James Henry

Dr. James Henry is a co-founder and project director for the Western Michigan University Children's Trauma Assessment Center. He has a professional history that includes more than 17 years as a child welfare and protective services worker. He has been a professor in WMU's School of Social Work for 15 years, with a focus on developing and providing trauma-informed instruction in the social work curriculum.

Henry has published more than 20 articles in professional journals and presents at national and international conferences on the traumatic impact of child maltreatment. He is the principal investigator in three Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative grants, an Administration for Children and Families grant and the principal investigator in two federal SAFE START Initiatives for children exposed to violence. He has served on two national committees of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network that developed trauma-informed curricula for child welfare workers and resource parents. He is co-chair of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Child Welfare Committee and on the Steering Committee for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. He is a co-author of a book, "Seeking Justice," which explores best models of system intervention in child sexual abuse.

Henry has trained more than 50,000 professionals, caregivers, and community members on child maltreatment and trauma-informed practices. He recently has developed a secondary trauma training focusing on understanding the impact of secondary trauma, grief and building resiliency.