Strength at Home - Relationship Strengthening Programs for Veterans

12 Session
Men's Program

The primary goals of this program are to help veterans and service members of any conflict era improve anger management skills and prevent arguments and conflict in intimate relationships.
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10 Session Couple's Program

The primary goals of this program are to help OEF/OIF military couples strengthen their relationship, increase feelings of closeness and happiness, and to prevent arguments and conflict.
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About Us | Our Staff | Press

Program Developers:

	Casey Taft, Ph.D., is a staff psychologist at the National Center for PTSD in the VA Boston Healthcare System, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Taft was the 2006 Chaim Danieli Young Professional Award winner from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and the 2009 Linda Saltzman Memorial Intimate Partner Violence Researcher Award winner. Dr. Taft currently serves as principal investigator on funded grants focusing on understanding and preventing relationship conflict through NIMH, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Department of Defense.
	Tracie Shea, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. She is a staff psychologist at the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders Clinic and Director of PTSD Research at the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Shea’s current research is focused on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans. Her PTSD research includes adapting and pilot testing a treatment for PTSD-related anger problems and examination of the early longitudinal course and risk factors for PTSD in veterans returning from deployment in Iraq. Her research has also focused on Personality Disorders (PD), including a multi-site study of the longitudinal course of PDs.

Candice M. Monson, Ph.D., is one of the foremost experts on intimate relationship functioning and PTSD and the use of conjoint therapy in treating traumatic stress reactions. She is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario. Prior to this, Dr. Monson served as Deputy Director of the Women's Health Sciences Division of the VA National Center for PTSD and continues to collaborate with colleagues as an Affiliate. Her primary research focus is on the development, testing, and dissemination of treatments for PTSD. Dr. Monson has co-authored Cognitive Processing Therapy: Veteran/Military Version, and is the primary developer of Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD.

Patricia A. Resick, Ph.D., is the Director of the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System. She is a Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at Boston University. She has developed and tested Cognitive Processing Therapy, an effective short term treatment for PTSD and corollary symptoms. She has published four books and over 150 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Resick has served on the editorial boards of eight scientific journals and has been elected President of both the International Society for Traumatic Stress and the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy (now ABCT). Dr. Resick has received numerous awards for her research in the field of PTSD and has been leading a national VA initiative to disseminate Cognitive Processing Therapy throughout the country.

Christopher Murphy, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He also directs the New Behaviors Program at the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County, Maryland, a comprehensive clinical training, service, and research program focused on perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Dr. Murphy’s research focuses on cognitive-behavioral and motivational treatments for abusive behavior in intimate adult relationships, factors that predict successful response to partner violence treatment, emotional abuse in relationships, and the links between intimate partner violence and the use of alcohol and drugs. This work has been supported by the grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dr. Murphy has authored more than 50 articles and book chapters on the topic of intimate partner violence.

Outreach:

Coordinator:

Amy Rachiele, is a military spouse who has spent many years in the family program sector of the RI National Guard. She has worked previously with families facing deployment and separation issues as well as families of the Fallen. She holds a Master's degree from Rhode Island College in English and Secondary Education. She devoted 10 years to teaching at-risk students in the Providence School System.

Associate:

Paul Darcy, is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, US Army. He served for 21 years on active duty as an infantry officer in a variety of both command and staff positions. His last assignment, prior to retirement, was as the Senior Army Advisor to the Rhode Island National Guard. He has a Master of Military Arts and Sciences degree from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a Master of Arts in Speech and Communication from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Staff Members:

Suzannah Creech, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow on the Strength At Home staff at the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division, Boston VA. Her clinical and research interests are in women veterans with MST and prevention of re-victimization after sexual assault as well as the physical health consequences of traumatic events. She received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Texas A&M University and completed her residency specializing in PTSD and Women’s Issues at the Medical College of Georgia. She then completed a 2 year fellowship in PTSD at Brown Medical School before joining the Strength at Home team.

Elizabeth Sevin, B.S, is a clinical interviewer on the Strength at Home staff at the Providence VA Medical Center. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from William Smith College, has worked for the past six years in research focused on veterans with PTSD at Brown University and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Social Work at Rhode Island College. Her clinical and research interests include trauma and PTSD.

Jamie Howard, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow on the Strength At Home staff at the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division, Boston VA. Her clinical and research interests are in the effects of PTSD on family functioning, particularly parent-child and intimate partner interactions. She received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University and completed her internship at The Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology, focusing on assessment and treatment of trauma in both children and OEF/OIF veterans.

Alexandra Macdonald, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow on the Strength At Home staff at the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division, Boston VA. Her clinical and research interests are in the overlap between, and treatment of, PTSD and substance abuse disorders. She received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Boston University and completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship in PTSD assessment, treatment and research in Charleston, SC at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Emily Maguire, B.A., is a research assistant on the Strength At Home staff at the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division, Boston VA. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Boston College. Her clinical and research interests include PTSD and domestic violence. She plans on pursuing a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology.

Jennifer G. Torres, B.A., is a research assistant on the Strength At Home staff at the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division, Boston VA. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Her clinical and research interests include PTSD among Asian American and Pacific Islander veterans, violence and aggression, and the effect of culture on development. After her assistantship, she plans on pursuing a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology.

Brittany K. Liebsack, B.A., is a research assistant on the Strength At Home staff at the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division, Boston VA. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Her clinical and research interests include PTSD, child maltreatment, specifically child sexual abuse, as well as the relationship between trauma and substance abuse. She plans on pursuing a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.