Laurie Sigalos, MA, CCR, CTS, CA

Laurie Sigalos, MA, CCR, CTS, CA Email Address: [email protected]

Ms. Sigalos is a Certified Crisis Responder, Instructor, and Victim Advocate with advanced standing, credentialed by the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA). Ms. Sigalos is also a Certified Trauma Specialist, credentialed by the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists (ATSS). She has twenty years experience in traumatic stress, crisis intervention and victim advocacy. She is a Community Crisis Responder, specializing in providing crisis intervention, post trauma counseling and education to children, adolescents and adults affected by traumatic stress and violent crime. She has more than twelve years experience in program development, implementation, and management. She is an active member of NOVA, ATSS, the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and the Employee Assistance Professionals Association.

Ms. Sigalos received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Deviant Behavior and Social Control from The City University of New York at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with minors in law and sociology and a specialization track in reintegration. She completed independent research programs on Domestic Violence, Rape Trauma Syndrome and Crisis Intervention as an undergraduate student. Ms. Sigalos received her Master of Arts Degree in Forensic Psychology from the City University of New York at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, completing additional independent research programs for crisis intervention and post trauma counseling for victims of violent crime as a graduate student. She is a lifetime member of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society for Psychology. Ms. Sigalos completed her graduate clinical experience in the Bergen County New Jersey Psychiatric Emergency Screening program, focusing on forensic assessment of dangerousness for children, adolescents, and adults.

Ms. Sigalos received specialized training in the areas of Traumatic Stress, Crisis Intervention, Violent Crime Victimization, Child Abuse, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Homicide, Stalking, Workplace Violence, Community Crisis Response, Emergency Management, School Crisis Response Teams, Children Exposed to Trauma and Violence, among many other topics related to the subject field. She has also completed the following educational endeavors: John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Professional Security Management Certificate, Office for Victims of Crime’s Leadership and Professionalism Development Institute, NJ Division of Criminal Justice’s Grant Budgets and Fiscal Management training, NOVA’s Coordinating a Community Crisis Response Team training (Basic, Advanced, and Train the Trainer), Certificate for Dispute Resolution, Certification for Rape Crisis Confidentiality, Project Phoenix’s (FEMA) Introduction and Advanced Concepts in Disaster Mental Health and Crisis Counseling, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation’s Basic, Individual/Peer, Advanced, Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction trainings.

She is a published author and nationally recognized speaker. She has been a presenter, guest lecturer and instructor on more than 450 occasions for institutions such as the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, Federal Bureau of Investigation, State Attorney Offices of New York, New Jersey and Ohio, State Offices of Victim Witness Advocacy, Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute, New York City Police Department, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Caldwell College, and Bergen Community College as well as numerous local, statewide and national conferences. For five years, she managed EAP America, a nationwide Employee Assistance Program. She is a Behavioral Health and Risk Management Consultant for numerous private corporations, educational institutes and EAP services, providing crisis preparedness, trauma response services and educational seminars. Ms. Sigalos serves in a consultative preparedness and responsive capacity in the event of local, state and federal disasters. She has served in the capacity of Team Leader for multiple crisis response efforts, such as the terrorist attacks of September 11th, floods, hurricanes, fires, bank robberies, and airline disasters. Most recently she has written training manuals entitled “Psychological Aspects of Disaster” and “Workplace Violence: Assessment,

Laurie Tellefsen-Sigalos, MA, CCR, CTS, CA; Page 1 of 2 Intervention and Resolution” which are utilized for human resources professionals in privately owned corporations.

Ms. Sigalos has presented, instructed and provided expert witness testimony on topics including Traumatic Stress, Stress Management, Crisis Intervention, The Effects of Trauma on Children, Stalking, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Violent Crime Victimization, the criminal justice system, victim’s rights and laws affecting victims of violent crime. Ms. Sigalos has published several journal articles on the topic of stalking and has written materials incorporated in New York and New Jersey for agency publications, fact-sheets and websites on similar topics. Ms. Sigalos was a certified police instructor for the State of New Jersey Police Training Commission and has provided training to police officers, academy recruits, attorneys, and judges in New York and New Jersey. She is a Certified Instructor for the Basic and Advanced Models of Community Crisis Response Team training by the NOVA. Ms. Sigalos was one of the first recipients of NOVA’s nationally recognized credentialing as a victim advocate with advanced standing.

Ms. Sigalos has extensive experience working with victims of violent crime and trauma, including twelve years managing programs based within the criminal justice system. Ms. Sigalos’ professional experience includes positions as: Director of Corporate Services and Trauma Response for Care Plus NJ Inc, Coordinator of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office of Victim Witness Advocacy, Coordinator for New York State’s first Anti-Stalking Unit and Counseling Center at the District Attorney’s Offices in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, and Coordinator for the first victim advocacy programs based in family court children’s centers in the boroughs of New York City. For nine years she volunteered as a Rape Crisis and Victims of Violent Crime Advocate in Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York, providing immediate crisis intervention for survivors of sexual assault presenting to hospital emergency rooms. Ms. Sigalos’ direct experience in providing traumatic stress interventions is exemplified through her 2002 creation of the Trauma Response Team, which responds 24 hours daily to hundreds of children, adolescents, and adults each year who are survivors or witnesses to traumatic events in the Northern New Jersey and New York Metropolitan regions. She is the founding/current director and a Trauma Response Clinician for the Trauma Response Teams and is also a Trauma Clinician/Clinical Consultant for numerous private entities. For three years, Ms. Sigalos served as the designated Trauma Consultant/Educator for the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs in Bergen, Morris and Hudson Counties.

Ms. Sigalos continuously collaborates with local, County, State and Federal government agencies, numerous child social service agencies, prosecutorial and law enforcement agencies, victim services programs, educational systems, offices of emergency management, hospitals, advocates and private corporations. She also organizes and provides ongoing training and educational opportunities for social service providers, first responders, mental health professionals, advocacy programs, and private corporations. She has participated in the following collaborative and networking efforts: Bergen County Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Bergen County Crime Victims Rights Week Planning Committee, Bergen County Domestic Violence Working Group, Bergen County Prosecutor’s World Trade Center Victims Advisory Board, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Alumni Association, New Jersey Association of Crime Victim Advocates, New Jersey Victims of Crime Compensation Board Crime Scene Repair Advisory Committee, Paramus Crisis and Disaster Response Team Member, Society for Human Resource Management, State of NJ/NOVA World Trade Center 9-11 Crisis Response; Team Member and Bergen County Facilitator, the Violence Against Women Project Advisory Committee and New Jersey Anti Human-Trafficking Coalition.

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