Behavioral Health Disaster Response Project
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Ginny Sprang, Ph.D, Executive Director
Ginny Sprang, Ph.D., is the Buckhorn Professor of Child Welfare and Children’s Mental Health at the University of Kentucky. She is a Professor, with a joint appointment in the College of Social Work, and the College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Sprang served as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado, Irving Harris Program in Child Development and Infant Mental Health during her sabbatical. Dr. Sprang is a Principal Investigator and Executive Director of the Center on Trauma and Children, a center whose mission is dedicated to the enhancement of the health and well-being of children and their families through research, service and dissemination of information about child trauma. Dr. Sprang serves as Principal Investigator for many of CTAC’s state and federal grants and contracts. She served as a member of the National Steering Committee for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), is the current Co-Chair of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Committee for the NCTSN, and is the Chair of the Terrorism and Disaster Special Interest Group of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Her scholarship focuses on the clinical, forensic and empirical aspects of traumatic stress and the efficacy and effectiveness of treatments to address the biopsychosocial impact of violence against children. Dr. Sprang has published extensively in the leading journals focusing on trauma, maltreatment, and treatment efficacy in adults and children. |
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James Clark, Ph.D, LCSW, Associate Director
James J. Clark, LCSW, Ph.D. is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky with appointments in the College of Medicine (Department of Psychiatry) and the College of Social Work, where he currently serves as Associate Dean for Research, as well as the Constance Wilson Professor of Mental Health. He has conducted funded empirical research and has published in the areas of ethics, forensic mental health, substance abuse treatment research, child welfare, and community mental health services. Since 1983, Dr. Clark has provided clinical services and organizational leadership in rural Appalachian and urban community settings. He has worked as a clinician, educator and researcher in adult and child forensic mental health, with special interest in the ongoing collaborations among law and mental health professionals and systems. Most of this work now takes place in his position as associate director of UK-CTAC, which develops and studies innovative child and family assessment programming, treatment/practice approaches, and policy advances in Kentucky, the United States, and globally. Jim serves as co-chair of the Justice Consortium for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, which provides evidence-based consultation for the development of trauma-informed justice systems. |
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Phyllis Leigh, MSW
Phyllis Leigh, MSW serves as Project Director for the Behavioral Health Disaster Response project. Ms. Leigh has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Kentucky’s College of Social Work and is a Certified Social Worker. |
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Miriam Silman, LCSW
Miriam Silman, LCSW, is a Research Assistant with the Center and an Adjunct Faculty member in the College of Social Work. She has worked in the field of interpersonal violence as a clinician for most of the last 24 years, including work at Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, the UK Department of Outpatient Psychiatry and the CATS project. |