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 that offers a master's program in coercive control.
In 2022 I completed my master's dissertation and research, which was a mixed-methods study to validate The Quicksand Model® of Coercive Control. I hold certifications in
Executive Leadership in Violence & Abuse Prevention from the University of Pennsylvania,
ADA Advocacy from
Equal Access Advocates, Human Rights Consultancy from the
US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights, 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 BioPsychoSocial 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 abuse. 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, human rights 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 that I created, and continue to develop, using evidence-based research, simplifies the complex and nuanced nature of the malevolent strategy of coercive control, allowing organizations, businesses, communities, families, schools and social groups to detect, intervene in, and prevent coercive control wherever it may arise.
Most experts in domestic abuse and/or coercive control are either professionally educated experts or experts with lived experience. I have been fortunate (and unfortunate) to have had coercive control educational expertise and lived experience expertise in coercive control, with lived experience in several areas where coercive control is prevalent. This gives me a unique and well-rounded perspective on the relationships between trauma, abuse, addiction, personality disorders, parenting, group dynamics and coercive control. These connections are on the cutting edge of mental health, domestic abuse, coercive control, trauma-informed care and neuroscience.
