Survivor Centered.Trauma Informed

Stacy’s Joy Incorporated provides trauma-informed support for survivors and community members through healing circles, support groups, presentations, trainings, and interactive workshops. We offer boots-on-the-ground outreach and warm referrals to connect people with safe housing, recovery supports, and vital resources. Our work centers survivor voices, builds community awareness, and walks alongside individuals on their journey toward healing, stability, and lasting change.

Stacy’s Joy Incorporated is honored to share that our Founder & Executive Director, Dr. Stacy Reed-Barnes, alongside members of our Board, contributed as authors to an important open-access research study through William James College’s Human Trafficking Research Hub (HTRH).

Titled “The Roles of Adult Attachment and Complex Trauma in Sex Trafficking-Related Coercive Bonding,” and published in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, this study was conducted by a 19-member interdisciplinary team of students, alumni, and faculty across three departments at William James College.

This research takes a deeper look at how traffickers use coercive tactics to maintain control, while also exploring how survivors’ attachment styles and trauma histories can impact their ability to leave trafficking situations. Importantly, the study highlights what we at Stacy’s Joy know to be true every day. Survivors are resilient, resourceful, and persistent, even when faced with repeated barriers to exiting.

One of the most powerful findings emphasizes that survivors with secure attachment patterns often continue to seek pathways to safety, demonstrating strength even when returning to traffickers due to complex trauma bonds. This challenges harmful misconceptions and calls for more compassionate, trauma-informed approaches from providers and systems.

At Stacy’s Joy Incorporated, we are deeply committed to ensuring that survivor voices are not only heard, but centered in research, policy, and practice. Being part of this work reflects our mission to bridge lived experience with evidence-based knowledge to create meaningful, lasting change.

We extend our gratitude to the entire Human Trafficking Research Hub team and all contributors who made this study possible.

Read the full article here: 

https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2026-24752-001.html

In just a few short months, Stacy's Joy Incorporated has: 

• Served over 40 women through mentorship, advocacy, and resource coordination. 
• Maintained daily engagement with 7 to 15 individuals, offering real-time emotional support, crisis response, and guidance.
• Facilitated community-based healing groups and educational workshops, creating safe, trauma-informed spaces for recovery and empowerment.
• Provided essential needs support, including food, transportation, hygiene products, and assistance with basic living expenses.
• Strengthened partnerships with local recovery centers, shelters, and service providers to expand access to meaningful and long-term care.

Our boots-on-the-ground approach reaches individuals who are often overlooked or underserved, meeting them where they are with compassion, consistency, and lived experience. This work not only addresses immediate needs but also builds long-term pathways to healing, stability, and self-sufficiency, demonstrating the transformative power of survivor-led leadership in driving impactful community change.

We are proud to partner with a variety of organizations and businesses to support our community. Our partnerships enable us to expand our reach and provide even more resources and services to those in need.

 WE APPRECIATE YOU!