After over a decade of developing expertise in the area of trauma and attachment, the George Hull Centre for Children and Families is proud to announce the official launch of the Institute of Childhood Trauma and Attachment on June 14^th, 2021. This coincided with the highly successful Institute-hosted Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy conference that was held June 14 – 16^th.

Since its formation in September 2019, the Institute has been elevating practice in child and youth-serving sectors by ensuring excellence in clinical practice, leading training and conferences, and by furthering research. All with the goal of improving the lives of traumatized children and their families.

The Institute’s staff and advisory board include leaders in their fields; Dr. Dan Hughes, founder and developer of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Dr. Faye Mishna, former Dean and current professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, Dr. Jim Worling, Clinical and Forensic Psychologist specializing in adolescents who sexually offend, Dr. Sian Phillips, Psychologist and DDP trainer, and Institute Director, Leticia Gracia, an MSW,​ who has a background in developing and implementing high quality clinical programs to treat the most complex of cases.

“We are thrilled to be able to be in the unique position of being able to develop innovative approaches to identifying trauma, such as the Child and Adolescent Screener for Traumatic Exposure and Response (CASTER®), develop and test best practices to better identify and treat traumatized children and families in our centre, and bring these best practices to other organizations and clinicians.” Leticia Gracia, Director of the Institute of Childhood Trauma & Attachment

Watch the Institute’s lighthearted launch video: