(Meal provided by Dickey’s BBQ)

JEFFREY WHERRY, Ph.D., ABPP

Director TASK Program- Child Abuse in East Texas and the TASK Program

Jeff completed his Ph.D. at the University of Southern Mississippi, and he earned the Diplomate in Clinical Psychology awarded by the American Board of Professional Psychology.  He has worked with residential populations, foster children, and with outpatients.  Jeff was the CEO of Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis, where he also was involved in training, outpatient work with sexually abused children, and research.  He has been a tenured professor at four universities. He directed the Research Institute of the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center.  He currently is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler.  UT Health Science Center has received $1.6 million dollars annually to create a child abuse program.  The purpose of the program (the East Texas Trauma and Abuse Services for Kids [TASK]) is to work with universities and non-profits to train multiple disciplines in evidence-based practice for working with abused children and their families.  Currently, Jeff also is serving as the PI on a grant which funds the training of clinicians across the country in evidence-based assessment of abused children.  Jeff was named as an “Integrated Scholar” at Texas Tech University, and he received the “Outstanding Professional Award” in 2013 from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.  His professional interests include sexual abuse, PTSD, assessment, and treatment.  Jeff has published over 40 journal articles; has made over 250 presentations; and has received foundation and grant support in excess of $8.0 million.  He and his wife of 43 years are proud parents of a daughter and two marvelous granddaughters. He is a bowhunter, bladesmith, and bluegrass fan.