Dr. Caroline Alexis Decosimo, DrPH, LCMHC, ATR| [Curriculum Vitae]
[Asheville, NC, 28801] | +1-(423) 653-6393 | Alexisdecosimo@GlobalArtTherapy.com
Objective
A career focused in building access to mental health support for children and families globally and building a bridge between the theories/practice of expressive therapies and public health. Specialized in art therapy individuals and groups, MHPSS program development, trainings, cultural empowerment, and program implementation, with a specific focus in high trauma, low resource communities globally.
Skills & Abilities
Non-Profit Leadership: Board leadership, creation and management of budgets, nonprofit team leader, business development, partnership development, and grant writing
Program Development: Curriculum development, logistics planning, implementation, cultural adaptation, community organization,
Research Methodology: MHPSS research methods, qualitative interviewing, focus groups, literature and background reviews, monitoring and evaluation, and publications
Clinical Expertise: Art therapy, play therapy, sand tray therapy, individual and group therapy, trauma specialist, children, adolescents, adults, CBT, and TF-CBT
Experience
Mental Health and Psychosocial Development Positions
[Founder, Executive Director, and Program Director] — [Playing to Live!) [2014] — [Current]
Playing to Live is an American 501 c 3 that builds effective and sustainable community-based expressive art programs that target the psychosocial needs of children and communities. Programs in Liberia, Uganda, and South Africa
Executive Director: Oversee all operations including fundraising, board management, programs, data collection, contracts, and growth
Lead Clinical Director: Build program, direct clinical team, build research tools, build evaluations, set goals and structure, and manage development.
Research: Oversees IRB process, data collection, lead needs assessment, literature reviews, and leads publication submissions
[Humanitarian Program Consultant]- ECD Department — UNICEF 2021
Authored a recommendation report for the adaptation for emergency and humanitarian settings of UNICEF’s Care for the Caregiver (CFC) program.
This role required:
Identifying key considerations within the CFC prototype training
Identified lessons learned from validation studies
Mapped the humanitarian infrastructure as it related to caregiver mental health and wellbeing
Engaged with over 80 global stakeholders to capture their recommendations (cluster coordinators, UNICEF program staff, global technical advisors, researchers, and program creators, and national staff) through presentations and interviews
Wrote a report on the findings and recommendations for the Caring for the Caregiver prototype including: an executive summary to share externally, an 80 page report highlighting content recommendations, overview of the humanitarian infrastructure and recommended entry points, and a qualitative data report of key stakeholder suggestions.
[Principal Investigator]- MHPSS Consultant — Save the Children International- [2020]
Through my leadership, Playing to Live contracted with Save the Children International to assess the MHPSS needs and strengths of students and schools in South Sudan to conduct an assessment of needs and resources through a mixed methods approach including focus group interviews, key informant interviews, a safety audit, and a desk review.
Role as a Principal Investigator: Lead reviewer: assessment design, relationship management, overall responsibility for quality assurance, and provide clinical MHPSS expertise;
[Staff Associate]- [The Earth Institute, Columbia University] [2020]
Role: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) expert on USAID funded SENSE research project assisting in developing a framework for integrating social emotional learning (SEL) and psychosocial support (PSS) mechanisms for schools in Adamawa and Gombe states in Northeast Nigeria.
[Psychosocial Support Consultant]- [Danish Refugee Council] [2019]
Location: Hatay, Turkey
Role:Completed a gap analysis on current psychosocial support services, trainings, and
programming in for the Danish Refugee Council working in Hatay Province of Turkey.
Developed and provided professional trainings and capacity building for psychosocial program team including the team leader, psychosocial officers and key stakeholders (i.e. MHPSS, Health, Protection, SGBV, Education, etc.)
Completed a comprehensive report with key recommendations for future programming nationally.
[Consultant] — [World Vision] [2018]
Location: Abkhazia
Role: Design, implement, and monitor and evaluate a 5-day training course for using art with children with disabilities.
[Consultant and Program Developer] — [Amani Ya Juu) [2012]
Location: Yekepa, Liberia
Role: Development and implementation of a girl’s club aimed at empowering mothers and daughters towards the prevention of child prostitution. Development and implementation involved continuous collaboration with community and key stakeholders.
[Consultant] — [Federation of African Women Educationalist] [2012]
Location: Monrovia, Liberia
Role: Provided consultation of the redevelopment of MHPSS programming for public schools.
Clinical Positions
[Private Practice and Contract Art Therapist and Licensed Counselor] [2014] — [Current]
Location: Asheville, NC
Role: Individual and group therapist in private practice setting or contractor within therapeutic companies.
[Art Therapist and Counselor] — [Haywood County Psychological Services] [2014] — [2016]
Location: Waynesville, NC
Role: Individual and family therapist
[Intensive Therapeutic Mentor] — [Capitol Regions Children’s Center] [2013] — [2014]
Location: Washington, DC
Role: In home therapeutic and behavioral services to children/adolescents and their families
[Graduate Art Therapy Intern] — [Walter Reed National Military Hospital] [2013] — [2014]
Location: Bethesda, MD
Role: Conducted group and individual therapy session in an intensive outpatient and trauma recovery program for active duty soldiers with PTSD, TBI, and other co-occurring disorders
[Graduate Art Therapy Intern] — [The George Washington University Clinic) [2013] -[2014]
Location: Alexandria, VA
Role: Graduate Art Therapist
[Lead Trail Guide] — [Trails Carolina] [2011] — [2014]
Location: Brevard, NC
Role: Lead trail guide for at risk youth. Lead logistics, support staff, daily activities, and basic survival in wilderness.
[Graduate Art Therapy Intern] — [Thurgood Marshall Academy) [2012] — [2013]
Location: Washington, DC
Role: Provide individual and group therapy to high school students.
[Graduate Art Therapy Intern] — [Chennai Child’s Cancer Center] [2013]
Location: Chennai, India
Role: Provided art therapy programming to children receiving cancer treatment and their families
[Art Therapy Intern] — [100 Monkey Studio] [2010]
Location: Portland, OR
Role: Run a children’s art camp, lead in a children with special needs art camp, and work with adults with special needs
[Community Service Individual] — [Autism Society of North Carolina] [2010] — [2011]
Location: Asheville, NC
Role: Provided support and behavioral goals to individual with autism and their families
Academic Positions
[Graduate Assistant] — [East Tennessee State University] [2014] – [2016]
Location: Johnson City, TN
Role: Supported professor’s research
[Graduate Professor] — [East Tennessee State University] [2014] — [2016]
Location: Johnson City, TN
Role: Co led undergraduate classes online and in person
Education
East Tennessee State University — [Doctor of Public Health] [2017]
Concentration: Community and Behavioral Health
The George Washington University — [Master of Arts] [2014]
Art Therapy and Clinical Counseling
Brevard College — [Bachelor of Arts] [2011]
Integrative Studies in Art Therapy
Baylor High School — [High School Diploma] [2007]
Publications and Conference Presentations
Global Happiness Counsel Thematic Group (2021): Policy Brief 2 Learning Resilience Across Education Spaces (Co-author).
Global Happiness Counsel Thematic Group (2021): Education and Wellbeing Policy Brief 1. Re-imagining schools to support psychosocial well-being of teachers and students as a foundation for effective teaching and learning during COVID-19 and beyond. (Contributor)
Boland, C. & Decosimo, A (2017, May). A Chance to Thrive, Not Just Survive: Reclaiming Play in the Face of Ebola. A Model for Psychosocial Support Programming in Emergencies. Paper presented at Association of Child Life Professionals 35th Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Decosimo, C. A. (2017). The evaluation of a psychosocial expressive arts program in Liberia during the Ebola epidemic (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.
Decosimo, C. A., Hanson, J. E., Boland, C. R., Slawson, D., Littleton, M. A., & Quinn, M. (2017). A Process Description of Playing to Live! A Community Psychosocial Arts Program During Ebola, 11(1), 176–199. http://doi.org/10.5590/JSBHS.2017.11.1.12
Decosimo, C. A. & Tedeschi, K. (2016, July). Lessons learned: International art therapy from Ebola to homelessness. Paper presented at American Art Therapy Association (AATA), Baltimore, MD.
Decosimo, C. A. & Boland, C. (2017, April). A chance to thrive not just survive: Reclaiming Play in the Face of Ebola. A Model for Psychosocial Art Programming in Emergency Settings. Poster presented at Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), Washington, DC.
Decosimo, C. A. & Boland, C. (2017, May). A chance to thrive not just survive: Reclaiming Play in the Face of Ebola. A Model for Psychosocial Art Programming in Emergency Settings. Poster presented at Unite For Site, Yale University.
Decosimo, C. A. (2017, October). A chance to thrive not just survive: Reclaiming Play in the Face of Ebola. A Model for Psychosocial Art Programming in Emergency Settings. Presentation at Edgewood College.
Decosimo, C. A. & Boland, C. (2017, November). The Outcome Evaluation of a Community Based Expressive Arts Mental Health Program During and Post Ebola. Paper presented at American Public Health Association Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Decosimo, C. A. & Boland, C. (2017, November). A chance to thrive not just survive: Reclaiming Play in the Face of Ebola. A Model for Psychosocial Art Programming in Emergency Settings. Paper presented at AATA Conference, Albuquerque, NM.
Decosimo, C. A. & Boland, C. (2017, November). A needs and resource assessment of Uganda’s South Sudanese Refugee Settlements. Paper presented at AATA Conference, Albuquerque, NM.
Decosimo, C. A. & Moon, C. (2017, November). Guests or Interlopers? Developing Best Practices in Cross-Cultural, Global Art Therapy. Focus Group at AATA Conference, Albuquerque, NM.
Hanson, J. E., Decosimo, A. C., & Quinn, M. A. (2016). Diminished Quality of Life Among Women Affected by Ebola. Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, 10(1). http://doi.org/10.5590/JSBHS.2016.10.1.0x
Countries/ Affiliations
Professional Geographic Experience: Appalachia, Washington, DC, Uganda, Liberia, South Sudan, Turkey/Syria, South Africa, Jamaica, India, Eastern Europe, and Pacific Northwest
Population Specialties Served: Humanitarian and emergency settings, active duty military, substance abuse, adolescents, children, adults, trauma survivors, sexual abuse survivors, persons with special needs, and Native Americans
Grants
Playing to Live, United Nations Children Fund Grant, Liberia Ebola Mental Health Program [2015]
Playing to Live, ELHRA Humanitarian Innovation Fund: Recognition Grant [2017]
Trainings
Sand Tray Therapy [2014]
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy [2014]
Mental Health in Complex Emergencies, Amman, Jordan, Fordham University [2017]
EMDR Level one and two training, EMDRIA [2020]