Arabella Pérez, DSW, MSW, LCSW
Assistant Clinical Professor
Location
Contact
Dr. Perez is a licensed clinical social worker and therapist of 30 years. She holds a Master's and a Doctorate Degree in Social Work from Tulane University in New Orleans. She is a native Spanish speaker and the daughter of parents from Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Prior to joining UNE, Dr. Perez was a system of care director from 2005-2015, leading three Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants for the state of Maine and the founder of a non-profit, THRIVE a technical assistance center for trauma-informed care. She is a graduate of the Hanley Leadership Development program and was awarded the Maine NASW Agency of the Year award in 2012.
She is the 2022-2023 UNE teaching scholar on justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classroom. In addition to teaching, she provides technical assistance and consultation to states and communities on the development of trauma-informed systems and provides system of care consultation through federal site monitoring and coaching for SAMHSA. She is a certified cultural competency trainer and presents and provides consultation extensively, both locally and nationally, on Trauma Systems Change, Professional Caregiver Stress and Resiliency, Organizational Healing and Resiliency, Cultural and Linguistic Competency issues, and Leadership Coaching.
Credentials
Expertise
Cultural competency
Resiliency
Secondary trauma
Trauma
Trauma informed care
Trauma-informed educational practices
Research
Current research
Researching the Implementation of Trauma Informed Practice in Primary Care to improve patient outcomes in collaboration with the Maine Primary Care Association
Selected publications
The Building Blocks of Trauma Informed Practice. Child and Family Professional, 14(3), 15-23
Fostering Resilience and Recovery Change Package for Advancing Trauma Informed Primary Care
Council on Social Work Education's Specialized Practice Guide for Trauma Informed Social Work
Other scholarly activity
2018 The Council on Social Work Education’s Annual Conference: Community Engagement for Cultural Education Curricula
2018 The National Council for Behavioral Health: Trauma-informed Primary Care: Fostering Resilience and Recovery Learning Community
2017 Presenter at the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors: Developing Policy and Contracts with a Trauma Informed Lens
2017 Maine’s Trauma Informed Network: A Blueprint for Making Maine Services Trauma and Resiliency Informed
2014 Mental Health First Aid Trainer: Georgetown Training Institute
2012 Child Welfare Trauma-informed Toolkit Trainer: National Child Traumatic Stress
2010 Graduate of Hanley Center for Health Leadership (Institute of Civic Leadership Portland ME)
2010 California Brief Multicultural Competence Scale (CBMCS) Certified Trainer
2009 Harvard Pilgrim: Certified Culture Insight Trainer Cultural and Linguistic Competency
2009 Graduate of Georgetown: Santa Fe Leadership Academy on Eliminating Health Care Disparities
2007 Certified National Child Traumatic Stress Network Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapist
Invited plenary presentation
2018 The Council on Social Work Education’s Annual Conference: Community Engagement for Cultural Education Curricula
2018 The National Council for Behavioral Health: Trauma-informed Primary Care: Fostering Resilience and Recovery Learning Community
2017 Presenter at the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors: Developing Policy and Contracts with a Trauma Informed Lens
2016 Maine Quality Counts: Trauma-Informed Integrated Primary Care development
2015 Maine Annual ACES and Resiliency Conference; co-presenter "Trauma-informed Collaboration"
2015 San Francisco Department of Public Health Expansion on Trauma-Informed Care
2014 Monterey County California: Implementing Trauma-informed Agency Assessment (TIAA) Train the Trainer
2013 Indiana Department of Behavioral Health Services: Implementing the TIAA
2013 Missouri Youth in Transition Conference Speaker
2010 Indiana System of Care and Mental Health Association: Key Note Speaker and Consultant on TIAA
2010 Federal monitoring site visit Technical Assistance Partnership Hawaii System of Care
2010 New Community Meeting for Grantees: Panel Member on System of Care
2009 Missouri System of Care and Dept. of Mental Health Services: Trauma-Informed Care Keynote Speaker
Research interests
Implementation of Trauma Informed Care and Orgaizational Healing