauma and believes strongly in the value of being a life-long learner.
Emily Driscoll-Roe, LCSW-C, is a Social Work Manager at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. She received her undergraduate degree from Fordham University in 1993, and her master’s degree in Social Work from New York University in 1996. She has provided therapeutic services to children, adolescents and their families since 1996, and has practiced in New York City; Dayton, Ohio; and Baltimore. At the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress, she received extensive training in the field of trauma treatment, with particular expertise in the area of sexual abuse. Through her work at the Traumatic Stress Center, Driscoll-Roe became especially interested in the impact of vicarious trauma on clinicians working with traumatized families. She co-founded the Center’s Vicarious Trauma Processing Group and provides training on managing vicarious trauma and burn-out to mental health professionals.
Sarah Gardner, MSW, LCSW-C is the Director of Clinical Services at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute and funded member of Family-Informed Trauma Treatment Center at the University of Maryland. She earned her master's degree at the National Catholic School of Social Services and completed post-graduate training at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. Gardner has 30 years of experience with direct service, supervision, consultation, emergency management, administration and leadership in a mental health clinic serving traumatized children and families involved with multiple systems. Gardner’s primary area of expertise is intergenerational trauma patterns and engaging families who experience marginalization related to racism poverty and other negative social conditions. Gardner developed FamilyLive, an innovative family therapy model which helps caregivers with unresolved trauma histories develop parenting skills.
Through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), Gardner has led national efforts and developed multiple resources to reduce barriers to accessing mental health services through consumer partnerships. Gardner has delivered dozens of professional presentations and co-authored articles on family trauma in peer reviewed journals.
Daniel Hoover, PhD, ABPP, is a clinical child and adolescent psychologist at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute directing the center’s postgraduate psychology training program and coordinating the Horizon Clinic, which treats children with developmental disabilities and psychological trauma. Dr. Hoover received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Kentucky in 1992. He then completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in child and adolescent psychology at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka, Kansas. Remaining on the faculty of the Menninger Clinic for 15 years, he served as director of the child psychology department and director of psychology training, as well as team leader in the inpatient adolescent treatment program. Before joining Kennedy Krieger Institute in 2011, Dr. Hoover served as psychology supervisor and director of wraparound services for the Delaware State Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health. Dr. Hoover is board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology and is licensed in Delaware and Maryland. Dr. Hoover has a faculty appointment in the department of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Sheryl Jefferson, MSW, LCSW-C, is a Clinical Supervisor at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress. She is the Clinic coordinator for the Child Parent Psychotherapy clinic. Her work experience includes, providing mental health services in residential treatment, private practice and the Maryland school system. Jefferson has also provided workshops and trainings focusing on ADHD, Parenting Skills and Trauma Resulting from Out of Home Placements.
Teresa Loya, LCSW-C is the coordinator of the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Clinic servicing young children demonstrating behavior problems following their traumatic experience. She earned her master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland. Loya has 19 years of clinical experience working with children and families who have experienced trauma. She employs evidence supported treatments into her clinical work, including PCIT, TF-CBT, SPARCS, and CPP with fidelity. She is trained in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), is a reflective supervisor in Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), and a certified Level I Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) trainer presenting both locally and nationally on the model.
Currently she provides direct service, supervision and training locally and regionally on the treatment of childhood traumatic stress. Loya’s practice has focused on working with families who have experienced intergenerational trauma. She provides live case supervision at the Traumatic Stress Center for clinicians in the FamilyLive treatment model, an innovative family therapy model which helps caregivers with unresolved trauma histories develop parenting skills. Loya also has a special interest in the impact of vicarious trauma on helping professionals, has presented in this area and co-coordinated the Traumatic Stress Center’s efforts to recognize and address vicarious trauma within the agency.
Betsy Offermann, LCSW-C, is a Clinical Manager at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. She received her bachelor's degree in social work in 1984 and her master's degree in 1985 from the University of Maryland. In 1988, she completed a post-master's certificate in marital and family therapy. She has more than 34 years of experience providing treatment services to sexually abused children and their families. The SMART Model (Safety, Mentoring, Advocacy, Recovery, and Treatment) was developed by Offermann to address problematic sexual behavior in young children who have experienced sexual abuse. Offermann also helped to develop a video that is now used state-wide to train child care workers, investigators, mental health providers and parents on the impact of sexual abuse. She has given presentations about her work locally and nationally, and served as co-chair of the 2006 Governor's Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. Offermann has trained staff, mentors, investigators and child welfare workers to improve understanding of the impact of trauma and effective treatment strategies.
Miguel Roberts, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with Kennedy Krieger’s Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress where he coordinates the adult services clinic. He obtained his Ph. D in clinical psychology from the University of Mississippi and completed his pre-doctoral internship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed a NIDA postdoctoral fellowship specializing in PTSD and substance use disorders at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Roberts has over 10 years of federal service as a psychologist for the US Army, the Baltimore VA Medical Center and the Washington DC VA Medical Center. He previously treated veterans with PTSD and other associated mental health concerns using evidenced based treatment. He is a VA Certified provider for Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure.
Cynthia Rollo, LCSW-C, is an accomplished trainer, consultant, supervisor, and clinician. Cindy has been involved in bringing trauma‐informed training and system change to mental health professionals, administrators, graduate students, child welfare workers, case managers and support staff who provide care in a range of community and residential settings and serve diverse populations. Over the last 20 years, Cindy has provided psychotherapy to families living in the context of urban poverty and have ongoing trauma exposure in Baltimore, Maryland. She is also a national trainer for Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF‐CBT) and co‐developed and implemented a graduate level course on Evidence‐Based Mental Health Treatment with Children and Adolescents.
Jennifer M. Serico, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist specializing in child and adolescent trauma. Dr. Serico provides evidence-based treatment, trauma-informed evaluations and clinical supervision to trainees and staff at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Serico is a certified Level I Parent-Child Interaction Therapy trainer and her research interests include the effect of PCIT in reducing trauma symptoms and potential mediating factors related to symptom reduction and treatment success.