The FSU Institute for Family Violence Studies at the College of Social Work is thrilled to share its new name, the FSU Institute for Trauma and Resilience Studies (ITRS).

“This change more accurately reflects the duality of our research and projects in maltreatment and well-being. The new name is also more closely aligned with our robust and multidisciplinary professional development curricula on FSU Learn,” said ITRS Director Karen Oehme.

Since its founding in 1996 by Sharon Maxwell Ferguson and Howell Ferguson, the institute’s mission has been to prevent domestic violence and support the field of child welfare. The institute’s current director, Karen Oehme, began work as the first program director of the Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation, a project funded by the Department of Children and Families to support supervised visitation providers. She was later appointed director of the institute in 2007 after the retirement of Dr. Maxwell and Dr. Wendy Crook, the second director.

Ms. Oehme expanded the institute’s mission from domestic violence prevention and training to addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences and trauma across the lifespan for a variety of populations, resulting in numerous toolkits, trainings, and research publications. In 2018, the institute expanded its research to focus on resilience and well-being. The same year, it launched the first online professional development course in trauma and resilience and the FSU Student Resilience Project to benefit the entire FSU campus community (strong.fsu.edu). The project became a national model.

The institute’s team has received numerous productivity awards, now called the Florida Tax Watch Productivity Awards, that publicly recognize and reward Florida citizens who make a significant and measurable contribution to productivity and promote innovation to improve the delivery of state services.

Learn about the Institute for Trauma and Resilience Studies at itrs.csw.fsu.edu.