Karen Appleyard Carmody, PhD, serves as the Director of Early Childhood Prevention Programs at CCFH. She is a licensed psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Appleyard Carmody received her MSW from the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD in clinical and developmental psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her post-doctoral training was completed at the University of North Carolina’s Center for Developmental Science.
For over 20 years, Dr. Appleyard Carmody’s clinical and research expertise have focused on infant mental health, child-parent attachment, early childhood trauma and maltreatment, and evidence-based practices to address these issues. Dr. Appleyard Carmody currently directs CCFH’s three evidence-based home visiting programs: Family Connects Durham, Healthy Families Durham, and the Durham Early Head Start Home-Based Program. She also has significant experience providing trauma treatment (e.g., TF-CBT, CPP, ABC) to children and families and is the former co-director of the North Carolina Child Response Initiative, a police-mental health partnership designed to provide crisis intervention and support to children and families who have witnessed domestic and community violence.
Dr. Appleyard Carmody is engaged in several training/dissemination projects for evidence-based practices for young children who have experienced trauma and early adversity, including Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT).