Antonieta Contreras, LCSW R, CCPT II

Antonieta Contreras, LCSW R, CCPT II, is a licensed clinical social worker, trauma specialist, author, and educator with over a decade of clinical experience working with individuals impacted by complex trauma, developmental trauma, dissociation, and relational injury. She is the author of Traumatization and Its Aftermath: A Systemic Approach to Understanding and Treating Trauma Disorders (Routledge, 2023) and How Deep Is the Wound? A Guide to Investigating, Understanding, and Resolving Your Emotional Pain (2025).

Her work focuses on clarifying the full spectrum of emotional injury – from extreme and complex trauma to more common yet highly impactful emotional wounds – through a neurobiological and systemic lens. She supports clinicians in moving beyond oversimplified nervous system explanations toward precise, developmentally informed case conceptualization and effective treatment planning. Her approach integrates neuroscience, attachment theory, dissociation theory, and relational models into clear, accessible frameworks that enhance clinical decision making without sacrificing depth or nuance.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Antonieta Contreras has employment relationships with NY Counseling Services, The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy, Instituto Medico Imaya, Instituto Peruano de Psicología Contextual S.A.C, Udima University of Madrid, IPC, and New York University. She is the developer of the Emotional Architecture Model and Structural Emotional Reorganization framework. Antonieta Contreras receives royalties as a published author. Antonieta Contreras receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Antonieta Contreras is the co-founder of the New York Association of Trauma therapists and a member of the European Society for Trauma and Dissociation.