Gretchen Schmelzer, PhD is a licensed psychologist and trauma survivor who has worked for twenty-five years with the complex issues of trauma, integration and behavior change across every level of system from individuals to groups, to large systems and countries.  She is the author of “Journey Through Trauma,” published in 2018 by Penguin Random House and the co-founder of the Center for Trauma and Leadership which focuses on supporting leaders at the intersection of leadership and trauma, working with hospitals teams, first responders, city governments, journalists, and government agencies.

Gretchen was a German Lit major at Mount Holyoke College and got her Master’s in Athletic Counseling at Springfield College and her PhD in Counseling Psychology at Northeastern. She completed her psychology training internship as a Harvard Medical School Fellow at the Cambridge Health Alliance and completed her post-doctoral training with adults in Behavioral Medicine at UMASS Medical Center, specializing in health psychology and mindfulness-based treatment completing a fellowship at the Center for Mindfulness started by Jon-Kabat Zinn. Her dissertation focused on the impact of meditation groups with juvenile delinquents in locked detention.

Her expertise in long-term trauma was used to inform the design and delivery of a four-year largescale intervention for the UN in Cambodia working with survivors of the Khmer Rouge in a leadership initiative to strengthen the country’s response to HIV/AIDS. More recently she has taken this program to Rural Alaska, working with Alaska Native Leaders to strengthen their response to Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. She is currently a lecturer in the Medical Education Master’s Program at UPENN GSE.  She was recently featured on CNN with Anderson Cooper and Working from Home with Richard Quest. She is the founder and editor of The Trail Guide, a web-mag featured on www.gretchenschmelzer.com dedicated to healing repeated trauma. Gretchen currently lives in Easthampton, Ma.

Schmelzer briefed journalists at the Crime Coverage Summit in January 2023: What Bosses Need to Know About Trauma. She also briefed journalists in January 2025: A Trauma Glossary to Help You Take Care of Yourself.