Mary Jo Barrett, MSW

Executive Director and Co-Founder

Center for Contextual Change

Mary Jo Barrett, MSW, is the Executive Director and founder of The Center for Contextual Change, Ltd. She is currently on the faculties of University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, The Chicago Center For Family Health, and the Family Institute of Northwestern University. Previously, Ms. Barrett was the Director of Midwest Family Resource and has been working in the field of family violence since 1974. Mary Jo was the first Family Preservation, in home counselor in the state of Illinois, on a contract with the Department of Children and Family Services in 1978. Ms. Barrett’s newest book, Treating Complex Trauma: A Relational Blueprint for Collaboration and Change, co-authored by Linda Stone Fish, was released in June 2014. Her trainings and published works focus on the teaching of the Collaborative Change Model, systemic and feminist treatment of  sexual abuse, interpersonal violence and complex trauma;  both survivors and offenders, adults and children,  and  eating disorders, couple therapy, and Compassion Fatigue.