Introducing the Vicarious Trauma ad hoc Committee

In 2022, Academy President Laura Fulginiti created an ad hoc committee on vicarious trauma to evaluate the needs of Academy members. Past President Ken Williams and current President Christopher "Kip" Thompson have offered their support of the ad hoc committee and are continuing discussions on vicarious trauma in forensic practice. AAFS now offers one month of free counseling to members through BetterHelp, a web-based counseling service that connects members with licensed therapists across the country. 

This committee aims to be of service to the entire membership of the AAFS by introducing resources that can help members cope with the trauma we see every day. The goal is to build resiliency and thrive in our careers.

We hope you will join us in our mission to speak openly about vicarious trauma in the forensic science profession. We aim to update members on a number of new initiatives, resources, and workshops here in the newsletter and in the poster session at the upcoming conference. We will be working on a survey to gain data and information on the scope of vicarious trauma within our membership. Please feel free to reach out to any committee member with questions, concerns, or suggestions. We are here for you!

Committee Members:

Katharine Pope, MA (Chair), Anthropology Section
Cynthia Cale, MS, Criminalistics Section
​Brian Gestring, MS, Criminalistics Section
James Goodrich, FFOMP, Odontology Section
Tanisha Henson, JD, General Section
Erich Junger, PhD, Criminalistics Section
​Krista Latham, PhD, Anthropology Section
Sierra Lavin, MS, Criminalistics Section
Jason Lewis, PhD, Digital & Multimedia Sciences Section
Gary C. McDonald, JD, Jurisprudence Section
Jessica Morel, DO, Psychiatry & Behavioral Science Section
​Uzoma Okafor, PhD, Toxicology Section
Daniel Petersen, PhD, Criminalistics Section
Vir Phoha, PhD, Digital & Multimedia Sciences Section
Joseph Remey, JD, Digital & Multimedia Sciences Section
Kabrena Rodda, PhD, Toxicology Section
Anita Roman, BS, General Section
Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, PhD, Digital & Multimedia Sciences Section
Joe Treviño, MS, General Section
Rebecca Wilson-Taylor, PhD, Anthropology Section

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