Dr. Kalyani Gopal, PhD, HSPP, today announced the continued expansion of her international work in trauma psychology, survivor rehabilitation, human trafficking prevention, professional education, and global mental health advocacy. The announcement highlights more than three decades of leadership across clinical practice, academia, nonprofit service, and public policy, with SAFE Coalition for Human Rights serving as one of several key initiatives within her broader mission to advance trauma-informed care worldwide.
An award-winning keynote speaker, international trainer, bestselling author, and clinical psychologist, Dr. Gopal has trained foster and adoptive parents, judges, law enforcement professionals, attorneys, case managers, nonprofit organizations, educators, and government agencies. Her work spans foster care and adoption, human trafficking, child sexual abuse, Autism Spectrum Disorder, neurodevelopmental disorders, trauma, child abuse, and survivor recovery.
A Career Dedicated to Trauma Recovery and Protection
Dr. Gopal began her doctoral studies at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee before earning her doctorate in clinical psychology from Alliant University in San Diego. Throughout her career, her clinical and educational work has focused on supporting individuals and families affected by abuse, exploitation, displacement, instability, and loss.
She introduced the concept of “Displacement Trauma” to describe the complex trauma resulting from repeated disruptions of childhood attachment bonds, particularly among children experiencing foster care placements and unstable caregiving environments. She also proposed “float” as an additional trauma response alongside fight, flight, and freeze. Grounded in neuroscience and attachment theory, these concepts continue to inform her work in trauma treatment, child welfare, parenting education, professional training, and survivor-centered care.
Leadership Across Psychology and Public Service
Dr. Gopal serves as Founder and President of SAFE Coalition for Human Rights, President of Mid America Psychological and Counseling Services, PC, President of the Psychology Coalition at the United Nations, and Past President of the Society of Clinical Psychology, Division 12 of the American Psychological Association.
In August 2024, she became the first Asian American President of the Psychology Coalition at the United Nations and has since been re-elected to a second two-year term.
Her public service also includes board appointments with the Indiana Lake County Child Protection Team and the Indiana Lake County Child Fatality Team. Through Mid America Psychological and Counseling Services, PC, she helps oversee three mental health clinics serving communities across Indiana.
Author, Trainer, and International Educator
Dr. Gopal is the bestselling author of The Supportive Foster Parent, Foster Parenting Step by Step, In My Heart, a grief and loss workbook, a workbook addressing child sexual abuse, and most recently Strong Roots, Safe Wings, a trauma-informed, ACEs-based reparenting workbook designed to help adults heal their inner child while introducing the concept of “float” as a trauma response. The book is available on Amazon.
She also co-edited the Springer publication Sex Trafficking: Feminist and Transnational Perspectives.
Beyond publishing, Dr. Gopal has developed an internationally accredited human trafficking training curriculum, a clinical training manual for clinicians in Mongolia, and victim identification tools for use in Ukraine and Myanmar. These educational resources are designed to strengthen trauma recognition, improve survivor-centered responses, and support coordinated systems of care.
SAFE Coalition as Part of a Broader Global Mission
Among Dr. Gopal’s major initiatives is SAFE Coalition for Human Rights, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to human trafficking prevention, trauma-informed care, survivor rehabilitation, professional training, advocacy, and mental health awareness.
Under her leadership, SAFE Coalition developed an internationally accredited training program on human trafficking for advocates, clinicians, and law enforcement professionals. Since 2020, the organization has operated a therapeutic shelter in Indiana for women who have survived human trafficking and is currently expanding its facilities to increase capacity to 40 beds.
Dr. Gopal also developed a clinical rehabilitation model that serves as the foundation of SAFE Coalition’s flagship residential shelter program, A Better Way Home, supporting survivors and their families through trauma-informed rehabilitation and long-term recovery.
Internationally, she is advancing plans to establish a restorative healing center for survivors of human trafficking in India while adopting eight remote villages where girls face heightened vulnerability to trafficking. These efforts focus on prevention through education, community engagement, and increased public awareness.
Conferences, Recognition, and Continuing Impact
Dr. Gopal chairs the SAFE Conference series, an international forum that brings together governments, organizations, clinicians, advocates, and researchers working across the continuum of rescue, rehabilitation, and survivor recovery for victims of human trafficking and human rights violations. She previously hosted SAFE Conferences in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019, with SAFE 2027 scheduled to take place in India through SAFECHR India.
Her honors include the Indiana Lake County Award for Excellence, the Indiana Attorney General’s Voices for Victims Award, the Top 20 Global Women of Excellence United States Congressional Medal of Honor, the American Psychological Association Presidential Citation Award for Human Rights, Global Leadership, and Promoting Health Equity, and the Indiana Commission for Women’s Torchbearer Award.
Through her leadership in psychology, clinical practice, nonprofit service, authorship, and international education, Dr. Gopal continues to advance trauma-informed, culturally responsive approaches to child welfare, survivor recovery, mental health awareness, stigma reduction, and access to care around the world.
About Dr. Kalyani Gopal
Dr. Kalyani Gopal, PhD, HSPP, is a clinical psychologist, international trainer, award winning keynote speaker, bestselling author, and human rights advocate. To learn more, visit SAFE Coalition for Human Rights and SAFECHR India. Those interested in Dr. Gopal’s work may also connect through Facebook and LinkedIn. Media inquiries may be directed to admin@safechr.org.