Yale Child Study Center launched a new program in stress, adversity, and trauma, building on decades of trauma-informed care work. The program was announced in the summer of 2025, with a new faculty position created in July 2025. Following an internal search process, Carla S. Stover, PhD, stepped into the director role in December 2025.
The new program is translational, designed to connect research findings to real-world practice. It aims to address the effects of trauma and adversity on child and family development with two main areas of focus: scientific understanding of the various impacts of stress, adversity, and trauma, and the development and dissemination of effective interventions. Stover commented: “I am thrilled to be taking the helm of this broadened program and to work with the existing talented team. I am dedicated to translational science where our research efforts are designed to improve the care we provide to children and families.”
Foundational Work and Interventions
The program builds upon foundational work including the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI), an evidence-based mental health treatment co-developed by Steven Marans, PhD, with Steven Berkowitz, MD, and Carrie Epstein, LCSW-R. CFTSI is used with children and families immediately after a traumatic event and has been implemented across the United States and other countries. Stover developed Fathers for Change in 2013 for fathers with histories of intimate partner violence and substance use problems to help interrupt the cycle of family violence. She has trained practitioners throughout Connecticut to deliver the intervention and has also delivered implementation training in Florida, Missouri, and London, UK.
YCSC Chair Linda Mayes, MD, stated: “I look forward to the future of this new program, and to the implementation of Carla’s vision for tying together and moving forward our center’s long history of research and clinical work with children and families who face adversity and experience traumatic events.” Goals include advancing prevention, intervention, and training in the fields of stress, adversity, and trauma across the lifespan.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.newswise.com/articles/new-program-in-stress-adversity-and-trauma-launched-at-yale-child-study-center/?sc=rsmn