Kelly Pratt

Kelly Pratt, LICSW, serves as an Associate Professor of Practice at Simmons School of Social Work and works alongside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts child welfare system, supporting the workforce in developing and engaging in best practices with children and adolescents involved in foster care and child welfare adoption systems. Pratt is known for utilizing an accessible approach without sacrificing scientific rigor to train a range of professionals, from high school students to medical professionals, on scientific and practice-based approaches to understanding and treating the neurobiological impact of trauma across the lifespan. A sought-after international speaker, consultant, and therapist, Pratt has worked with organizations across the globe, and her direct practice continues to focus on children and families who have experienced complex trauma, where she employs a combination of body-based and cognitive modalities to support healing.

As an educator, Pratt has extensive experience working with vulnerable populations, including survivors of abuse, neglect, and family violence, as well as youth involved in foster care and juvenile justice systems. She is deeply committed to bridging the gap between research and practice, ensuring that trauma-informed strategies are effectively integrated into clinical and community settings.

Education

• MSW, Boston University of Social Work
• BA, Cornell University

License/Certifications

• Massachusetts LICSW

Courses

• SW 528A Lifespan of Trauma Treatment: Children and Adolescents
• SW 528B Lifespan of Trauma Treatment: Adults and Families
• SW 418 Crisis Intervention with Children and Adolescents
• SW 566 Play Therapy
• SW 918 Certificate Program in Traumatic Stress for Child Welfare workers

Community Engagement

Pratt is deeply engaged in community work to bridge academic research with practical applications that improve outcomes for vulnerable children, adolescents, and families. She collaborates with child welfare agencies by providing trauma-informed training to caseworkers, foster parents, and staff, while also assisting in the development of evidence-based programs that support family reunification and placement stability. In the juvenile justice system, Pratt works with courts and probation services, offering expert testimony and collaboration to implement trauma-sensitive approaches, fostering youth diversion programs that offer counseling, mentorship, and restorative justice alternatives to incarceration.

Research/Creative Activities

Pratt was Curriculum Development Director and implemented all trainings for the ITTS project which was created in partnership between Simmons University's School of Social Work and the Alliance for Inclusion and Prevention to provide training resources for professionals in trauma-informed care. ITTS offers online evidence-informed training to MSW students (pre-service) through Simmons University, and to current practitioners (in-service) through AIP staff and consultants. ITTS is funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in collaboration with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). AIP is a National Center for Trauma Care in Schools, as designated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

She also served as Curriculum Developer and trainer on a project funded by the Boston Children's Hospital Community Health Initiative called the Simmons Trauma Education Project, which recruited and trained diverse trauma-specialized social workers who are committed to working with trauma-affected children and families in the Boston area post MSW graduation. Finally, she has been working on teaching and learning scholarship projects that support the mental health of social work students through integration of evidence-based self-care practices into social work course material.

Invited Trainings and Keynotes

• International Keynote: Lessons From Kids and Families: Working with the complex adaptations of traumatic stress, 2024
• Keynote: Connection, Hope and resilience: Foster Parents Appreciation night, 2024
• Mental Health For the Commonwealth Forum: The Cost of Helping: How to build a Work Life Balance with meaning
• Safety Planning in Times of Crisis, Multiple Dates in 2023
• Complex Family Systems Involving Intergenerational Sexual Abuse and Incest, Multiple Dates in 2023–2024
• Developing Resilience Among Child Welfare Workers: Practices, Strategies and Methods for Promoting Enjoyment and Value in Our Work, January–March 2023
• Developing Resilience Among Child Welfare Workers: Practices, Strategies and Methods for Promoting Enjoyment and Value in Our Work
  Fall and Winter of 2021-2022
• Keynote: Practicing Child Welfare Work During the Pandemic: New Methods for Work and Managing Secondary Traumatic Stress
  Fall and Winter of 2020-2021
• Trauma Informed Supervision Practices During a Pandemic: Strategies and Best Practices, Multiple dates in 2020-2022
• Trauma Informed Supervision, February 2020
• The neurological impact of Trauma: Connecting Theory to Practice, January 2020
• Family Based Strategies for Foster and Adoptive Families, October, 2019-2023
• Keynote: Clinical interventions with children and adolescents experiencing complex trauma, May, 2018
• Clinical Intervention Strategies within the post-adoption framework: Treating families parenting children with complex trauma, April, 2018
• Family Based Strategies for Foster and Adoptive Families, October, 2016, May 2017
• Keynote: Clinical interventions with children and adolescents experiencing complex trauma, May, 2017
• Attachment, Regulation and Competency: An integrated intervention for complex trauma, May, 2016
• Attachment, Regulation and Competency: Addressing clinical needs of complexly traumatized children and adolescents, July, 2016
• Attachment Regulation and Competency: Addressing the clinical needs of rural communities facing complex trauma, June 2016
• Addressing the needs of complex trauma within rural school districts, April, 2016
• Attachment Regulation and Competency: Integrated interventions in a clinical outpatient setting, January, 2016
• Clinical Intervention Strategies within the post-adoption framework: Treating families parenting children with complex trauma, January, 2016
• Attachment, Regulation and Competency: An integrated intervention for community mental health settings, July, 2015
• Attachment, Regulation and Competency: Clinical interventions with Refugee families, March, 2014
• Keynote Clinical interventions with children and adolescents experiencing complex trauma, January, 2014
• Attachment, Regulation and Competency: An integrated intervention for complex trauma, October 2013
• Developing Trauma Informed Levels of Care for Adolescents in Vermont School Settings. August, 2013
• Attachment Regulation and Competency: Integrated interventions in a Residential Setting for Adolescents. August 2013
• Attachment Regulation and Competency: A Framework for providers. July 2013 2 day training presented at the International Trauma Conference, Massachusetts
• Developmental Trauma Framework: An intervention framework for providers working with Commercially Exploited Youth, June 2013
• The Impact of Trauma on Development., April 2013
• Addressing the clinical needs of children and adolescents with complex trauma, December 2012
• Understanding Complex Trauma: A Framework for Treating Developmental Trauma with Juvenile Justice youth, November, 2012
• Developing Trauma Informed Levels of Care for Adolescents in School Setting: Education Surrogate Best Practices, October, 2012
• Ongoing training for special education teachers and direct care staff on Behavioral Adaptations to Complex Trauma, Fall-Winter 2012
• Developmental Trauma Framework: An intervention framework for building resiliency, June 2012
• Understanding and Treating Complex Trauma in Children and Adolescents
  September 2010 - June 2011
• Understanding Complex Trauma: A Framework for Treating Developmental Trauma
  September 2011
• Attachment Regulation and Competency: An ARC informed Direct Care and Milieu Approach, February 2011

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

• National Child Traumatic Stress Network NCTSN
• National Association of Social Workers NASW

Awards

• Provost’s Award for Excellence in Graduating Teaching, September 2023