The Program for Torture Victims (PTV) - The Organization

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"Their shattered clients arrive by the dozens each year, a parade of ghosts from all corners of the globe.They come bearing scars seen and unseen, bringing nothing with them but the will to survive. Los Angeles, the great second-chance city, takes them in as it does everyone else, the shattered and the broken, offering promise but no guarantees."

Steve Lopez,
Los Angeles Times

Our Staff

	Julie B. Gutman, Esq.,PTV Executive Director, has devoted her career to public service, advocating for the rights of workers, immigrants and underserved communities. Prior to joining PTV, Ms. Gutman served as vice-president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works Commissioners and senior labor advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In that capacity, she worked successfully to promote good jobs, workforce development programs and labor harmony. For ten years, Ms. Gutman was a trial attorney at the National Labor Relations Board in Los Angeles, where she vigorously advocated for worker and immigrant rights. She was the only lawyer to achieve a 100 percent win record in voluminous unfair labor practices trials and federal district court injunction litigation, including injunctions against the mass discharge of low-income and immigrant workers. Ms. Gutman, whose family was persecuted during the Holocaust, has also done human rights work in Guatemala. Click here to read full bio.

	Ana Deutsch, M.F.T., Co-Founder and Clinical Director, fled Argentina's "Dirty War" with her family in the 1970s. Trained as a psychologist in Argentina, Ms. Deutsch obtained her Marriage, Family and Child Therapist license in Los Angeles, and worked in various community clinics. She serves as an expert witness and trainer for the Intra-American Human Rights Court. She is the recipient of the prestigious Minerva Award, and, along with Dr. Quiroga, received the Community Health Star for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Leadership.

	Jose Quiroga, M.D., Co-Founder and Medical Director, is a globally recognized authority on torture and trauma. A torture survivor, he fled from his native Chile and arrived in America after the military coup that overthrew the democratically elected president Salvador Allende. He is a former assistant professor in the UCLA School of Public Health, and Associate Director of Preventive Cardiology at UCLA. Dr. Quiroga serves on the Executive Board of the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) Los Angeles, and member of the National Board of PSR. He is former Vice President of the International Rehabilitation Council for Victims of Torture based in Copenhagen and a current member of the Senior Clinical Advisory Group of the IRCT.

	Jené Moio, Ph.D, LCSW, Director of Research and Evaluation, has been associated with PTV for ten years. has been associated with PTV for ten years. Prior to accepting the position of research director, Jené provided PTV with part- and full-time pro bono clinical and research services from 2001-2010. She received her BA (Sociology), MSW and PhD (Social Welfare, with a mental health specialization and concentration in Women’s Studies) from UCLA. She has been an instructor at the UCLA School of Social Welfare, and a research associate and IRB member for the Southern California Research Institute. Her doctoral research, conducted at PTV, explored the healing journey of women survivors, from the survivor perspective, with particular focus on the meaning of the torture experience, how it affects systems of belief (in world and self), and what internal and external resources impact the recovery process.


	Audra T. Buras, M.A., Grants and Outreach Specialist, has joined PTV as an AmeriCorps VISTA member. Audra recently received her M.A. in Communication Studies from Arizona State University. She also holds a B.S. in Public Relations from Northern Arizona University. While at Arizona State University she focused her studies on the many forms of advocacy. Prior to PTV, Audra has worked and volunteered for many non-profit organizations. Most recently she spent several years working at the headquarters for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, where she primarily worked on national, corporate sponsorships and cause-related marketing programs. She is delighted to contribute, and continue, her non-profit experience at PTV.

	Madonna P. Cadiz, Research Assistant, joins PTV with experience in developmental psychology, mental health, and social work. After receiving her B.A. in Psychology at USC, she worked as a behavioral therapist and tutor with children with developmental and learning disorders. While pursuing her Master of Social Welfare at UCLA, she gained clinical and organizational skills with the homeless and youth populations. After graduating in 2010, she worked as a bilingual therapist with children and families living in South Los Angeles. Throughout her educational career, she contributed to several research studies and gained skills in quantitative and qualitative methods. Her current research interests include mental health and its relation to cultural issues, as well as education, migration, and language.


	Rose Marie Durocher, Ph.D., Marriage and Family Therapist, specializes in the assessment and treatment of trauma. She has been with PTV since 1998 and has principally worked with refugees from war zones, victims of torture, rape and incest. She is fluent in Spanish and French.


	Gaithri Fernando, Ph.D., Therapist, is a clinical psychologist who teaches in the Department of Psychology at California State University-Los Angeles, where she also directs the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. She lectures and publishes in the area of posttraumatic stress in the context of war and extreme traumas such as torture.

	Laura Kawar, M.S.W., M.A., Case Manager, recently received her M.S.W. from the University of Southern California. She received her M.A. in Sociology (2010) and her B.A. in Psychology (2005) from California State University, Fullerton. For the past few years, Laura has worked in the nonprofit housing sector, providing counseling and case management services for individuals and families. Additionally, Laura holds a Pupil Personnel Services Credential, and has provided school-based educational and therapeutic services for adolescents and their families and for foster youth through her internships at the University of Southern California.

	Ken Louria, M.F.T., Therapist, has been with PTV since 1998. Ken is also Director of Youth Services for the Children’s Institute. He has provided training to Immigration and Naturalization Service Asylum officers on the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Ken is a recognized expert witness in U.S. Immigration Court in the areas of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and rape.

	Nina Popoff, B.A., Operations Manager, recently received her B.A. in Communication Studies from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, graduating with Magna cum Laude honors. She also received a minor in Psychology. Eventually, Nina hopes to pursue a Masters program in Non-Profit Management. Nina comes to PTV with several years of office administration and event planning experience. Over the last year, Nina worked as an intern at Family Care Network, a non-profit in San Luis Obispo County, where she helped organize and coordinate several successful events. While there she developed a passion for serving her community and is excited to now share her experience with the clients, staff, and volunteers at PTV.

	Sara Said, Ph.D, Therapist, is a clinical psychologist specializing in the assessment and treatment of trauma and has been with PTV since 2001. In addition to PTV, Dr. Said worked extensively with severely emotionally disturbed and traumatized children at an in-patient residential facility in Torrance, CA since 2000. She has worked with torture survivors, immigrants and refugee populations in Canada and in the U.S., and serves as an expert witness in immigration court. She is fluent in Tigrigna and Amharic, the respective national languages of Eritrea and Ethiopia.

	Maggie Shackelford, M.A., Development Coordinator, recently received her M.A. in American History from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. She received her B.A. in History from UCLA in 2005. Prior to her graduate studies, Maggie served as a junior staff member for Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa of Los Angeles for three years. She comes to PTV with several years of administrative and event planning experience. Maggie served as the programming coordinator for international students and scholars at the College of William and Mary where she helped international students transition to life in America. Maggie participates in volunteer work around women’s rights and other social justice issues. She is thrilled to bring her professional experience and strong personal commitment to social justice and human rights to the clients, staff, and volunteers at PTV.

	Elly W. Yu, B.A., Communications Specialist, comes to PTV as an AmeriCorps VISTA member. Before PTV, Elly worked for the humanitarian agency, World Vision, where she helped draw media attention to international emergencies and disasters. In addition to her non-profit experience, Elly has done communications work for USC, Rogers & Cowan, and was a staff reporter for the Daily Trojan. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and a B.A. Public Relations from the University of Southern California, where she graduated summa cum laude.