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Dr. Deborah Linnell is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Rehabilitation Provider and is board certified as an Expert in Traumatic Stress and Disability Trauma through the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She believes in helping people manage their lives across the various systems affecting their, and their family’s lives with a specialization in helping people negotiate the effects of learning to live with chronic health issues including serious injuries, illnesses, and acquired disabilities. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland College Park, earning a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision in 2001, dual MA degrees in Rehabilitation Counseling and Criminal Justice in 1996 and dual BA degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology in 1986. Her research has focused on injury and disability issues facing first responders and crime victims. She has taught at the University of Maryland College Park (Counseling and Personnel Services and Criminal Justice Departments), Illinois State University (Criminal Justice Department), Argosy University at Schaumburg (Illinois School of Professional Psychology, Counseling Program), and Webster University (Military Services Division). She has worked as a first responder and has been deployed numerous times to provide disaster-related mental health services. She serves as a consultant to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children where she has reviewed 6,000+ cold case missing child investigations, worked on a team reuniting families following Hurricane Katrina, and has provided numerous community education programs related to issues facing missing and exploited children.