2022 Presenters

Dr. Jill Levenson is a Professor of Social Work at Barry University in Miami, FL.  She is a SAMHSA-trained trauma-informed care instructor, and Lead Coordinator for the Trauma-informed Training Initiative at Barry’s Center for Human Rights & Social Justice.  She has published 6 books & over 100 articles, many about sexual offending treatment, prevention policies, and trauma-informed care in forensic and criminal justice settings. She co-authored the book: Trauma Informed Care: Transforming treatment for people who have sexually abused, with Gwenda Willis and David Prescott.

Dr. Levenson is a licensed clinical social worker in Florida, counseling survivors and perpetrators of sexual assault and interpersonal violence, and others with trauma-based

disorders.  She has provided TIC training in 20 states, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. 

David B. Wexler, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in private practice in San Diego, specializing in the treatment of relationships in conflict.  He is the Executive Director of the non-profit Relationship Training Institute, which provides education and treatment internationally for relationship development and the prevention and treatment of relationship violence.  He has also served as the Clinical and Administrative Supervisor for the NIMH-sponsored research study of domestic violence in the Navy from 1991 through 1996, and again from 2001 through 2006. 

Dr. Wexler is the author of #MeToo-informed Therapy: Counseling Approaches for Men, Women, and Couples (with Holly B. Sweet, 2021), When Good Men Behave Badly: Change Your Behavior Change Your Relationship (2004), and Is He Depressed or What?  What to Do When the Man You Love is Moody, Irritable, and Withdrawn (2006), and Men In Therapy: New Approaches for Effective Treatment (2009.  Dr. Wexler has been featured on the Dr. Phil show and the TODAY show, in the Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, “O” magazine, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Men’s Health, and on hundreds of radio and TV programs throughout North America to help educate the public about relationships in conflict and how to resolve them.  Psychotherapy Networker devoted an entire issue to issues of men in therapy in May/June 2010 built around Dr. Wexler’s feature article.

Dr. Wexler has authored an internationally-recognized domestic violence treatment manual: the newly revised and updated The STOP Program—Fourth Edition, released by W.W. Norton in March 2020.  More than 60,000 domestic violence offenders have now been treated in the STOP Program. 

Dr. Wexler has trained thousands of community professionals, military personnel, and law enforcement officials through extensive training seminars on The STOP Program model throughout the world.  He has also recently published the ground-breaking STOP Program: For Women Who Abuse (Norton, 2016).  He is also the former Chairman of the Treatment & Intervention Committee of the San Diego Domestic Violence Council and has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award for Treatment by this Council.  The California Psychological Association has also designated Dr. Wexler as a Master Lecturer and he received CPA’s Distinguished Contribution to Psychology award.  Dr. Wexler also received the prestigious award of Practitioner of the Year from the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity, a division of the American Psychological Association.

The U.S. Navy contracted with Dr. Wexler to design an innovative intervention program for the prevention of date and acquaintance rape. TRUE CONSENT: Sexual Assault Awareness Training for Men was administered to 50,000 incoming Navy recruits annually at Great Lakes Naval Training Center as part of a four-year research study on prevention of sexual violence in the Navy.

Dr. Wexler has also consulted in hundreds of forensic cases and testified as an expert witness in over 50 cases in which the understanding of domestic violence offender characteristics, domestic violence patterns in relationships, PTSD, issues involving traumatic bonding, and battered women’s syndrome (now known as “intimate partner battering and its effects”) can help the Court clarify the complex legal issues.  He has testified extensively for both Prosecution and Defense, in both criminal trials and civil cases, and in both military and civilian courts.

To contact Dr. Wexler or other RTI faculty about professional training or consultation, please go to the RTI website at www.RTIprojects.org or contact him directly at dbwexler@gmail.com.

Dr. Apryl Alexander is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. Her research and clinical work interests include violence and victimization, human sexuality, sexual offending, and trauma-informed and culturally informed practice. She is an award-winning researcher and her work has been published in several leading journals, including the Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, Child Maltreatment, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, and Sexual Abuse. Most recently, she received the 2021 Lorraine Williams Greene Award for Social Justice from Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service) of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Alexander has been interviewed by numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, USA Today, and NBC Nightly News, about her research and advocacy work.

Richmond Parsons is a nationally recognized trainer with more than thirty years of experience in probation and parole. Richmond is co-owner of RAN Customized Training and Consulting and is a Chief Adult Probation Officer in Pennsylvania. He has conducted trainings nationally for probation and parole, law enforcement, and treatment providers on topics such as sex offender management/treatment and cyber-sex offenders. He is one of the founding fathers of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (MARATSA). He is also a recipient of the Matty Muir Leadership Award which recognized his contributions to victims of sexual assault. 

Nicholas Honyara is currently the supervisor of a Sexual Offenders Unit. He received his Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from West Chester University. He has been working in Community Corrections for over 15 years and has held various positions within the department. He has trained probation officers from across the country in supervising sexual offenders. He is currently a member of a Sexual Assault Task Force, the Middle Atlantic Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. 

Brad Watts is an outpatient therapist for Childhelp in Knoxville, TN, specializing in treatment of survivors of complex trauma as well as treating individuals and families where sibling sexual abuse has occurred. He is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, “Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Guide to Confronting America’s Silent Epidemic.” In Knoxville Brad consults agencies on the development of adolescent sex offender programs and curriculum. Brad conducts trainings and workshops across the United States on how to identify and respond to sibling sexual abuse. He works as an advocate for families where sibling sexual abuse has occurred, making many media appearances on podcasts, radio, and television interviews in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Brad spent five years working at Hallmark Youthcare in Richmond where he spent a year managing its TSAY program.

Dr. Dennis received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1980. He was a psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at James Madison University from 1981-1989, and then in the private practice of clinical and forensic psychology in Harrisonburg, Virginia, from 1986 until 2003. He served as the director of the Shenandoah Valley Sex Offender Treatment Program and conducted forensic evaluations of sex offenders all over the Commonwealth. He served on legislative work groups that established Virginia’s sex offender registry and the Sexually Violent Predator statute. He lectured at the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy at the University of Virginia on the forensic evaluation of sex offenders since 1992-2021. Dr. Dennis was named the Clinical Director of the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation when it opened in December 2003, a position he held until 2010. In 2010 he served as VCBR’s Director of Forensic Services. He oversaw the preparation of annual review reports of Sexually Violent Predators, wrote many of those reports, and testified at annual review hearings. He retired from that position in 2019 and now serves as a forensic psychologist for VCBR and consults with the Office of SVP Services.  

Lorie A. Goeser , BA, ICS, CASC, COTA is an experienced substance abuse counselor and clinical supervisor with over 30 years in the field.  Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology- focus on Criminal Justice from University of WI -Madison., Associate Degree in Occupational Therapy and a specific University of WI Madison counselor training program.  Her specialty has been working with criminal justice clients and challenging clients.  She has 7 years of institutional program development and delivery of substance abuse assessments, individual and group counseling for the State Of WI- Sand Ridge Tx Center upon it’s opening for civilly committed sex offenders whom have met the criteria risk criteria for Sexually Violent Person Commitment for Chapter 980 in WI.   

She has been fortunate to have extensive training by Dr. David Thornton, Robert D. Hare (PCL-R training), Dr. Norman Hoffman and Dr. Michael M. Miller.  

She has been trained in evidence-based practices such as Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Person- Centered Service Planning, MRT, Trauma Responsive Services, and standardized assessments such as SUDDS-VI, ASAM Criteria and ASI. She has worked in outpatient settings, inpatient medical hospital setting, community-based services, correctional settings and as a liaison in ER services for assessment and accessing services for the criminal justice client with multiple co-occurring diagnosis.  Having completed over 1000 assessments and 10,000 hours of group therapy sessions.  She has provided trainings on EBP, processes, professional skill development, mentoring and supporting policy changes to enhance quality in the substance abuse services field.