Our Team

Amie Summers
She has specialty training in helping families who have experienced medical trauma, and collaborates with hospital personnel to minimize children’s psychological distress when receiving medical care. Practicing since 2013, Amie currently has her own practice with SMART rooms in Minneapolis, MN. She is available for workshops in the community.

Chia-Chi (Alicia) Hu, PhD, Psychologist

Trainer and consultant SMARTmoves; certified TRE facilitator; certified Sensorimotor (SP) psychotherapist; co-founder of Asia trauma-informed care awareness coalition. Private practitioner in the Pacific Northwest.

Michelle Perrin, LICSW
Michelle has a deep passion for In-home therapy, where she has worked for the past 5 years. After completing her MSW and Trauma Certificate with Boston University in 2015, she began work with trauma impacted adults, youth, and families within a multitude of settings including inpatient hospital units, outpatient therapy clinics, and community-based services. During her time as an IHT, Michelle began utilizing SMART within her work with families. She has co-facilitated SMART trainings alongside Dr. Elizabeth Warner and continues to provide consultation to clinicians, Therapeutic Mentors and staff at Justice Resource Institute.

Mari Bræin 
Mari Kjølseth Bræin is a clinical child psychologist specialized in trauma treatment. She has been one of the key persons leading professional development and competence enhancement in the trauma field of Norway. Currently she works as a clinical director at the Center for Trauma and Stress in Norway, where she also offers SMART therapy. She has developed and adapted several therapeutic tools used in trauma treatment in Norway. Eager to find methods that work for children struggling to express themselves verbally, she contacted the SMART team to learn about the methods. She organized training in Norway with SMARTmoves Partners, and together with colleagues she translated and adapted the SMART method to the Norwegian context. She is now responsible for the SMART training in Norway.

Barbara Rietscha
Barbara is an experienced business and finance executive with over 25 years in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. She excels in financial reporting and transparency, project management and workflow efficiency. She was a small business owner – a flower farm in Massachusetts, and she now uses that experience to support other small business owners. Barbara has a BA from Holy Cross, an MBA from Northeastern University, and she is a Quickbooks Certified Pro-Advisor.

Kasey Pendexter, LMFT, LMHC

Kasey currently oversees the clinical department at the Walden School, a residential program that provides comprehensive treatment to trauma-impacted deaf and hard of hearing youth. She began her work with SMART in 2012 as a residential clinician at the Justice Resource Institute. Passionate about SMART, she carried it forward successfully implementing a program within two separate agencies, before piloting the SMART framework within the deaf community. Kasey has given several presentations internationally related to her work in the SMART room and looks forward to continuing this work within the greater community.