Robin Karr-Morse

Author & Therapist

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Biography

To get to the root of many issues facing our nation today—including juvenile violence, adult incarceration, and the looming health crisis—we must look more deeply than our current focus and to the cradle of human formation in earliest development. Read More >

As a family therapist and having served more than 20 years in Oregon’s education and child welfare systems, Robin Karr-Morse has drawn together the latest science in psychology, biology, neurology, and genetics to write two popular books that take readers inside the reality of early development. Ghosts from the Nursery looks at the correlations between child abuse and neglect in the first three years of life and later developing aggression and violence. Scared Sick examines the role of early trauma in the later development of heart disease, addiction, and a host of illnesses currently escalating in our nation.

Robin Karr-Morse views the goal of her work as empowering parents and persuading policymakers to reshape social policy so that we begin to support families in building healthy children rather than continuing to build larger and larger systems to fix or contain broken adults. Her message, based on the emerging research, is an optimistic but urgent call to action. Read Less ^

Speaker Videos

Ghosts from the Nursery

Speech Topics

Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease

In this talk, Robin Karr-Morse addresses:

How toxic stress in early life facilitates later physical and emotional disease, including addiction
The biology of trauma and its impact on the immune and endocrine systems
New findings in the role of genetics in the stress-related diseases: epigenetics
The relevance of the attachment relationship to adult health: the biology of attachment
Social policy that supports health from the beginning of life

Ghosts from the Nursery: Tracing the Roots of Violence

In this speech, based on her book, Ghosts from the Nursery, Robin Karr-Morse shares:

How the brain develops and the biological roots of violent and aggressive behavior
The relationship between child neglect and abuse and current incarceration rates
How to prevent the expanding rate of incarceration: preventive social policies that help families build healthy kids

Building Preventive Social Policy

Testimonials

"Robin was great! Obviously participants thought so too: there was a very long line for books and autographs, and many more sold than colleagues here had experienced at similar events. We all were very pleased to have her as our keynote and I immensely enjoyed meeting and spending time with her."

- Voices for Children San Antonio

"Robin was fantastic. No surprise, right? I think most people were blown away. I saw the public TV interview with her last night—also a winner. We’ll have to have her back when the new book comes out!"

- Idaho Children’s Trust Fund

"Her professional contribution to this event was significant…her session and the conference as a whole provided a welcomed opportunity for professional growth and personal renewal and reinvigoration."

- National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

"Things went wonderfully. Everyone so enjoyed Robin's presentation - her name was a constant on the evaluations as to being one of the favorite presentations! Robin was so gracious and kind to everyone. We hope she enjoyed her trip to Tennessee!"

- Executive Director, The King's Daughters Day Home