Alex Barker (They/Them) is a young professional who began their career as a youth peer support specialist at FMRS Health Systems Inc., located in southern West Virginia. Through the agency, Alex joined the NCTSN Youth Task Force, now the Young Adult Collective, and has used their lived experience as a tool to increase the quality of services provided to youth and young adults. Now working in Raleigh, NC as the Outreach Coordinator with the Capital Area Teen Court Program, Alex continues to share their knowledge and experiences inside the NCTSN and beyond. Outside of work, Alex serves on the board of directors for Safe Schools NC, a non-profit dedicated to resourcing teachers passionate about supporting LGBTQ+ youth in their classrooms. Additionally, they have partnered with NC State University on a research initiative addressing the professional development needs of 4-H program staff as they pertain to serving youth identifying in the LGBTQ+ community. In 2019, Alex received the Youth Advocate of the Year Rockstar Award from Youth Move National. Alex is currently pursuing their MSW and plans to use this degree in addressing needed systems changes that will impact service delivery for youth and young adults.
Network Members
This listing of NCTSN members includes current grantees as well as NCTSN Affiliates, former grantees who have maintained their ties to the Network.
Barker, Alex
Barker, Kristin
Kristin Barker is a licensed clinical social worker and the former Manager of Clinical Operations at Children's Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis. She has expertise in implementing evidence-based, trauma-focused, interventions to youth and their caregivers, overseeing the operations of a mental health outpatient clinic, and providing training to professionals across child-serving sectors. Ms. Barker is a recognized trainer in Integrative Treatment of Complex Trauma, the Child Welfare Trauma Training Toolkit, and the Resource Parent Curriculum. Ms. Barker’s areas of interest include the treatment and assessment of complex trauma, trauma-informed parenting, and supporting the implementation and sustainability of trauma-informed, evidence-based practices in communities and organizations. Ms. Barker is temporarily residing in London, England where she is seeking opportunities to work within, and learn from, the local system of trauma-informed care while staying connected and contributing to the work of the NCTSN.
Gahr, Jessica, MA
Jessica Gahr is a treatment clinician at the SAFE program. Jessica works primarily with court-involved children and adolescents who have engaged in problematic sexual behaviors. She values open communication and family-involvement when providing services.
Gilbert Reyes
Gil Reyes (he/him), PhD, was born and raised in California, where he lived until he finished college at University of California Santa Barbara. Before switching his major to psychology, Gil was involved in the performing arts as an actor, director, and musician/vocalist. His interests in psychology focus on human development (especially attachment theory and behavior) and emotional disturbance (especially trauma). Gil completed his doctorate at the University of Colorado with a dissertation examining the intersection of trauma, attachment security, shame, and sensitivity to rejection. Upon graduating, he began a tenure-track academic appointment in the Disaster Mental Health Institute within the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of South Dakota. There he remained for 6 years, became married to his wonderful spouse (April), gained wonderful maturational experiences, and was awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. Gil moved back to Santa Barbara in 2005 and worked as an Associate Dean in the School of Psychology at Fielding Graduate University until 2013. Since then, he has mainly worked as a consultant, except for a brief stint as Behavioral Health Director for a Native American tribal government. Gil began his involvement with NCTSN when he was a co-investigator for the Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma. He has contributed to a number of projects and training programs through the NCCTS at UCLA, and recently joined the Louisiana State University’s Terrorism and Disaster Center (TDC-4). He also has been among a NCTSN Affiliate Members for several years and is currently serving on the Affiliate Advisory Group.
Marisol Acosta
Marisol Acosta, MEd, LPC-S, is the Director of Clinical Services at Any Baby Can in Austin, Texas where she oversees the Family Health Programs, including counseling services and medical case management for children and youth with special health care needs and cancer. She was the Director of a Category III NCTSN site at the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Health and Human Services Commission where she served as the state’s Children Mental Health Director and Manager of Child and Adolescent Services for the Behavioral Health Services and oversaw children mental health services, residential treatment services, suicide prevention, and substance abuse prevention services. Marisol contributed to the redesign of children community mental health programs and the Texas Resilience and Recovery service delivery system, including co-authoring the third version of the Texas CANS. From 2011-2019, she was the trauma subject matter expert for the state of Texas implementing trauma informed care policies, evidence-based practices (including TF-CBT, PCIT, Seeking Safety, and PFA) and systems change impacting behavioral health, child welfare, disaster behavioral health, schools and tribal nations in Texas. Marisol holds a BA degree from the University of Puerto Rico, a MA in Counseling from the University of Houston, and a Graduate Certificate from Harvard University and the Italy Ministry of Health on Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery. She is an NCTSN CCCT Facilitator and member of the Affiliate Advisory Group. She serves as a member of the Advisory Board of La Red Por los Derechos de la Niñez de Puerto Rico. She is the co-founder of Expertus Soulutions, LLC which provides training and consulting services focused on enhancing quality of care and competency through the use and implementation of best practices and trauma-informed care. She is a state and national speaker and trainer on matters of trauma, trauma informed care transformation, unaccompanied minors, and children mental health.
Meghan Marsac
Meghan Marsac, PhD, is a pediatric psychologist and a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky and Kentucky Children’s Hospital. She serves as the site PI for the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress (Category II). Her program of research centers on medical trauma includes conducting grant-funded studies to identify predictors of emotional and physical outcomes in the context of acute or chronic medical conditions, developing and validating assessment tools, and creating and evaluating programs to promote recovery and/or adjustment to medical conditions in children and families. Meghan is a leader in the field of pediatric medical trauma, having published over 65 academic articles and 10 chapters on this topic. She has co-authored a book for parents to use to help support their children through medical care as well as to care for themselves: Afraid of the Doctor, Every Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Managing Medical Trauma (www.afraidofthedoctor.com). Meghan currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology and Journal of Traumatic Stress. She has given hundreds of talks on understanding and promoting adjustment to injury and illness in children and their families. She is the CEO of the Cellie Coping Company (www.celliecopingcompany.com) which has distributed over 2000 coping kits to families with children with medical conditions. In addition, Meghan specializes in training medical teams in the implementation of trauma-informed medical care. Clinically, she implements evidence-based practices to facilitate families' management of medical treatment and emotional adjustment to challenging diagnoses and medical procedures.
Moreland, Angela, PhD
Stephen Hydon
Stephen Hydon (he/his), EdD, MSW, is a Clinical Professor at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. He directs the School Social Work Program, one of the largest in the country, with over 200 students each year earning credentials to practice school social work in public school settings. Recently, Stephen was funded to co-lead a team of experts in the fields of education and secondary trauma to create a one-of-a-kind online learning platform for educators experiencing secondary traumatic stress called STAT: www.statprogram.org. Hydon also serves as a liaison to the TDNC Committee of the NCTSN, as part of his role on the CAT II Trauma Services Adaptation Center for Hope, Wellness and Resiliency in Schools. Lastly, he is President of the American Council for School Social Work, a national association dedicated solely to the profession of school social work.
Velasco-Hodgson, M. Carolina, MSW
M. Carolina Velasco-Hodgson Is a bilingual clinician with more than fifteen years of experience. She is from Chile where she was trained and practices as a clinical psychologist; after obtaining a Fulbright Scholarship, she completed her master’s in Social Work at Boston College and currently she is a Public Health PhD’s student. She was a social work intern for two years at Child Witness to Violence Project, a family specialist for the first year of Project Dulce; she is also an active member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) Translation Review Committee since 2010, an Individual Affiliate to the network since 2014 and has adapted and translated material into spanish for families affected by traumatic experiences. Carolina currently works in Chile as adjunct assistant professor at the School of Social Work, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and she is an infant and child psychotherapist in private practice. Her interests include trauma prevention and intervention, immigration, cultural child development, and child parent bonding and attachment.