August 2, 2025
Project Support Retreat!
Great news! The R00 Notice of Award officially came in from NIH! Our team is eagerly preparing to launch the Randomized Controlled Trial examining whether the Project Support Positive Parenting module is helpful to families on the waitlist for trauma treatment. Our international team spent 2 days in Charleston reviewing wins from the Pilot Trial, training in new protocols for the RCT, and learning how to support each other. By the end of this year all of our team will be trained in Stress First Aid - major thanks to the Center for Workplace Well-being at MUSC and Andrew Bacon for leading us in this important training!
July 30, 2025
Research Highlight on ISTSS Blog!
Our team's study on the needs and concerns of families on the waitlist for trauma therapy was highlighted this week on the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) Clinical Issues and Treatment, Trauma Blog!
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This was a great opportunity to really highlight the call to action for public health systems and trauma-focused clinics: we need to reframe how we think about clinic waitlists! Our team enjoyed putting together some questions for future work that we share here:
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What low-intensity interventions could be implemented by paraprofessionals to support families on the waitlist for trauma treatment?
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How can we leverage technology and electronic health record systems to provide regular check-ins on families?
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What system-level changes are needed to provide caregiver patient activation (knowledge and ability to make informed treatment decisions) for those waiting for trauma treatment?
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Our team is eager to continue this work and answer these questions. You can read more on the ISTSS Trauma Blog.
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July 23, 2025
New paper alert - first paper with K99 Data!
Our team has a new paper officially in press at the Journal of Traumatic Stress! This study examined the needs and concerns of families on the waitlist for trauma-focused treatment. We conducted interviews with providers of trauma treatment and caregivers with a child on the waitlist to ask what families need and what they are worried about while they wait. This is the first paper we have published using data we collected in our NIH-funded K99! It is also the very first study I have led using qualitative data - a whole different type of methods and analytical approach.
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Rancher, C., Winters, O., Moreland, A. D., & Smith, D. W. (2025). Caregiver and provider perspectives on the needs of families waiting for trauma therapy. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23191
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July 10, 2025
New paper alert!
New publication in Psychological Services! This study examined clinic archival data from an outpatient trauma clinic to measures predictors of preintake attrition - or drop-out from the waitlist. We found that only half of the clients on the waitlist attend their intake appointment. Certain factors assessed during the initial phone screen (demographic characteristics, index trauma, and referral source) predicted preintake attrition. We also found children who did not attend their intake spent nearly twice as many days on the waitlist compared to children who attended their intake.
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This study is exciting for several reasons. It represents a major team lift - coding clinic archival data is no joke! Major thanks are owed to clinic leadership at the National Crime Victims Center, Meg Wallace and Alyssa Rheingold. This study also really highlights the importance of our work addressing the needs of families on the waitlist for trauma treatment. Finally, this is also the first publication Owen Winters has with our team! Congratulations to Owen on this major achievement!
This study was selected to appear in the American Psychological Association (APA) Showcase on Kudos.
Rancher, C., Winters, O., Tilstra-Ferell, E., McGuire, A., Wallace, M. M., Rheingold, A. A., & Smith, D. W. (2025). Preintake attrition among children and adults waiting for trauma-focused treatment. Psychological Services, 0(0), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000973
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June 4, 2025
Randomized Controlled Trial - Approved by IRB!
We have officially received approval from the Institutional Review Board at the Medical University of South Carolina to launch our Randomized Controlled Trial examining whether the Project Support Positive Parenting module is helpful to families on the waitlist for trauma-focused services! Our team will be finalizing our training and protocols - with a goal to start recruitment in August!
Check out the ClinicalTrials.Gov listing of our study here: Examining Whether Project Support Works
April 4, 2025
Caitlin Rancher and colleagues present findings on improving access to trauma-focused services at SPPAC!
Caitlin Rancher (left), Emily Hilton (Center), and Casie Morgan (Right) delivered a series of talks centered around improving equitable access to evidence-based care among trauma exposed youth at the Society for Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference (SPPAC). Shout to Dr. Morgan for organizing and chairing this symposium!
April 1, 2025
Assistant Professor Position
Starting April 1, 2025, Dr. Caitlin Rancher will transition from K99 Postdoctoral Fellow to Assistant Professor at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. So excited about this next step and opportunity to keep collaborating with MUSC!
March 12, 2025
R00 Transition Approved!
The R00 transition was officially approved by NICHD! This will provide 3 more years of federal funding to examine the effectiveness of Project Support to enhance parenting skills, reduce distress, and increase engagement in mental health treatment. Next steps involve conducting a randomized controlled trial among families waiting to receive trauma-focused treatment for their child. The following comments from the review committee were provided by the NICHD Program Officer:
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“Dr. Rancher is a talented scientist whose K training was completed at a solid laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where her mentor Dr. Smith, provided a detailed letter highlighting her successes during the K99 phase.” “Dr. Rancher will have all the resources necessary to continue her studies on interventions to enhance supportive parenting and treatment engagement among families waiting for trauma-focused services. The Data Safety and Monitoring Plan was considered excellent”.
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January 8, 2025
New paper alert!
New publication in Child Abuse and Neglect! This study was a collaboration with colleagues at Southern Methodist University and Dallas Children's Advocacy Center. This study examined the extent to which adolescent perceptions of divine spiritual support, divine spiritual struggles, and self-blame predicted trauma symptoms at the beginning of trauma-focused treatment. Results suggest that assessing for adolescents' divine spiritual struggles and self-blame for sexual abuse may be important in triage and treatment planning for youth who have experienced sexual abuse.
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Check out coverage of this study by the National Children's Alliance
Jouriles, E. N., Sitton, M. J., Rancher, C., Johnson, J., Reedy, M., Mahoney, A., & McDonald, R. (2025). Spirituality, self-blame, and trauma symptoms among adolescents waiting for treatment after disclosing sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 160, 107214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107214
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January 2, 2025
First publication of the year!
Together with K99 Mentor Dan Smith, Caitlin Rancher published a paper in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence examining how mothers' experiences of violence are associated with their provision of emotional support following child sexual abuse. We found that most mothers had experienced intimate partner violence (68%) and child physical abuse (87%). Interestingly, for child-report of emotional support, findings suggested mothers' experiences of violence were associated with higher levels of emotional support -- consistent with the compensatory hypotheses. Findings highlight the importance of assessing for mothers' experiences of violence to best support families receiving services for child sexual abuse.
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Rancher, C., & Smith, D. W. (2024). Mothers’ violence experiences and provision of emotional support following child sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 0(0), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241308290
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