Child advocacy studies

Amanda Bequette offers course work in applied psychology of child advocacy studies focusing on child advocacy, childhood traumatic stress and communication in child advocacy. Dr. Bequette also assists students with career and graduate school planning in the Advising Office.

During her doctoral study, she supported research projects focused on defining infidelity and assessing the function of self-esteem and its relationship to health behaviors. She provided support for CDC-funded projects in community preparedness and health communication. As a research faculty at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH), she wrote and evaluated federal and local grant-funded projects supporting mental health programming, early childhood social and emotional health programming, child advocacy and training in child-traumatic stress and trauma-informed programming.

She has served as a trainer at MIMH, is a member of the St. Louis Regional Suicide Prevention Coalition and is an equity advisor supported by the University of Missouri-St. Louis Advance Project.

Dr. Jerry Dunn is the executive director of Children's Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis and oversees the clinical, forensic, research and training activities of the agency's three sites. She is a licensed psychologist and is a clinical professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Her clinical and research interests involve assessment and treatment of high-risk children and their family members in community- and school-based settings. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology at UMSL. 

The course work she teaches focuses on building skills for assessment and intervention in child abuse and neglect.

Dr. Dana Klar earned her juris doctorate and master’s in social work from Washington University in St. Louis, and her bachelor’s in psychology from Louisiana State University. In her professional career, Dr. Klar has served as a forensic interviewer for cases of child sexual abuse, as a child and adolescent therapist and as a guardian ad litem and staff attorney for St. Louis County’s Family Court and Court-Appointed Special Advocate programs. As an enrolled member of the United Houma Nation in Louisiana, Dr. Klar has a significant background with, and special interest in, working with indigenous nations. 

She teaches courses focused on child advocacy policy and global issues, ethics and values, traumatic stress in childhood and adolescence, culture and child advocacy and forensic investigation in child abuse.

Dr. Matt Kliethermes earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Truman State University and his doctorate in clinical psychology at Saint Louis University. He has over 20 years of experience and extensive training in the field of child trauma. He provides direct clinical services to youth exposed to trauma, supervises mental health trainees, teaches at the undergraduate level and provides frequent training and consultation at local, state and national levels. Dr. Kliethermes is a nationally certified Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) trainer and the author of multiple book chapters and articles on TF-CBT and childhood trauma. 

His course work focuses on traumatic stress in childhood and adolescence and childhood maltreatment: a multidisciplinary approach.

Dorothy Haskell is a licensed clinical social worker who provides leadership support for both the university’s Child Advocacy Studies (CAST) program and federal grant initiatives, including project ASSIST (Access, Skills, and Support for Implementation Science in Trauma-informed Training). Project ASSIST focuses on equipping trauma-informed trainers across the country with innovative curriculum and training skills to help create a more trauma-informed workforce. Ms. Haskell earned her master's degree in social work from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. She is certified in a number of different evidence-based treatment models for children and youth with trauma histories, including Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), and Integrated Treatment for Complex Trauma (ITCT). She is an active member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, both in her role as project director and serving on the secondary traumatic stress workgroup.

Her course work includes traumatic stress in childhood and adolescence, the internship seminar and coordinating the internship in child advocacy.