Lisa Schwab is the executive director of the Pediatric Resource Center, a community service program at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria that provides comprehensive medical evaluation, advocacy and social services to child victims of abuse or neglect. In addition to overseeing financial duties, supervising staff and helping to secure funding, Schwab provides counseling, court advocacy, education and training to pediatric clients and their caretakers.
Schwab is deeply committed to raising awareness about the long-term impact of child abuse, not only on the health and stability of children and families, but on the community as a whole. In addition to her full-time work at the PRC, she runs a private practice that provides therapy to children with histories of extreme trauma and loss. A board member of the Peoria Child Advocacy Center, she is certified as a Clinical Trauma and Loss Consultant by the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children and as an instructor in Psychological First Aid.
Schwab started the “Mental Health Matters” community education program of the Mental Health Association of Illinois Valley, and worked to bring a teen suicide prevention program to the area. She was selected to be a therapist for a parent-child psychotherapy pilot initiative with Children’s Home and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and has worked with the University of California, San Francisco for 18 months to counsel children outside the region. The first statewide child trauma trainer outside of Chicago within the Trauma Informed Practice Program of DCFS, Schwab was one of 15 therapists in the world to train with Dr. Bruce Perry, an international child trauma expert.
Schwab has devoted time to the American Red Cross, and is a volunteer trainer for the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children. She also provides workshops and training sessions to law enforcement, physicians, clergy, teachers and parents. She is an active member of Richwoods Christian Church and a loving mother to her young daughter. iBi
