Jeffrey Todahl
Biography
Dr. Todahl will be accepting new PhD students in both Counseling Psychology and Prevention Science for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Dr. Todahl is an Associate Professor and the director for the Couples and Family Therapy Program (Counseling Psychology and Human Services Department) and co-Director and Director of Research of the Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect. He has served as Director of the University’s Center for Family Therapy, as Director of the Couples and Family Therapy Graduate Program, and as CPHS Interim Department Head.
Todahl has served as a research consultant for numerous organizations, including the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force, the Trauma Healing Project, and the Lane County Legal Aid Domestic Violence Clinic. He co-authored the Greenbook Initiative concept paper and grant application that funded Lane County as one of eight U.S. national demonstration sites. This grant was instrumental in improving Lane County’s local effort to coordinate IPV services, and particularly juvenile justice, child welfare, and IPV victim/survivor and perpetrator service systems. He was co-investigator of the supervised visitation and exchange program evaluation (now Kids Connecting) and co-investigator of a community-based participatory action research study with the Trauma Healing Project. His current research activities include the Oregon Prevalence Study (child abuse and neglect rates), an evaluation of Stewards of Children (child sexual abuse prevention), the Child Abuse Prevention Climate Survey (Lane County, Whatcom County comparator), and an effort to reduce child abuse by 90% in one U.S. county. For further information, please see K(no)w More Lane County.
Todahl is active in the local community. He has served on the Board of Directors for Womenspace and Ophelia’s Place, on the Trauma Healing Project’s (THP) Research Team Advisory Committee, on the Kids First Safe Alternatives Center Advisory Committee, as Chair of the Court Watch Project Steering Committee, on the Oregon Safety-Focused, High Conflict Parenting Plan Workgroup, as a curriculum contributor to the Oregon State Regional Judicial Training on Domestic Violence, as an Advisory Committee member with the Womenspace Community Engagement Project, and as a member of the Lane County Prevention and Wellness Fund Advisory Committee.
Education
Honors and Awards
Keep Oregon Well Mental Health Hero. Trillium Family Services as a part of Oregon’s Mental Health Awareness Month activities. Presented at the Black and Gold Gala, Portland, Oregon.
Outstanding Community Program. Awarded to the 90by30 Initiative and the Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect, Lane County Psychologists Association, Lane County, Oregon.
Outstanding Faculty Award. Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence, University of Oregon.
College of Education Distinguished Senior Teaching Award. University of Oregon.
Centennial Laureate Alumnus Award. College of Human Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
Publications
Todahl, J., Brown, T., Barkhurst, P., Cline, B., & Maxey, V. (2019). Pathways to Child Abuse Prevention: Seeking and Embedding Public Opinion. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Todahl, J., Barkhurst, P., Watford, K., & Gau, J. (2019). Child Abuse Prevention: A Survey of Public Opinion toward Community-Based Change. Journal of Public Child Welfare
Todahl, J., Olson, D., & Walters, E. (2017). Survivor insight: A study of family, friend and community response to interpersonal violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 26(4), 391-410.
Davies, J., Todahl, J., & Reichard, A. (2016). Creating a trauma sensitive practice: A health care response to interpersonal violence. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 11(6), 451-465.
Todahl, J., Walters, E., Bharadwaj, D., & Dube, S. (2014). Trauma and healing: A mixed methods study of personal and community-based healing. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 23(6). 611-632.
Maas-DeSpain, A., & Todahl, J. (2014). Rape, sexual violence, and acquiescence in intimate partner relationships: An inclusive framework for screening, assessment, and clinical decision-making. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 26, 28-49.
Todahl, J., Linville, D., Tuttle Shamblin, A., & Ball, D. (2012). Client narratives about experiences with a multicouple treatment program for intimate partner violence. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(s1), 150-167.
Todahl, J., & Walters, E. (2011). Universal screening for intimate partner violence: A structured review. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. 37(3), 355-369.
Todahl, J., & Walters, E. (2009). Universal screening and assessment for intimate partner violence: The IPV Screen and Assessment Tier (IPV-SAT) Model. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 21(4), 1-24.
Recent Media:
‘There is a lot of work to do’: McAnulty case a tragic reminder for child welfare advocate (KEZI, July 11, 2019)
Program in College of Education works to reduce child abuse (Around the O, June 24, 2019)
Everyone has a part to play in prevention of child abuse (The Register-Guard, April 12, 2019)
Domestic violence, like other disasters, tests us all (The Register-Guard, Oct. 3, 2017)
Get involved now to help prevent child abuse (The Register-Guard, April 11, 2016)
Research
His research centers around violence prevention and community engagement as a vehicle for reducing child abuse (see 90by30 Initiative). He has collaborated with the U.S. Department of Justice in an effort to create a streamlined domestic violence intervention system (Greenbook Initiative), is currently measuring child abuse and neglect rates in Oregon (Oregon Child Abuse Prevalence Study), has partnered with the University of Kentucky and 22 U.S. universities to evaluate sexual assault bystander prevention effectiveness (McBEE), and works actively with The Ford Family Foundation on an Oregon-wide evaluation of Stewards of Children (sexual abuse prevention), and a Lane County-specific effort to reduce child abuse and neglect (90by30 Initiative).