I have worked in the field of interpersonal and combat-related trauma for over 30 years as an educator, supervisor, independent practitioner, researcher, and consultant to women's shelters, rape crisis centers, and child advocacy centers. I am currently a professor in the Department of Counseling at Sam Houston State University. I have presented my research in national, regional and state conferences related to ACA, APA, and AAMFT. My current clinical and research focus is interpersonal trauma, intimacy violence, and complex trauma with women and children. My private practice largely is comprised of female victims of childhood trauma and intimacy partner violence, who are also included in my research. I am involved in a current study with women who have been exposed to trauma and especially complex trauma as children and adolescents who present with overwhelming and longstanding symptoms. Dissociation is a major symptom with this population and is a critical consideration in the development of the therapeutic alliance, which is an important predictor of counseling outcome.