Child Adolescent Trauma Treatment Training Institute
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Ginny Sprang, Ph.D, Executive Director
Ginny Sprang, Ph.D., is a Professor in 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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Otto Kaak, M.D., Associate Director Dr. Kaak is a Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Social Work at the University of Kentucky, where he has worked since 1972. He is currently an Associate Director of the University's Center on Trauma and Children, and primarily assists in evaluating families, referred by the Courts and Cabinet for Families and Children, with open, substantiated cases of abuse or neglect. Dr. Kaak conducts numerous workshops and trainings across the Commonwealth, related to the subjects of Attachment, Brain Development, and Treating Behavior Disordered Children. He is a member of the American Academy of Chilld and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the former Director of the University's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division. He instituted and directed the University's Triple Board Residency Training Program for fifteen years. |
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Michelle Staton-Tindall, Ph.D., MSW, Faculty Associate
Michele Staton-Tindall, Ph.D., MSW, is a faculty associate of the Center on Trauma and Children. She is an Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work and also serves as a faculty associate with the UK Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. Dr. Staton-Tindall has collaborated with CTAC researchers on the Drug Endangered Child study, a pilot project to investigate the consequences of caregiver substance use and related criminal justice involvement on children and families. She is the chair of the CTAC Research Workgroup and is working with the team to develop new Center initiatives, grants and seminal publications. Dr. Staton-Tindall is currently the Principal Investigator for a SAMHSA funded CSAT TCE evaluation project focused on enhancing substance abuse services for women who are pregnant, parenting, or post-partum and their children. She is also the PI on the Criminal Justice Kentucky Substance Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (CJKTOS). Her research interests include substance use, criminal justice treatment, and the impact of substance abuse on children and families. |
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Angela Combs, M.S., LPA, LPCC
Angela Combs, M.S., LPA, LPCC, Therapist and Trainer, completed her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology at the University of Kentucky. Ms. Combs has over eight years of clinical experience working with children who have been impacted by traumatic events and their families in the capacities of an individual and group therapist, in-home therapist and in assessment. As a Clinical Team Leader for the Comprehensive Assessment and Training Services (CATS) Project, Ms. Combs coordinates a multidisciplinary team of clinical social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses to conduct multidimensional assessments of maltreated children and their families. Ms. Combs is also the Educator Coordinator for the CATS Project and oversees the development and activities of students of various levels and disciplines and provides clinical supervision. As a Therapist and Trainer for the Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training Institute, Ms. Combs provides empirically-based interventions to children and families who have experienced maltreatment and training/mentoring to Regional Clinical Associates involved with this project. |
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Kathy Howe Kathy Howe is a Project Assistant for CATTTI. Kathy coordinates the collection of data across study sites and provides data management support for the CATTTI project. |
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Ashley Smith, LCSW
Ashley Smith, is a therapist in the Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training Institute and a member of the assessment team in the CATS project. Ashley earned her MSW from the University of Denver in 2007, and worked for five years as a clinical social worker in the Department of Psychiatry at Children's Hospital Colorado providing intensive inpatient services to children and adolescents ages 4 -17 years old. Ashley had extensive experience in family therapy and is trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. |
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Aimee Mau, MSW, LCSW
Aimee Mau, MSW, LCSW, Treatment and Training Specialist. Ms. Mau completed her Master of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. Prior to graduate school, Ms. Mau gained approximately six years of field experience working with children and adults whose lives were impacted by domestic violence. During graduate school, Ms. Mau was a research assistant and team member with the Comprehensive Assessment and Training Services (CATS) Project. Following graduation, Ms. Mau’s role at the CATS Project was expanded into a position as a clinical team leader where she continues to lead a multidisciplinary group of social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurses in the assessment of maltreated children and their families. As Treatment and Training Specialist for the Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training Institute (CATTTI), Ms. Mau provides empirically-based interventions to children and families who have experienced maltreatment and training/mentoring on empirically-based interventions to Regional Clinical Associates involved with this project. |
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Heather Risk, Psy.D.
Heather Risk, Psy.D., Project Director. Dr. Risk completed her Master of Science at Eastern Kentucky University and her doctoral studies at Xavier University. Dr. Risk completed an APA accredited internship at the UC Davis Children’s Hospital, CAARE Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Sacramento, California and has years of clinical experience with child and adult victims of trauma. As Project Director for the Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training Institute (CATTTI), Dr. Risk provides empirically-based treatments with victims of child maltreatment and trains other mental health professionals. Dr. Risk’s clinical interests include providing empirically supported treatments to children and families who have experienced maltreatment. |