Workshop Faciltators:
Joan Benz, PhD is a family therapist, supervisor and family treatment coordinator at Family Resource Center where she works with victims of violence, abuse and trauma. She teaches graduate social work students at Washington University. Joan obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work and Psychology and Sociology from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD. She has an MSW from Washington University and a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy from St. Louis University. Her dissertation focused on the life experiences of adults who witnessed domestic violence as children.
Shirley Crenshaw, LCSW is a private practitioner specializing in the treatment of children with early trauma/attachment disturbances, pre-/post- adoption therapy, physical and sexual abuse, anxiety, stress and grief. She is well-versed in using a cadre of therapeutic interventions including: E.M.D.R. (Level II); Narrative; Attachment Therapy; and Psycho-educational modalities. Shirley spent 28 years working with Missouri Division of Family Services and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in multiple roles, where she provided crisis intervention counseling, investigated child abuse and neglect reports and developed service plans and goals for families. Shirley holds a B.A. in Psychology and MSW from Washington University and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Missouri.
Casey Limmer, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Safe Connections and an Adjunct Professor at Washington University, where she has been teaching Applied Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). She has developed several DBT programs over the last 10 years and has extensive experience working with traumatized young children, women and teens. As Director of Camp Dragonfly, a weekend camp for children who have lost a loved one, she created a program to improve communication, distress tolerance and emotion regulation skills of children who have experienced complex grief and trauma. She also has written and developed therapy programs for children who have witnessed a homicide and for returning veterans, both based on DBT skills and available empirical evidence.
Megan Schacht, PhD is the Clinical Manager and Assistant Clinical Professor with the Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL, and her doctoral degree with an emphasis in child clinical psychology at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. She completed a pre-doctoral internship at the Aurora Mental Health Center in Aurora, CO, where she provided psychological services with the Adolescent Intensive Outpatient team and a post-doctoral fellowship with CASGSL where she received specialized training in the use of evidence- based practices for traumatized children. She has training in many evidence-based practices used at CASGSL and has special interest in complex trauma, sexual abuse, psychological assessment of children and adolescent with trauma histories, clinical supervision, and the sustainability of evidence-based practices in clinical settings.
