Dr. Pearl Berman, Dr. Maureen McHugh, and Dr. Christian Vaccaro, in conjunction with MARTI and the IUP Center for Applied Psychology, are organizing the Inaugural REACH Conference, titled "Understanding and Responding to Violence and Trauma: A Community Health Initiative."

The conference, which will take place May 20-23, 2014, at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), will focus on research about preventing, responding to, and coping with violence and trauma in a variety of contexts, including familial, academic, medical, work-related, and military. This interdisciplinary conference includes panels on research and skill-building as well as panels organized according to sub-themes. This conference is the most current and practical research and training program on the latest issues and intervention techniques for understanding and responding to violence and trauma.

You can see more of the conference presentations at our preliminary conference schedule.

The conference will also feature keynote speakers:

  • David Finkelhor , director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center - Renowned advocate and expert on child victimization, child maltreatment, and family violence
  • Ed Gondolf , former director of Research at MARTI - Founding president of Domestic Abuse Counseling Center of Pittsburgh and expert evaluator of batterer intervention programs
  • Coreen Farris , associate behavioral scientist at the Rand Corporation - Expert researcher on military sexual trauma, and program evaluator for psychological health following a military deployment
  • Nan Stein , senior research scientist at Wellesley Centers for Women - Director of national research projects on sexual harassment, gender violence, and bullying in schools.
  • Victor Veith , director of the National Child Protection Training Center - Acclaimed trainer of child-protection professionals on numerous topics pertaining to child abuse investigations, prosecutions, and prevention

Also Featuring:

  • A nationally recognized faculty
  • Approximately 25 C.A.C. (certified addiction counselor credits)
  • Three academic graduate credits available ( IUP tuition is charged )
  • IUP Continuing Education Units available
  • PA-LSW credits pending
  • ACT 48 credits approved
  • MARTI is an NBCC-approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEPTM) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for events (or programs) that meet NBCC requirements. Sessions (or programs) for which NBCC-approved clock hours will be awarded are identified in the program bulletin (or in the catalogs or website). The ACEP is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.
  • CRCC credits pending
  • MARTI is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. MARTI maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Those interested in attending the conference can register for either single day or full conference options.

Also available: 3 Academic Credits through IUP

For more information, please contact Dr. Christian Vaccaro at cvaccaro@iup.edu and visit the REACH Conference website.

Follow us on Twitter: @IUPREACH