LEFCC Trainers for 2024-2025

Anadelle Martinez-Mullen, JD - Director of the National Legal Center on Children and Domestic Violence; Battered Women’s Justice Project

Ms. Martinez-Mullen has been working in the field of violence against women for more than 20 years. She began her work in this field as an advocate assisting victims of intimate partner violence. Upon graduating law school, she practiced family law. Before coming to BWJP, she represented victims of violence in civil protection order actions. Ms. Martinez-Mullen has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Florida Coastal School of Law.

Robert Geffner, PhD, ABN, ABPP - Founder/President; Family Violence & Sexual Assault Institute, dba Institute on Violence, Abuse & Trauma

Dr. Bob Geffner is the Founding President of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute (FVSAI) dba the Institute on Violence, Abuse & Trauma (IVAT). He has a Diplomate in Clinical Neuropsychology from the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology, and is Board Certified in Couple & Family Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. Dr. Geffner is a licensed clinician (Psychologist in CA and TX, and MFT in CA) and has been a researcher, trainer, practitioner, and consultant for over 40 years.

Jessica Silsby, PsyD - Director of Clinical Training; Institute on Violence, Abuse & Trauma

Dr. Silsby is the Director of Clinical Training at IVAT for Professional Clinical and Forensic Services. She graduated with a Doctorate in Clinical Forensic Psychology and has gained expertise working with individuals who have extensive trauma. Dr. Silsby maintains a private practice focusing on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Prolonged Exposure for trauma, and working with gender-expansive youth and adults. Passion for addressing and reducing trauma exposure in clients, community, and future psychologists guides her focus.

Joan Meier, JD - Professor of Clinical Law and Director; National Family Violence Law Center, George Washington University Law School

Joan Meier, Esq., is a leading expert on domestic violence and the law, has dedicated nearly two decades to advocating for adult and child victims of abuse in the U.S. Supreme Court and state appeals courts. Her extensive work involves training legal and non-legal professionals on best practices in domestic violence cases and publishing cutting-edge research. In her role as a Professor of Clinical Law at GW Law, Professor Meier also launched and led the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP) from 2003-2019, contributing to numerous Supreme Court and state appellate cases and providing appellate representation and amicus briefs for survivors of domestic violence.

Joyanna Silberg, PhD - Executive Vice President; Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence

Dr. Joyanna Silberg is a clinical child psychologist with a specialty in sexual abuse and dissociative disorders. Her psychotherapy practice specializes in consultation for children and adolescents suffering from dissociative symptoms and disorders, supervision of clinicians, and her forensic practice specializes in child sexual abuse. Dr. Silberg has served as an expert witness in 27 states. She has presented nationally and internationally on child abuse, psychotherapy, and protecting abused children in family court and has received numerous awards for her research and clinical excellence.

Kelly Champion, PhD, ABPP - Clinical and Forensic Psychologist; Cadeus Behavioral Health

Dr. Kelly M. Champion is a clinical and forensic psychologist in Rockville Maryland dba Cadeus Behavior Health. She is board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology assessment with additional specialized training and experience in adult trauma, court involved families, school bullying and the prevention, assessment and treatment of child maltreatment. She provides individual and family treatment, assessments for the court and expert testimony. She is licensed to practice psychology in Maryland, Virginia, Iowa, and Massachusetts. Before her clinical career, she was an assistant professor. She has published papers and presented nationally and internationally on school bullying, children in the family court, trauma and evidence-based treatment.  

Luanne McKenna, JD – Deputy Legal Director; Child Justice, Inc.

Luanne McKenna has been a member of the Maryland Bar since 1995 and has extensive background in administrative, disability, and family law, including advocacy for victims of interpersonal violence. Since October 2019, Luanne has served as the Deputy Legal Director at Child Justice, Inc., whose mission is to advocate on behalf of children and their protective caregivers in family law cases where abuse or neglect is present. A trained mediator, parenting coordinator, best interest attorney, and collaborative practitioner, Luanne is experienced representing individuals who have been subjected to coercive control, and all forms of abuse and interpersonal violence. In addition to her law degree, she holds a master’s degree in clinical psychological science and a graduate psychology certificate in child and family forensics.

Paul Griffin, JD - Legal Director; Child Justice, Inc.

Paul Griffin is the Legal Director of Child Justice, Inc. He has successfully litigated and consulted on over a hundred cases involving allegations of domestic violence and/or child physical and sexual abuse. He has conducted training for other attorneys in this specialized area and has advised litigators who were trying such cases. In addition, he has given presentations before various bar organizations and child-abuse-prevention organizations on trauma, child abuse and domestic violence in family courts, and child-protective services’ role in protecting children from abuse.

Seth Goldstein, JD - Attorney at Law; Law Offices of Seth L. Goldstein

A trial consultant and attorney in private practice, Seth Goldstein, litigates family violence and child abuse issues in child custody matters. He has been practing Family Law for 29 years. In California he was the investigator and ran the Child Abuse Vertical Prosecution Unit of the Napa County District Attorney, and as a child abuse investigator with the Santa Clara County District Attorney, in San Jose. He was a police officer in Berkeley, California. He has presented at seminars and conferences throughout the USA and overseas, including lecturing at seminars for the University of Southern California, Stanford and Harvard Universities, and the FBI Academy. He has written The Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Practical Guide to Assessment, Investigation, and Intervention, 2nd Edition, CRC Press, and several articles on family violence in custody matters. He routinely testifies as an expert witness.

Stephanie Dallam, PhD - Co-founder; Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence

Dr. Stephanie Dallam is a co-founder of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence a nonprofit organization that seeks to ensure that legislative, public policy and legal decision-makers have access to the best psychological science available on issues surrounding child abuse and interpersonal violence. She has written numerous articles and book chapters on issues related to child abuse, and lectured on and conducted trainings on child custody situations involving allegations of abuse throughout the country.

Sujata Warrier, PhD - Chief Strategy Officer; Battered Women's Justice Project

Dr. Sujata Warrier is the Director of Training and TA for the Battered Women’s Justice Project, where she trains and provides technical assistance to professionals in various criminal justice systems. She has also trained extensively at the local, state, national and international levels on the issue of cultural competency for various professionals and has delivered numerous keynotes on the issue of culture, competency, relativism, and violence against women.

Tracy Shoberg, JD - Deputy Director of the National Legal Center on Children and Domestic Violence; Battered Women’s Justice Project

Tracy Shoberg, Esq. serves as the Deputy Director of the National Legal Center on Children and Domestic Violence with the Battered Women’s Justice Project, where she has provided training to numerous legal practitioners on improving their domestic violence practice. Before joining BWJP, Tracy previously represented victim-survivors of domestic violence in family law matters. When Tracy is not busy training legal professionals, she can be found at the dog park with her spouse and two Doodles.

Viola Vaughan Eden, PhD, MSW, MJ, LCSW - Professor & PhD Program Director; The Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University

Dr. Viola Vaughan-Eden is a Professor and the PhD Program Director at the Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work at Norfolk State University. She is also the President and CEO of UP For Champions, a non-profit in partnership with The UP Institute, a think tank for upstream child abuse solutions. As a clinical and forensic social worker, she serves as a consultant and expert witness in child maltreatment cases – principally sexual abuse. Dr. Vaughan-Eden lectures nationally and internationally on child and family welfare to multidisciplinary groups of professionals.