I am a domestic violence, domestic abuse and coercive control expert with a Master of Science in the Psychology of Coercive Control from the University of Salford, the only university in the world with a master’s program specific to coercive control.

In 2022 I completed my master’s dissertation and research. My mixed-methods study combined qualitative and quantitative research on The Quicksand Model® of Coercive Control. I hold certifications in Executive Leadership in Violence & Abuse Prevention from the University of Pennsylvania, Child Protection from the Institute on Violence Abuse and Trauma, a Specialty Certification for Family Court Professionals, and have been trained in the CORE program by the Safe & Together Institute (at the intersection of domestic violence and child abuse). I am also a member of the American Bar Association.

As both an expert and survivor of domestic abuse and coercive control, I have served on domestic violence task force committees, volunteered and presented for the Stop Abuse Campaign, served as Secretary of the Austin Police Department’s 99th Citizen’s Police Academy, and founded End Coercive Control USA (ECCUSA). ECCUSA is a founding partner of the International Coercive Control Conference, where I served on the Steering (and other) committees and chaired the Governance Committee in 2021. I created the Quicksand Model® of Coercive Control, which I presented during the International Coercive Control Conference in 2021 for the first time.

I consult, train, speak and offer coercive control expert witness testimony in cases that involve domestic violence, domestic abuse, coercive control and child trauma and protection. As a coercive control trainer, consultant and speaker I assist organizations in the detection and prevention of coercive control. And as an expert witness and consultant on coercive control, child trauma and protection and domestic abuse cases, I provide expert testimony and case assessments & reports for civil, criminal and family court cases.

Coercive control is a systemic problem the world over. It negatively impacts relationships, families, churches, governments, communities and organizations, as it violates our human rights. The Quicksand Model® of Coercive Control incorporates evidence-based research from the past 70 years. The Quicksand Model® simplifies the complex and nuanced nature of the malevolent strategy of coercive control. This allows organizations, businesses, communities, families, schools and social groups to detect and prevent coercive control wherever it may arise.