overview

• Dr. Andrea Trejo (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy and Medical Family Therapy at East Carolina University. As a bilingual Latina clinician and scholar, Dr. Trejo's research, clinical practice, and teaching center on the intersection of traumatic stress, systemic oppression, and chronic illness in historically marginalized communities. Her work is driven by a commitment to advancing health equity and addressing the multigenerational impact of structural racism on family health.Dr. Trejo's independent research program examines how structurally imposed chronic stress-such as racialized adversity, income inequity, and trauma exposure-contributes to disparities in chronic pain and illness. She currently uses secondary data analysis and content analysis to explore the lived experiences of BIPOC communities navigating chronic illness and pain. Her long-term research goal is to develop trauma-informed chronic illness interventions that address the health effects of racialized adversity. She is currently focused on a series of pilot studies exploring pain and trauma among BIPOC women, with the goal of building community-driven, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive interventions.Clinically, Dr. Trejo provides individual and relational therapy in both English and Spanish, with an emphasis on trauma treatment. She is trained in Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), a globally recognized, evidence-based intervention for complex PTSD, and has co-facilitated NET trainings for providers serving trauma-affected communities. Her clinical background includes integrated behavioral healthcare in primary care, community mental health settings, and schools, where she has worked primarily with Black and Latinx adults, children, and families navigating mood, anxiety, PTSD, and chronic health conditions.
  In the next phase of her career, Dr. Trejo aims to expand her research toward the development of trauma-informed chronic illness interventions that directly address the health effects of racialized adversity. She plans to incorporate community-based participatory and implementation science approaches in future work to support more equitable and sustainable models of care.