Dr Caroline (Carlie) Atkinson

Carlie (Caroline) Atkinson is a descendant of the Bundjalung and Yiman peoples and is an accredited social worker with a PhD (Charles Darwin University, 2009). She is an Indigenous expert in Culturally Informed Trauma Integrated Healing Approaches (CITIHA) in Australia with a focus on systems transformation and implementation strategies. As part of her PhD, Carlie Atkinson developed Australia’s first adapted, culturally sensitive, reliable and valid Aboriginal trauma assessment measure.

Carlie is currently CEO/Director (2012-present) of We Al-li, an Indigenous organisation that develops, delivers and evaluates CITIHA programs and activities.

She is considered an international leader in the area of complex and intergenerational trauma and strengths-based healing approaches in Indigenous Australia. She has focused her career on the interplay between trauma and violence in Aboriginal peoples in Australia and has developed extensive community and practice-based experience through her collaborative co-designed resource development work.