our staff

Karen Hanscom, Ph.D. (Executive Director) has been with ASTT since its inception, and has been Executive Director since 1995. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Hanscom has provided training in the field of torture treatment both nationally and internationally. In 2001, Dr. Hanscom received the International Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Psychological Association. In 2005, she was the recipient of a Maryland Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Service to the Public. She is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University.
Mary Cogar, Ph.D. (Clinical Director) is a licensed psychologist who has worked in the field of mental health since 1974. In 1999 she joined ASTT, where she provides assessment and treatment for clients and supervision for therapists and psychology externs. Dr. Cogar has presented at numerous workshops on the needs and treatment of torture survivors. She is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University. Dr. Cogar also has a private practice in which she conducts psychotherapy with adults with a range of concerns and problems.
Maria Brown (Center Coordinator) worked as a health care administrator in a continuing care retirement community before coming to ASTT. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Emory University in Atlanta. Ms. Brown is a licensed nursing home administrator, and received her Maryland license in 1994.

Ruth McLean Dawson (Development Director) joined ASTT in October 2011. She has consulted with and worked in nonprofit organizations in the United States, Southeast Asia, Central America and Africa. A significant part of her work has been with refugees, immigrants, and victims of torture, genocide and ethnic cleansing in direct service before adding fundraising to her nonprofit management portfolio. Ruth has a Master's Degree in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management and most recently ventured into the field of conservation and environment at the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment in Belize, Central America.
Lindsey Henley (Development Associate) joined ASTT in September 2010.  Lindsey is a graduate of Goucher College with a B.A. in Peace Studies. She served as an Americorps VISTA with the Greater Homewood Community Corporation and volunteered with The Family Tree in Baltimore. 
Harriet Moran-Dodge (Financial Manager) has over ten years of accounting experience and is the owner of Z & A Accounting Services in Parkville, Maryland. She brings her private sector experience in income tax, payroll, and book keeping services to ASTT.
Sheetal Patel, PhD (Clinician) completed her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology in 2008 at the University of Maryland College Park. She has clinical experience treating adults who have experienced childhood physical and sexual abuse, sexual assault and rape, war trauma, and relationship violence. Dr. Patel, a licensed psychologist, provides training as well as assessment and individual and group treatment for torture survivors. She is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University.
Essence Pierce, MA (Case Manager) joined ASTT in 2005 as a volunteer. From there she was hired as a grant writer and for the last several years served as the Case Manager Supervisor. She is responsible for training new case managers and assists in the hiring process, as well as managing a full case load of clients. Along with the case management team, she conducts outreach to educate agencies about the needs of torture survivors. In addition to her case management duties, Essence has coordinated the Healing Images photography program. In 2008 she was selected for the IRCT Exchange Programme, allowing her to do a 3 week internship in Cameroon with CRAT-Cameroon, a fellow IRCT member. Essence has Master’s Degrees in International Studies and Public Administration from the University of Washington.
Amy R. Rakusin, MA, LCPC, BC-DMT, NCC (Clinician) is a licensed psychotherapist and board certified Dance Movement therapist. Amy joined ASTT in 2006. In addition to her clinical work with ASTT clients, Amy is in private practice where she provides psychodynamic and creative therapies to adolescents and adults experiencing the effects of trauma from current or past abuse.
Faith Ray (Case Manager) joined ASTT in January 2010 as a clinical case manager, where she works on strengths-based wellness-recovery plans with survivors. The goal is to encourage clients, through the combination of case management and therapy, to regain their sense of autonomy and personal dignity. Prior to joining ASTT, Faith worked in refugee education, managing an employment training program in Baltimore City that educated and trained more than 250 refugees and asylees each year. She was introduced to the humanitarian field as an ESL instructor at Baltimore City Community College. Faith’s experience also includes editing language textbooks and teaching Business English to automotive executives in Nagoya, Japan. She received a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she worked as a journalism research assistant and served as an editor for the Daily Tar Heel newspaper.
Atsede Shiferaw (Office Manager) worked as an Administrative Assistant for a travel consultants firm in New York City for a long time before moving to Virginia in 2005. As a staff member, she traveled to various African countries to participate in Trade Shows at the African Travel Association Annual Congress. Between 2005 and 2007, she worked for the World Bank in different department through TeleSec Corestaff. Atsede has amAA in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
Laurel Smith-Raut, MSW (Case Manager) attended the University of Maryland School of Social Work where she received her Masters in 2007. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Nepal, Laurel has used her cross-cultural skills as a refugee case manager intern with the International Rescue Committee and a community organizer at the Southeast Community Development Corporation.
 Rosalie Whedbee (Volunteer Coordinator) joined ASTT as a volunteer early in 2011 and now works at ASTT to coordinate all volunteer activities. Rosalie graduated from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland with a joint degree in International Relations and Art History.