ACORN

Jessica Leitner, an accomplished behavior consultant and trainer, has spent more than 30 years advocating for adults and families with Developmental Disabilities in the Portland, Oregon area. She is owner of Jessica Leitner Consulting, LLC, a private consulting firm helping caregiving organizations navigate an ever changing set of rules and regulations while maintaining quality care. She served as an Oregon Intervention System (OIS) Trainer and Steering Committee Member and helped bring Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training to local law enforcement agencies in Clackamas County and Portland. Jessica earned a master’s in social work from Portland State University and a BA in Psychology from Oregon State University. Previously, she held positions with Multnomah County, Clackamas County and Edwards Center, Inc.

Teresa McDowell, Ed.D., LMFT is a professor emerita at Lewis & Clark, in Portland, Oregon, where she served as Department Chair and co-founded Lewis & Clark’s Problem Gambling Services. Dr. McDowell has served as a licensed marriage and family therapist, family therapy educator, program director, educational administrator, and consultant over the past 40 years. Her work has primarily focused on counselor education and workforce development, organizational consultation, international family therapy, equity-based clinical practice, integrated treatment for problem gambling, and clinical supervision. She currently serves as a social researcher, program evaluator, and consultant with Partners in Social Research and is the senior instructor for the Advanced Career Online Resource Network (ACORN). Dr. McDowell has published over 50 refereed journal articles and book chapters. She has presented her work at numerous conferences across eight countries. She is the author of Applying Critical Social Theory to Family Therapy Practice and first co-author of Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy: Guidelines for Equity-Based Theory and Practice (1st and 2nd Editions). Her work in problem gambling treatment includes authoring the Working with Families in Problem Gambling Treatment handbook, research on core competencies for problem gambling counselors and prevention specialists, and extensive contributions to the development of Oregon’s problem gambling treatment workforce.