The Trauma of Racism

Dr. Alisha Moreland-Capuia (Dr. AMC) graduated from Stanford University in 2002 with a B.S. in biological sciences and a minor in urban studies. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the George Washington University School of Medicine in 2007.  She completed four years of psychiatry residency and an addiction fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University.  She is double board certified in addiction and general adult psychiatry. Dr. AMC is an expert in trauma-informed systems change, and specifically has interacted with numerous and varied aspects of the criminal justice system. She has served on the Portland Community Oversight Advisory Board, charged with monitoring the implementation of the City of Portland's settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to enact reform to Portland Police Bureau (PPB) policies and training. She has partnered with the Federal Judicial Center and the National Judicial College to provide training for Federal Judges and Probation Officers and State Supreme Court Judges respectively. Dr. AMC has trained U.S. Senators and staffers in applying a trauma-informed lens to policies and legislation. She is training various U.S. Probation and Pretrial Service District Offices to facilitate trauma-informed change in U.S. presentencing and sentencing guidelines and post-prison supervision. Dr. AMC has assisted with policy and training with the Multnomah county District Attorney's office over the span of three elected District Attorney's as well as extensively with Portland's local judiciary. She has also trained the Multnomah County Probation Office and other local law enforcement agencies and personnel in Oregon. While in residency training, Dr. AMC built Healing Hurt People-Portland (HHP), a trauma-informed, hospital-based, community-focused youth violence prevention program. Dr. AMC's trauma-informed efforts are global as she works in Angola, Africa at their family clinic Centro Medico Bom Samaritano and is the co-founder of The Capuia Foundation. Additionally, she is partnering with EPIONE in Scotland for global trauma-informed change. She is faculty at McLean Hospital-Harvard Medical School.