This intermediate-advanced level training is appropriate for child-serving professionals from multiple disciplines, including child protection/child welfare, forensic interviewers, pediatricians, children's attorneys/GALs, law enforcement, prosecutors, family court judges, mental health providers, and clergy, as well as any mandated reporter.
Course Overview
This training will introduce Intrafamilial Child Torture (ICT), a severe form of child abuse where parents or caregivers torture their own children, including physical, sexual, and psychological torture and malicious neglect- to meet the psychopathological needs of the perpetrator. ICT presents with unique family dynamics and perpetrator psychopathology that is different from typical physical and psychological maltreatment. It is often missed or misbelieved due to the extreme nature of the harm, sophistication of the perpetrator, and presence among all socio-economic classes, according to clinical data.
This training is designed for the intermediate to advanced level professionals, but beginners and students are encouraged to attend to listen and observe. This training will combine lecture, Q&A, group discussion, and real-life case examples.
Participants will be able to:
Define Intrafamilial Child Torture for their supervisors and colleagues.
Identify “red flags” that are concerning for ICT and report them to the authorities as part of mandated reporting.
Describe how ICT is different from typical physical abuse cases.
Pamela Miller, JD, MSW, LISW-S
Pamela J. Miller, JD, MSW, LISW-S, is a clinical social worker and attorney with expertise in trauma and child abuse law. Since 2019, she has led the Child Maltreatment Policy Resource Center’s Intrafamilial Child Torture (ICT) initiative, co-authoring policy papers, training professionals, and providing legal counsel in state supreme court cases on child torture. Ms. Miller is a Certified Trauma Practitioner with advanced training in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, Body-Based Trauma Treatment, and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, along with training in PCIT/CARE, Child-Centered Play Therapy, and Attachment-Based Play Therapy. She has served as a psychotherapist, an attorney-GAL for maltreated children, and held executive roles in public mental health.
Ms. Miller earned her JD/MSW from the University of Cincinnati and her law degree from Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where she was a Moritz Merit Scholar and recipient of the Bergstrom Fellowship from the University of Michigan College of Law. Since 2001, Ms. Miller has focused on advocating for the protection of severely abused children.
