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One Year In: Honoring Our Legacy, Building Our Future

Reflection from Lori S. Pereira, Executive Director, Trauma Recovery/HAP

Headshot of Lori Pereira smiling with green blurred background.October marked one full year since I stepped into the role of Executive Director of Trauma Recovery/HAP. Anniversaries invite reflection, and this one arrives at a meaningful moment in our organization’s history.

As I look back on this first year, what rises to the surface most clearly is gratitude: gratitude for this community, for your resilience and dedication, and for the opportunity to lead an organization with such a powerful legacy of healing.

My involvement with Trauma Recovery/HAP goes back 18 years, to 2007, when I was working in community mental health and was able to complete my EMDR basic training through this organization. Without access to this low-cost training option, EMDR therapy would have been out of reach. I began to use EMDR therapy in school-based and day treatment settings and saw my clients experience positive outcomes faster than when I used other traditional methods. This inspired me to become a volunteer, and then a faculty member. When the opportunity to lead Trauma Recovery/HAP was presented, I knew I could embrace the position wholeheartedly.

A Year of Listening & Learning

From day one, I was charged with rebuilding, stabilizing, and positioning Trauma Recovery/HAP for long-term success. And from day one, I committed to listening deeply, to staff and volunteers, faculty and clinicians, donors and partners, and members of the broader EMDR community. What I heard was both affirming and instructive: deep pride in Trauma Recovery/HAP’s mission, concern about sustainability, and a shared desire to reconnect with the heart of our work: bringing effective trauma healing to communities when and where it is needed most.

This year has also been one of learning. I took time to understand where systems, technology, and workflows were creating unnecessary barriers, and where opportunities existed if we were willing to make thoughtful, sometimes difficult, changes. That listening and learning clarified what needed to shift and what was essential to preserve. It gave us a roadmap for action rooted not in assumptions, but in lived experience across our organization and community.

Strategic Action: Investing in People, Strengthening Systems, Expanding Impact

Listening and learning quickly gave way to decisive, values-driven action. Within my first 90 days, we launched a transition plan and began delivering measurable improvements across culture, operations, finance, and programs. Over the past year, Trauma Recovery/HAP has undergone a true organizational renewal.

  • Stabilizing the organization and restoring trust: We stabilized operations, strengthened infrastructure, and focused on rebuilding trust across the organization. Staff and volunteers re-engaged around a shared mission with intentional investments in collaboration, transparency, and purpose-driven work. Fiscal discipline and accountability were restored, significantly reducing our deficit and strengthening financial controls and reporting clarity.
  • Streamlining systems to support mission-first work: We reduced overhead and improved efficiency by consolidating technology platforms, transitioning to a fully remote office, and introducing automation that saves staff time while improving accuracy and service. These changes were not just about efficiency. They were about freeing our team to focus more fully on innovation, impact, and mission delivery.
  • Investing in our people: Staff came together for our first in-person retreat where roles were clarified and a shared vision, culture, and values were adopted. We welcomed three new full-time staff members to strengthen EMDR basic and advanced trainings, Trauma Recovery Network® administration, and communications and development, while also expanding our Board of Directors with two new members. Even as capacity increased, overhead costs decreased, a result of smarter systems and intentional organizational design.
  • Expanding training reach and clinical excellence: These strategic investments translated into the highest number of EMDR Basic Training participants since before the pandemic, including a threefold increase in in-person training participation. Our training faculty expanded to pre-pandemic levels, with more than 25 trainers and 75 facilitators committed to delivering high-quality EMDR education.
  • Growing the Trauma Recovery Network®: The Trauma Recovery Network® continued to grow, with new volunteers joining, new locations emerging, and innovative partnerships taking shape. We were invited to support several high-profile trauma responses, including the Evergreen School shooting, the North Carolina Southport shooting, the Los Angeles wildfires, and the Orange County plane crash. We continue to focus on strengthening the tools and infrastructure needed to measure, learn from, and expand our collective impact.
  • Prioritizing community engagement and philanthropy: We brought back the EMDR Walk in the Park as a fully virtual, month-long challenge that engaged the global EMDR community. With our largest group of walkers to date, participants from across the United States and as far away as Germany, Mexico, and Norway raised more than $18,000, walked 1,040 miles, and helped amplify awareness of EMDR therapy worldwide.

Together, these actions reflect what is possible when listening leads to learning and learning leads to intentional, strategic action that strengthens people, community, and lasting impact.

Honoring Legacy, Building the Future

I'm a part of the Shapiro Effect circular logoThis year, we celebrated 30 years of Trauma Recovery/HAP, and with it, the enduring legacy of our founder, Dr. Francine Shapiro. The Shapiro effect is real, and it continues to ripple outward through clinicians, communities, and lives changed around the world.

Our anniversary campaign, conference, and gatherings reminded us not only of where we come from, but of what is possible when we come together with intention and care. In the words of Dr. Shapiro, “This is our goal: thousands of therapists through the world helping people to open to a greater sense of community and interconnectedness.”

I’m proud to say that Trauma Recovery/HAP is now guided by a clear strategic plan for 2026 and beyond; one rooted in sustainability, excellence, and access. Our focus is strengthening EMDR training while responding to the increasing financial strain faced by therapists and agencies; supporting and growing our volunteer and faculty community; expanding trauma response capacity; deepening collaboration with international HAPs and Trauma Aid partners; and ensuring that Trauma Recovery/HAP remains a trusted, resilient force for healing for decades to come.

Looking Ahead, Together

As I step into my second year as Executive Director, my sense of gratitude has only deepened. I am thankful for our staff, our board, our volunteers, our donors, and our partners. Thank you for welcoming me, challenging me, partnering with me, and believing in what Trauma Recovery/HAP can be.

The work ahead is meaningful and important. Together, we are restoring and carrying forward a legacy of healing that the world continues to need.

With appreciation and resolve,

Lori S. Pereira, LPCC, LPC
Executive Director
Trauma Recovery/HAP