June 18, 2026

See you in Baltimore!

Congratulations to Owen Winters and Melissa Sitton! Both had presentations accepted for presentation at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention slated for this November, 2026 in Baltimore, MD! Save the date to learn more about (1) discrepancies in provider and caregiver reports of treatment barriers and (2) how hate crime mass violence incidents influence depression and posttraumatic stress.

Winters, O., Asres, B. Y., Smith, D. W., Rancher, C. (2026, November). Discrepancies in Provider and Caregiver Reports of Treatment Barriers and Telehealth Barriers. Poster presentation, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, Baltimore, MD.
Sitton, M. J., Rancher, C., Smith, D. W., Moreland, A. D., Davies, F., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (2026, November). Hate crime mass violence incidents: Links to depression and posttraumatic stress in community members. Individual paper presentation, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, Baltimore, MD.

June 15, 2026

Consuming more mass violence media increases worry and avoidance

New this week in JAMA Network Open, we examine whether media consumption after a mass violence incident (MVI) is associated with worry about future MVI victimization and avoidance behaviors. We found that most adults living in communities that have experienced a MVI report high levels of worry about MVI (66%) and avoid public places since the MVI (29%). Consuming more media coverage of the MVI was associated with greater odds of worry and avoidance. Findings highlight how media information on mass violence can influence subclinical levels of distress.

Read more:
Morgan, C. H., Davies, F., Robinson, L. E., Rancher, C., Kilpatrick, D., & Moreland, A. D. (2026). Media Consumption and Mass Violence–Related Distress in Communities Affected by Mass Violence. JAMA Network Open, 9(6), e2618226. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.18226

May 27, 2026

Self-blame partially explains the link between violence exposure and trauma symptoms

In a new publication in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence we present findings on how children's exposure to multiple types of violence may develop beliefs that there is something about them or their actions to blame for their experiences, which in turn, increases distress. Among a sample of military families referred to the Navy's Family Advocacy Program we found that the number of violence exposures and self-blame predicted higher levels of child-reported trauma symptoms. Self-blame mediated the association between violence exposures and trauma symptoms - particularly for girls.

Read more:
Rancher, C., Hanson, R. F., Sitton, M., Williams, L. M., Saunders, B. E., & Smith, D. W. (2026). Trauma symptoms and self-blame among children in military families exposed to violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 0(0), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605261449186

April 28, 2026

PCORI Grant to Address Adolescent Trauma Symptoms and Substance Use - FUNDED!

Our submission to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study effective ways to improve outcomes for adolescents who have experienced intentional trauma (i.e., physical or sexual assault) has been approved for funding!! Led by Drs. Rochelle Hanson and Mike McCart this study will compare two strategies to increase access to Risk Reduction through Family Therapy (RRFT) to address both trauma symptoms and substance use problems at Child Advocacy Centers across the United States.

Caitlin Rancher and Dan Smith will co-lead the Caregiver Patient Activation arm of this comparative effectiveness trial to equip caregivers with the confidence, information, and skills to best support their adolescent in treatment. This is a big project and will be a major team effort. We are thrilled to take on this important work!

More project details to come! Keep an eye on: the PCORI Portfolio website.

April 17, 2026

Caitlin and Owen present findings on perceived treatment barriers at the Brady/Lydiard Psychiatry Research Day!

Since Caitlin was in Charleston for the Project Support Workshop, she was able to join Owen Winters (right) in presenting a poster on perceived treatment barriers at the Brady/Lydiard Psychiatry Research Day at the Medical University of South Carolina. This project presents data from Caitlin's K99 Aim 1 exploration of barriers and facilitators to engaging caregivers on the waitlist for trauma treatment. We found that providers reported nearly twice as many barriers to mental health services as caregivers.

This visit also gave the team an opportunity to celebrate Owen and Blen's admittance to Clinical Psychology PhD programs! We are sorry to see them go and are so excited for this next stage of their careers!

April 15-17, 2026

Successful Project Support Workshop

Caitlin Rancher (right) and Renee McDonald (left, Co-creator of Project Support) led a 2-day workshop of the Project Support Positive Parenting module to a group of clinical psychology interns and paraprofessional providers. Thank you to the We are Sharing Hope team for letting us use your beautiful training space! These attendees were so skilled and engaged in the workshop, really another exciting stage of our work disseminating training in this evidence-based brief parenting program!

April 15, 2026

See you in Portsmouth, NH this summer!

Caitlin Rancher, Melissa Sitton, and Dan Smith are all headed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire this summer to present new research findings at the Violence Prevention Research Conference! Come learn about our ongoing work, including:

Sitton, M., Rancher, C., Smith, D. W. (2026, July). Social desirability and caregiver reports of child exposure to potentially traumatic events. Poster presentation, Violence Prevention Research Conference, Portsmouth, NH.
Rancher, C., Sitton, M., Winters, O., & Smith, D. W. (2026, July). Pilot trial of the Project Support Positive Parenting Module for families waiting for trauma treatment. In K. Thomsen (Chair), Examining Brief Interventions for Violence-Exposed Families Across Settings: Effectiveness in Preventing and Addressing Trauma-Related Outcomes and Considerations for Service Engagement. Symposium presentation, Violence Prevention Research Conference, Portsmouth, NH.
Rancher, C., Sitton, M., & Smith, D. W. (2026, July). Prevalence of child trauma exposure reported by parents on mobile research panels. Individual paper presentation, Violence Prevention Research Conference, Portsmouth, NH.

March 19, 2026

Dr. Rancher passed her Oral Examination!

Dr. Caitlin Rancher successfully passed her Oral Examination and has been issued a South Carolina Psychology License (SC 1979). Caitlin has been licensed in New Mexico since April 2022, however, New Mexico is still not a member of PsyPact which limits the kinds of clinical activities she could perform. This SC license will allow Caitlin to continue to support the clinical services and training mission at the NCVC!

March 10, 2026

Congratulations to Owen!!

Great news! Owen Winters was accepted into the Clinical Psychology, Ph.D. program at Southern Methodist University to work with Dr. Austin Baldwin on factors that influence individuals' decisions to engage in health behaviors. Owen has demonstrated remarkable resilience in his pursuit of graduate training. We are so proud of you Owen!

February 13, 2026

Blen is headed to GSU!!

Congratulations to Blen!! Blen Asres was accepted into the Clinical Psychology, Ph.D. program at Georgia State University and will be working with Dr. Isha Metzger to enhance understanding of resilience among African Americans following trauma. We are so proud of this major accomplishment!

January 20, 2026

Welcome to Addi Pohl!

We are excited to announce that Addison Pohl will be joining our research team! Addi is a College of Charleston Honors Student and will be completing her Independent Study and Bachelor's Essay alongside Dr. Rancher and Dr. Grace Hubel. Addi will develop an independent project based on existing lab data and receive training in the Project Support intervention. Welcome Addi!