Dr. Christine Dobson has been the Director of Programs for the ChildTrauma Academy since 2001.  In this role, she has overseen partnership programs as the CTA's primary liaison to various state agencies and currently coordinates the NMT Certification process.  She also directs the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) which provides Secondary Trauma training and debriefings for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services staff who have experienced the death, or serious injury, of a child on their caseload or other traumatic event in their work.  Since taking on this role in 2002, Dr. Dobson has conducted debriefings with more than 500 child protective services staff and other professionals working with children in protective custody within the state of Texas.  She has trained hundreds of professionals in the area of Secondary Traumatic Stress throughout Texas, across the U.S. and in South Africa.

 

Dr. Dobson has worked with traumatized and maltreated children for more than 15 years.  Her experience includes clinical work with children and families, program development and implementation, training, consultation and conducting research in the area of childhood trauma, abuse and neglect, secondary traumatic stress, and the long-term effects of foster care on children and adolescents.  Dr. Dobson is currently responsible for coordinating the research activities within the CTA.  She is an experienced speaker having been invited to present at regional, national and international conferences with a focus on the impact of trauma and maltreatment on the developing child, violence in childhood, children in foster care,  secondary traumatic stress and ethical issues related to working with children and families.

 

Prior to taking on the role as Director of Program for the CTA, Dr. Dobson worked as part of the CTA clinical team and was on faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine.   She participated in the assessment and treatment of children and families impacted by traumatic events.  She was also the Program Director for the CTA Core Assessment Process, a program designed to provide early assessments of children and families within the child protective system in Texas.  Dr. Dobson had previously been the director of the Children's Crisis Care Center, a program of Harris County Children's Protective Services, that provided early assessments for more than 1,500 children and families as year.   

 

Dr. Dobson received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, LA and a Master's of Science Degree in Sociology from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.  She completed her Master's of Social Work and Ph.D. in Social Work at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL.