Known for her warmth, humor, and practical, research-based wisdom. Her work has been featured on TV, in cyberspace, and popular magazines, but she’s also a distinguished professor, licensed marriage and family therapist, and long-standing clinical member and approved supervisor in American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. She authored/co-authored six books, and has developed multiple training programs.

Biography: Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified counseling psychologist who retired from 35 years in clinical practice in Washington, DC, and is now a consultant/trainer on trauma psychology and treatment. She continues to edit and write books on trauma responses and treatment. She has written numerous articles and chapters. With Dr. Julian Ford, she has co-authored a book on the treatment of complex trauma and co-edited three other books on complex trauma in adults and children/adolescents. She is also a co-editor of Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapy for Trauma, and author of the consumer book It’s Not You, It’s What Happened to You.
Dr. Courtois was chair of the Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of PTSD in Adults for the American Psychological Association (APA, 2017). She is past president of APA Division 56 (Trauma Psychology) and has served two terms on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). Dr. Courtois founded and inpatient treatment program, The CENTER: Posttraumatic Disorders Program, in DC for which she served as Clinical and Training Director for 16 years. She has received the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Professional Practice, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Sarah Haley Award for Clinical Excellence, and most recently the American Board of Professional Psychology, 2016 Distinguished Service Award to the Profession of Psychology and the American Psychological Association Division 56 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Executive Director of the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute for Mental Health Education at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She has presented at national conferences across the country and her contributions to the field have been
acknowledged by colleagues at the local and national level, including the prestigious national Nyswander/Dole award and the Mental Health America’s George Goodman and Ruth O. Brudney Social Work Award.