This support group serves as part of UnSilenced’s Survivor Empowerment Initiative and is free for any survivor to join! It will be led by two trauma-informed mental health professionals, detailed below.

Our group leaders:

John F Pastor, MD, MS

Board Certified in Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychiatry

He/Him

John pursued his interest in PTSD and its treatment in residency and fellowship, including working in the War Trauma Unit at the VA and Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress.

He has been in private practice since 2003. He has increasingly focused on the role of often unrecognized trauma in development, physiology, psychology, and behavior and the prevention and treatment of such.

Natalie Hale, PhD

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

She/Her

Natalie has been a licensed Clinical Psychologist for over 15 years and became interested in childhood trauma during her graduate training after hearing Bessel Van der Kolk speak at a conference she attended. She has dedicated her career to clinical work and advocacy for children and adolescents who have experienced a range of traumatic experiences. As she's worked with children and youth in Child Advocacy and Juvenile Justice settings, she consistently pays close attention to the role that trauma plays in a wide range of emotional, behavioral, and adjustment problems and considers a thorough assessment of traumatic experience essential to quality mental health care. She's trained therapists, mental health agency leadership, child welfare workers, juvenile justice leadership, Psychiatric trainees, and residential care staff in Missouri and Washington on trauma-informed care. She's been in private practice since 2020.