Advocacy Training Team
The House of Peace Advocacy Training Team is comprised of seasoned professionals with extensive experience in advocacy, education, and trauma-informed practice. Our instructors include educators, clinicians, and advocates who bring specialized expertise in coercive control, domestic violence, abuse, and the long-term impacts of trauma. Each team member is united by a shared commitment to the mission of House of Peace and approaches this work with integrity, care, and a deep sense of responsibility.
Together, the training team is dedicated to equipping advocates, professionals, and community members worldwide with the knowledge, tools, and understanding necessary to promote safety, accountability, and meaningful change. We invite you to learn more about each instructor and their areas of focus below.
Meet Your Advocacy Training Team
Dr. Debra Wingfield Ed.D, Founder & CEO
Dr. Debra Wingfield is the Founder and CEO of House of Peace Publications, established in 2009, where she provides virtual training in domestic violence, coercive control, and abuse. She is a former faculty member at Regis University, Metropolitan State University–Denver, and the University of Colorado–Denver, teaching psychology and counseling courses, and she developed and taught a domestic violence counselor training curriculum at Colorado State University–Pueblo. With over 50 years of experience, Dr. Wingfield has trained therapists and counseled children and adults impacted by child maltreatment and family violence. Her clinical work focused on stopping the cycle of violence and abuse. Today, she educates professionals, advocates, community members, and therapists on coercive control, domestic and family violence, and the impacts of child maltreatment. Dr. Wingfield is the author of Eyes Wide Open: Help! with Control Freak Co-Parents, From Darkness to Light: Your Inner Journey, and Through a Child’s Voice: Transformational Journaling.
Jessica Evans, PsyD, Clinical Psychology
Dr. Jess is a mother of two who lives in the Columbus, Ohio area. After graduating from Villanova University, she earned her Master’s degree and Doctorate (Psy.D.) in Clinical Psychology from Immaculata University in Pennsylvania. Although trained as a therapist, Dr. Jess has focused for many years on advocacy work—first with the disability community, as someone living with a form of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, and more recently with survivors of abuse. She helps integrate current research into advocacy course materials and also consults, alongside Dr. Debra Wingfield, on family court cases.
Joy Forrest, MA
Joy Forrest is the founder and former executive director of Called to Peace Ministries. She is the author of Called to Peace: A Survivor’s Guide to Finding Peace & Healing After Domestic Abuse and the Called to Peace Companion Workbook. Joy holds an M.A. in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been active in counseling ministry since 2005. She has been an advocate for victims of abuse since 1997 and is a certified advocate with the NC Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Joy is a contributor to DivorceCare’s recovery support group curriculum, the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship’s Counseling Care for Domestic Abuse videos, and Caring for Families Caught in Domestic Abuse(Chris Moles, ed). In her spare time, she loves traveling and spending time with her family– especially her 11 grandchildren.
Tabitha Westbrook, LMFT-S, LCMHC-QS, LPC-S
Tabitha Westbrook is a Licensed Counselor and Licensed Counselor Supervisor, in addition to being an EMDR Certified Therapist and Approved Consultant, Certified Sex Addiction Therapist, and Certified Christian Trauma Care Provider. She's the Founder and CEO of the The Journey and The Process Counseling and Coaching, with offices in NC and TX. Tabitha's team specializes in serving men and women caught in domestic abuse/coercive control. She's the host of the Hey Tabi Podcast and the author of Body & Soul, Healed & Whole: An Invitational Guide to Healthy Sexuality After Trauma, Abuse, and Coercive Control.
Kendra Thurman, PT, DPT
Kendra Thurman has been a licensed Physical Therapist (Ohio) since 1993, after graduating from The Ohio State University, and later earned her post-clinical Doctorate (DPT) in 2018. After making a career change, she’s now a Biblical Counselor and enjoys serving on the CTPM Church Partner Liaison team as a “Protect the Flock” presenter. Her responsibilities on the Advocacy Training team include adding Biblical content, assisting with the chat and facilitating breakout rooms during the live classes, scheduling course emails, and checking summaries in Google classroom.
Karen Wilkinson, M.Ed.
Karen Wilkinson is a lay counselor and leads both women's and survivors' Bible studies in her church. She enjoys serving on the CTPM Church Partnership Liaison Advisory Team and the Support Group Training Team. Her responsibilities on the Advocacy Training Team are biblical content and editing. She has three daughters, 11 grandchildren, and 30 great grandchildren.
Kamilla Boerema
Kamilla Boerema lives in Chattanooga, TN where she serves as Women's Ministry Director at her local church. She is married with three adult children and nine precious grandchildren. She holds a Masters in Education Admin from UTC-Chattanooga. Kamilla currently serves as Chair of the CTPM Board of Directors. Also, she continues to advocate for CTPM clients as an affiliated Advocate since 2022 and on the live Advocacy Training, she assists with the Chat info and monitoring.
Jolene Underwood, MA, EMDR, LPC-Associate
Jolene Underwood is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (supervised by Tabitha Westbrook, LPC-S) and EMDR-trained therapist providing trauma-specialized virtual therapy for adults in Texas. She specializes in coercive control, emotional health, and spiritual harm. Through her YouTube channel, resources, and member communities (Growing You and Inspire Hub), Jolene teaches trauma-informed approaches to boundaries, communication, healthy personal responsibility, and living from God's design rather than duty. She's the creator of Unleash: Heart & Soul Care Sheets and helps people experience growth as a developmental process that reconnects them with themselves, God, and others.
Advocacy Training Program
The Coercive Control & Domestic Abuse Advocacy Training Program consists of 12 in-depth courses taught over the course of one year. Classes meet LIVE on a weekly basis, while the program remains flexible, allowing participants to begin at any time and access all course replays throughout the year.
Courses Included:
- Domestic Abuse and Coercive Control Dynamics in Relationships
- Coercive Control/Domestic Abuse Victim Dynamics
- Impacts of Coercive Control and Domestic Abuse on Victims
- Coercive Controller Typologies
- Coercive Control Interviewing
- Coercive Control Trauma Issues: Advocate Response
- Impacts of Coercive Control on Children
- Coercive Control Victim Advocacy Community Resources
- Advocacy with Victims of Family Court Abuse by Coercive Controllers
- Coercive Control and Parenting Time Issues
- Effects and Impacts of Child Abuse on Children
- Coercive Control Practical Implementation Skills
To register for the Advocacy Training Program, click below.
Have questions or need additional information?
Contact us at info@houseofpeacepubs.com.
We look forward to advancing this work together and seeing you in class!
– Dr. Debra Wingfield and the House of Peace Advocacy Training Team