Dedicated to empowering individuals with lived experiences of human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, domestic violence, mental health challenges, substance use disorders, and incarceration, supporting them as they move forward with JOY and TENACITY to enhance their quality of life.
To live in a world where empowered survivors thrive, healing through compassionate, trauma-informed pathways that foster renewed hope and long-term recovery.
The HTCRH is completing a unique mixed method study that asked 50 participants diverse by race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation to complete Adult Attachment Interviews (AAI), multiple objective measures about people's well-being and mental health struggles, and a qualitative interview about their life experiences in commercial sex.
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and there have been numerous developments in recent years.
Stacy Reed-Barnes, PsyD, is one of the authors of the article that describes William James College’s Human Trafficking Research Hub (HTRH) open-access study titled The Roles of Adult Attachment and Complex Trauma in Sex Trafficking-Related Coercive Bonding in the journal Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. The research, conducted by a 19-member team including WJC students, alumni, and faculty across three departments, explores how traffickers use coercive tactics and how survivors’ attachment styles and trauma histories affect their ability to leave trafficking situations.
Funded by multiple organizations, the study emphasizes that survivors often exhibit great resilience, even when returning to traffickers multiple times. Those with secure attachment patterns were particularly persistent in their efforts to exit. The listed researchers in this study highlight the importance of recognizing the strength and complexity of survivors' journeys, challenging the stigma they often face from providers.
Dr. Stacy Reed-Barnes, PsyD
For inquiries into my work or my availability, please use the form to contact me. I thank you for your interest, and I will do my best to get back to you soon!
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