Child Trauma Institute Inc

Hi, I'm Ricky Greenwald, clinical psychologist and founder/director of Trauma Institute & Child Trauma Institute. 

Early history: I left the musician life in the local contradance scene in the late 1980's to go to psychology grad school. In 1992 learned EMDR -- then a breakthrough trauma resolution procedure -- and wrote my dissertation on using it with children.

This is serious stuff. If people are traumatized and not treated, they may be facing a lifetime of dysfunction, potentially including substance abuse, relationship problems, school failure, anger, anxiety, depression, violence, or suicide. Yet this EMDR routinely helped people to heal in a matter of minutes (or sometimes up to an hour or two, for a given memory). It worked so well that, as one of the world's first EMDR/child experts, I developed a sense of responsibility and mission. Conducted studies, wrote books, gave workshops... worked long hours for a lot of years!

Post-911 did a lot of work training counselors in the NYC school system. The training program was so successful that I founded Child Trauma Institute soon after, to disseminate the training more widely. The name "Trauma Institute" was later added to reflect that our training applies to working with adults as well as kids. We now have 10 trainers and others working their way up.

Cutting edge again... A few years ago, I developed a new trauma resolution method (PC) that is about as efficient, effective, and well-tolerated as EMDR while being much easier (and less expensive) for therapists to learn. So we've been researching this, and we now have several published papers on PC, including a controlled comparison study. We now include PC in most of our multi-day training programs.

Our training programs are highly regarded and have been given in over a dozen countries. We also provide training annually at below market rate in the Pioneer Valley, and have applied for grant funding to further lower the tuition for those who work in schools, agencies, and hospitals.

I just came back (Nov 2012) from providing the foundational 5-day training for a multi-country disaster response team in the Caribbean. At the end, one participant stood up and said, "I came only expecting to learn a few new skills. I did -- but I also received real healing on one of my own issues. This stuff works, and I'm going to use it with every one of my clients."

What makes our treatment and training so special?

• Our treatment approach is among the most efficient and effective available, is readily accepted by clients, and routinely leads to profound healing and lasting change.
• Our treatment model was developed and tested with challenging real-world clients, and is supported by three published studies.
• Our training approach is highly effective, and those who take the training go on to use the interventions with their clients. It also research-supported and has been emulated by trauma trainers worldwide.

 

Where you come in: Because so much of our work is either pro bono or below cost, we need your help to carry on. Your donation will be used to train more therapists, to get the treatment to those who need it, in the Valley and around the world.

Thank you for your consideration. I promise that your donation will matter and be well used. You can help us to heal the world!

...and some day, if you or a loved one needs some help, the odds of getting it will be that much better.