Margaret Blaustein, Ph.D

The Director of Training and Education at The Trauma Center at JRI in Brookline, MA.  Dr. Blaustein is a practicing clinical psychologist who specializes in the assessment and treatment of complex childhood trauma.  She is co-developer of the Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) treatment framework, designated a promising practice for treatment of childhood trauma by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and co-author of the text, "Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents", published by Guilford Press. She has provided extensive didactic and interactive training to clinicians, educators, professionals, and consumers regarding the impact of and intervention for childhood-onset traumaIn addition to clinical practice, Dr. Blaustein is involved in research on the impact of trauma on both children and adults, is a member of the Complex Trauma Taskforce of the NCTSN, and is past Chair of the Child Trauma Special Interest Group within the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)

Alexandra Cook, Ph.D.

Alexandra Cook, Ph.D., Associate Director and the Director of Development, has been at the Trauma Center since 1995. Dr. Cook graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Psychology and then obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. at Boston University. After completing her post-doctoral fellowship at the Trauma Center, she went on to become the Director of Children's Services from 1997 until 2004. Dr. Cook has a special interest in trauma evaluations and psychological testing. She has co-authored a book, With the Phoenix Rising: Lessons form Ten Resilient Women Who Overcame the Trauma of Childhood Sexual Abuse, and been the lead author on a White Paper, Complex Trauma in Children and Adolescents.

Joseph Spinazzola, Ph.D.

Dr. Spinazzola is the Executive Director of the Trauma Center and Vice President of Behavioral Health and Trauma Services at Justice Resource Institute. Dr. Spinazzola is a member of The Forensic Panel and holds an appointment at Boston University School of Medicine. In his 14th year with the Trauma Center, Dr. Spinazzola remains actively involved with provision of direct services to individuals and providers, serving as a clinician, clinical supervisor, senior trainer, and as Associate Director of our Research Department. Dr. Spinazzola is Director of the Complex Trauma Treatment Network, a national initiative to transform large regional and statewide systems of care, operated through our Center's Category II National Child Traumatic Stress Network site award. Additionally, he is Director of a National Action Partnership on Polyvictimization sponsored by the federal Office for Victims of Crime. Dr. Spinazzola specializes in the assessment, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of complex trauma in children and adults, and is the author of a number of publications in this area as well as on the topic of youth violence prevention. Dr. Spinazzola holds particular interest in dissociative coping adaptations in survivors of chronic maltreatment and neglect and in the role of transformative action in the recovery process.

Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

Medical Director, has been active as a clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of posttraumatic stress and related phenomena since the 1970s. His work integrates developmental, biological, psychodynamic and interpersonal aspects of the impact of trauma and its treatment. His book Psychological Trauma was the first integrative text on the subject, painting the far ranging impact of trauma on the entire person and the range of therapeutic issues which need to be addressed for recovery. Dr. van der Kolk and his various collaborators have published extensively on the impact of trauma on development, such as dissociative problems, borderline personality and self-mutilation, cognitive development in traumatized children and adults, and the psychobiology of trauma. He was co-principal investigator of the DSM IV Field Trials for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His current research is on how trauma affects memory processes and brain imaging studies of PTSD. Dr. van der Kolk is past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Medical School, Co-Director of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Community Practice Site and Medical Director of the Trauma Center at HRI Hospital in Brookline, Massachusetts. He has taught at universities and hospitals across the United States and around the world, including Europe, Africa, Russia, Australia, Israel, and China. His latest book, co-edited with Alexander McFarlane and Lars Weisaeth, explores what we have learned in the past twenty years of the re-discovery of the role of trauma in psychiatric illness. Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society was published by Guilford Press in May, 1996.

Marla Zucker, Ph.D

Director of Clinical Services of the Trauma Center at JRI and Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Dr. Zucker received her Ph.D. from Georgia State University in Atlanta and completed her Clinical Psychology Internship at Duke University Medical Center and Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Trauma Center. Dr. Zucker is a Staff Psychologist and Supervisor at the Trauma Center, working clinically with traumatized children, adolescents, and adults, as well as specializing in psychological and neuropsychological assessment. Dr. Zucker is also the Research Coordinator of a youth violence prevention program collaborating with Urban Improv. Dr. Zucker has authored numerous publications and scholarly conference presentations in the areas of trauma and trauma treatment and developmental learning and attention disorders.