Jessica L. Griffin, Psy.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), where she has been a faculty member since 2006. Dr. Griffin is an internationally known relationship expert, sought after public speaker, and national expert in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), trauma, and relationships. She has trained and provided consultation for thousands of clinicians and therapists across the United States and has led wide-scale TF-CBT dissemination efforts and pilot projects, informed by implementation science and focused on multiple settings and populations (e.g., in-home therapy, court-involved youth, transition-age youth). With funding from SAMHSA/NCTSN in 2012, as Principal Investigator and Executive Director, she developed the UMMS Child Trauma Training Center, with a focus on training, treatment, and resolving access issues youth who have experienced trauma. Within this initiative, Dr. Griffin created and piloted a highly innovative centralized referral system, LINK-KID, targeted at decreasing wait-times for youth and families to trauma-focused evidence-based treatments. Due to LINK-KID’s early successes, she and her team expanded LINK-KID to what is now a statewide capacity, serving trauma victims throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To date, under her direction, the center has trained over 100,000 professionals in trauma-informed care and trauma-responsive practices and successfully referred over 5000 youth into evidence-based treatment models. In 2020, Dr. Griffin was awarded a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant to develop the national Resilience through Relationships Center, housed at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. In 2021, Dr. Griffin became the Executive Director of Lifeline For Kids within the division of Lifeline For Families in the Department of Psychiatry.
Dr. Griffin is a clinical and forensic psychologist with a specialty in trauma and relationships. She has extensive expertise in childhood maltreatment, attachment and relationships, psychological evaluation, and divorce and custody matters. She presents regularly at local, national and international level on topics related to childhood trauma, relationships, TF-CBT, and forensic evaluation of children and families and has published journal articles and book chapters on a variety of topics related to trauma and relationships. She is a co-author of a book by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Childhood Trauma and Resilience, A Practical Guide, a go-to resource on childhood trauma for pediatrics. Recently, Dr. Griffin also authored a book for couples, Relationship Rx: Prescriptions for Lasting Love and Deeper Connection (Rowan and Littlefield Press, for release in February 2023) which addresses common problems plaguing couples with evidence-based, science-backed techniques and exercises to solve them. Dr. Griffin has received numerous awards for her work and has been featured on NPR, BBC, US News and World Report, Fox News, the Insider, Sirius XM Doctor Radio, People Magazine, Readers’ Digest, iHeartRadio, the New York Post, MedScape, the Daily Mail, and other news and media outlets. Dr. Griffin has appeared on numerous television programs, serving as an expert and consultant on several television docuseries about relationships, marriage and divorce on A&E’s Lifetime Television network, including several seasons on the hit show, Married At First Sight and related spinoffs. She has a private consulting and coaching business and is the CEO of LoveBuilder, a relationship company, which provides educational online courses to couples, singles, and parents.
Websites and Social Media Handles:
Lifeline for Kids webpage: www.umassmed.edu/lifelineforkids
Media page: www.drjessica.com
Twitter: @TheDrJessica
Instagram: @dr.jessicagriffin
Facebook: Dr. Jessica Griffin
