Research Team: Shay Valentine, MA

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Shay received her MA in Forensic and Counseling Psychology from Saint Elizabeth University in 2014 and joined the Human Trafficking Research Hub (the Hub) in 2022.

At the Hub, Shay is part of a team that recently published its inaugural paper on the roles of attachment patterns and trauma-coerced bonding in the stages of survivors’ experiences of commercial sex (available online here). She continues to contribute to this line of research and is currently pursuing her dissertation through the Hub, focusing on reflective functioning, attachment classification, and trauma-coerced bonding in trafficking survivors.

Shay’s broader work includes consultation and community training on the psychological impact of human trafficking, particularly among LGBTQIA+ youth and commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC). She serves on the Board of Advisors for Crossing Point Arts, a nonprofit that brings expressive arts to anti-trafficking agencies, and contributed to a five-day residency at Hartwick College focused on survivor pathways and prevention. She has also provided consultation on gender violence, survival sex, and LGBTQIA+ youth vulnerabilities for clinician-led trainings in Puerto Rico, and co-developed and co-facilitated a CEU-accredited training on domestic minor sex trafficking for clinicians in Northern Texas through the Trauma Care Institute.

Her clinical interests center on complex trauma, coercion, and relational treatment approaches. Shay brings both a strong foundation in this work and a deep personal commitment to the mission of the Hub.

Shay enjoys creating spoken word poetry, pottery, woodworking, and spending time with her friends, family, and two cats.