Renee DeBoard-Lucas
PhD
Executive Director, TRUE Center
(she/her/ella)
Dr. Renee DeBoard-Lucas is a licensed psychologist with over 15 years of experience treating trauma and related concerns in children, teens, and adults. She has worked for and volunteered with nonprofit agencies in Montgomery County, MD and Washington, DC and has served on the Board of a nonprofit in Howard County, MD.
Dr. DeBoard-Lucas earned her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Marquette University and completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, where she later served as a Staff Psychologist. During her time at Johns Hopkins, she collaborated with the Pediatric Burn Clinic and other outpatient and inpatient clinics at the hospital to provide trauma-informed care to the youth and families she served.
Dr. DeBoard-Lucas’s research has focused on children’s perceptions of intimate partner violence and family conflict, as well as resilience in the context of these stressors. Dr. DeBoard-Lucas has authored peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to children’s experiences with trauma as well as mental health needs among refugees and immigrants. She also enjoys providing clinical supervision to trainees. She has taught courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels and has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland.
Active licenses:
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Washington, DC
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Maryland
Certifications and Trainings:
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Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) (certified)
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Prolonged Exposure (PE) for adolescents and adults (trained)
Why TRUE:
Over the course of her career, Dr. DeBoard-Lucas has become increasingly passionate about increasing people’s access to evidence-based, quality mental health care, regardless of ability to pay. This is one of the driving forces behind her role as a founder of TRUE Center, where she is thrilled to continue working towards providing these services to the community. Dr. DeBoard-Lucas is a former resident of DC and is excited to be rejoining the community through her work at TRUE Center.